Core 'ngrato

Core ngrato was written in New York in 1911 by Salvatore Cardillo, a Neapolitan emigrant, to words by Riccardo Cordiferro, the pen name of the journalist Alessandro Sisca, another emigrant. It is the only song of the classic Neapolitan repertoire composed outside Italy, and it was written for Enrico Caruso, whose recording made it inseparable from the tenor voice. Cardillo is said to have thought little of the piece and to have sold it outright. The text addresses an ungrateful heart, named Catari, in dialect throughout.