Giovanna Daffini (22 April 1914 – 7 July 1969) was an Italian singer, associated with the Nuovo Canzoniere Italiano movement.

Giovanna Daffini in 1964, photographed in Gualtieri by ethnomusicologist Giorgio Vezzani

Life

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Born at Villa Saviola, in the province of Mantua, she started associating with travelling musicians from an early age. During the rice-growing season she worked in the rice-growing districts of Novara and Vercelli; it was here that she learned the folk-songs which would eventually make her famous. Later, she was accompanied by her husband Vittorio Carpi on violin, with whom she would perform at wedding dances and country festivals.[1]

In 1962 she recorded the song "Alla mattina appena alzata", a version of Bella Ciao, for the musicologists Gianni Bosio and Roberto Leydi.[2]

She died at Gualtieri (Reggio Emilia), where she had spent much of her life, in 1969.

Recordings

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  • 1964 - La mariuleina - Canzoni padane (I dischi del sole) DS 32
  • 1967 - Una voce un paese (I dischi del sole) DS 146/48
  • 1975 - Amore mio non piangere (I dischi del sole) DS 1063/65
  • 1967 - Festa d'aprile / Ama chi ti ama (I dischi del sole) LR 45/4
  • 1991 - L'amata genitrice (I dischi del mulo) 300 004-2

Bibliography

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  • Maria Chiara Periotto (Ed.), Giovanna Daffini: il segno vitale del canto, Comune di Motteggiana 2001
  • Cesare Bermani (Ed.), Giovanna Daffini, l'amata genitrice, Comune di Gualtieri 1993
  • Serafino Prati, Giovanna Daffini cantastorie, Edizioni Libreria Rinascita 1975
  • Aldo Vitale, in: Ethnomusicologie, éditions Paris 3, ACPI, 1978

References

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  1. ^ La Canzone Popolare - Giovanna Daffini
  2. ^ Giovanna Daffini: "Alla mattina appena alzata", from the CD: Giovanna Daffini: L’amata genitrice (1991)
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