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Vintage Musical Greetings Cards for Columbus Day:
FredGrams celebrating Italian Americans

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Go directly to the musical COLUMBUS DAY CARDS at FREDGRAMS.COM.

Barcarolle (Notte Veneziana a Offenbach) (Columbus Day)1)Venice-Grand-Canal[1]

“Barcarolle” from “Tales Of Hoffmann,” the one grand opera of Jacques Offenbach(1819-1880). Jewish/German born, Offenbach made most of his career writing light operas (operettas) in France. The “Barcarolle” (Boat Song, derived from the Italian word “barca”) is sung in the opera’s 3rd act and describes a watery Venetian night as the ideal setting for love.  Preview This Card

Carnival Of Venice (Columbus Day)1)venetian_masks_iv_by_maluviam-d3h0lie[1]

Traditional melody, most popular as a virtuoso trumpet solo. The title refers to Venice’s Carnevale, Italy’s Mardi Gras, a colorful masked celebration leading up to Lent. Preview This Card

2)sorrento_lemons2[1]Come Back To Sorrento (Columbus Day)

(Italian) Words by G. Batista de Curtis, music by Ernesto de Curtis, 1904. As popular in America as in Italy, here presented in English. Yet another Neapolitan standard, the original words being in the Italian dialect specific to Naples. Preview This Card

Firenze a Puccini (Holidays/Columbus Day)3)florence_sightseeing[2]

“O Mio Babbino Caro,” (O My Dear Papa), a serious moment in the otherwise comic opera “Gianni Schicchi,” (1918) by Giacomo Puccini(1858-1924). This aria is pleadingly sung by young Lauretta to her unscrupulous Florentine father, insisting she will throw herself off the Ponte Vecchio into the Arno if he doesn’t allow her to be with the man she loves. Preview This Card

6)Leon-Bazile-Perrault-xx-La-Tarantella-1879-xx-Private-collection[1]Funiculi, Funicula! (Columbus Day)

Lyrics by Peppino Turco, music by Luigi Denza, written in 1880 to celebrate the first funicular car up Mt. Vesuvius. The infectious music invites one to dance, specifically a tarantella.  Preview This Card

Italian Street Song (Columbus Day)1)LDP0621099_800x600[1]

Lyrics by Rida Johnson Young, music by Victor Herbert(1859-1924), from the operetta “Naughty Marietta,” 1910. Sung by the Neapolitan title character in colonial New Orleans, played by Jeanette MacDonald in the 1935 movie version. Preview This Card

6)tuscanysunflower[1]O Sole Mio (Columbus Day)

Italy’s most famous ode to a sunny day: lyrics by Giovanni Capurro, music by Eduardo di Capua, 1898. A classic Neapolitan Song, sung in the dialect of Naples, celebrating the wonders of Italia, its land, its people, its unique spirit. Preview This Card

Santa Lucia (ColumbusDay)10)Naples-Italy-5[1]

Traditional tune transcribed & given Italian lyrics by Teodoro Coutrau(1827-1879), English lyrics by 19th century Scottish musician/artist Thomas Oliphant. Inspired by Naples’ harbor neighborhood Borgo Santa Lucia. Preview This Card

1)sicily-ragusu_1798293a[1]Sicily: A Meditation (Columbus Day)

“Intermezzo” (Interlude) from the operatic masterpiece “Cavalleria Rusticana” (1890) by Pietro Mascagni(1863-1945). The celebrated one-act opera(traditionally performed on a double bill with “I Pagliacci”) is set in a 19th century Sicilian village on Easter morning. The “Intermezzo” is played just as the events of the drama are about to be played out to their tragic conclusion.  Preview This Card

Un Bel Di (One Fine Day) (Puccini) (Holidays/Columbus Day)2)b4aeb4207a7b7ed55c37f71a1f326ef0[1]

From “Madama Butterfly,” 1904 opera by Italian composer Giacomo Puccini (1858-1924), libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. Sung by Cio-Cio San, the hapless Nagasaki geisha abandoned by American Lieutenant Pinkerton, hoping he’ll return to her and their child “One Fine Day.”  Preview This Card

 Go directly to the musical COLUMBUS DAY CARDS at FREDGRAMS.COM.

Read a history of Columbus Day on this Blog.