Robertino Loretti: more about the operatic folk song artists

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

More about Italian singer Robertino Loretti

Robertino Loretti (born 22 October 1946 in Rome) is an Italian singer, known mostly for songs he performed as a teenager.
He was born to a large family with eight other children. His family was poor, and when he was 10 his father fell sick and Robertino helped the family deliver bakery products to restaurants. He enjoyed singing folk songs on his way and was noticed by people for his singing voice. After a request to perform at a wedding in a restaurant, Robertino was sought after by other restaurants for the same services.

The Danish television performances introduced Robertino to music fans throughout northern Europe. He gave concers all over Europe (Sweden, Norway, Finland, Iceland, Belgium, England, Germany, France, Spain, Switzerland, Austria). He spent a great deal of time outside of Italy at this time. He would return to Italy during the important hilidays to hug his mother and brothers and sisters. He also participated in many Italian music events such as San Remo Festival, Cantagiro, Festival di Napoli (won in 1966 together with Sergio Bruni), and Disco per l’Estate, Canzonissima. Italians began to refer to him as the new Carruso. Robertino gave performances attended by many famous pople. He sang in France in front of President de Gaulle in a performance that included the best known French singers of the day, Montand, Becaud, Greco and Aznavour. In the Netherlands he sang before the royal family. obertino began to pick up foreign languages and add foreign songs to his original Italian repotoire.

He was inclided in performances with the great stars of the era, including Nana Mouskouri, Josephine Baker, Pat Boon, Marlene Dietrich. Audiences aclaimed him. He received a 36 minute ovation in Romania. There were also concert tours outside of Europe. He performed in America, Canada, Russia, Japan, and Australia. He performed on the “Ed Sullivan Show” which in the late 1950s and 60s was the most important talent/variety show on American teevision. (It was Ed Sulivan that intoduced both Elvis Presly and the Beatles to the wider American audience.) While in America he appeard in Carnegie-Hall and Madison Square Garden. During this time he acquired many nicknames: Golden Boy (America), Señor Simpatia (Mexico), Ambassador of Italian Music (Japan), and for some strange reason Mister Jamaica (Russia).

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Robertino’s child career peaked at the heighth of the Cold War. Curiously his biggest fans proved to be the Soviet People. In fact, another nickname was the “Voice of Space”. Apparenly Russian Cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin loved his songs and the first woman astronaut Valentina Tereskova and her colleague-husband Valeri Bikowski wanted to listen to Robertino’s songs during their space voyage on board “Vostok”. Robertino’s songs proved enormously popular in Russia and are still extensively broadcast there. Both Kruschev and Yeltsin as well as the Soviet people loved his music. Little did anybody know, least of all Robertino, when he began singing as a baker’s boy that he was going to be a living legend in the Soviet Union.