Passione

Passione dates from 1934 and carries three names: music by Ernesto Tagliaferri and Nicola Valente, words by Libero Bovio, the most performed Neapolitan lyricist of the period. It was written late in the tradition, when the song trade in Naples was already contracting, and is among the last pieces from that repertoire to enter the international concert circuit. The text is a monologue of obsession rather than a serenade, and the setting keeps the voice low and pressed until the final phrases open out.