When
Luna Rossa first came out it was at the centre of a bitter dispute, because purists accused the music composer of using a beguine time, which was completely foreign to the Neapolitan song tradition, of which it later became a classic.
The song interpreted by Giorgio Consolini in the Piedigrotta Abici was later sung by Claudio Villa, who turned it a great national success that became the best selling single in Italy in 1951. (source:
www.hitparadeitalia.it)
The song became an immediate success all over the world: it was translated into various languages and performed by important international singers, such as Frank Sinatra, Tony Martin, Ella Fritzgerald, Alan Dean, Jerry Vale, Lucienne Delyle, Teodorakis, Xiomara Alfaro and, more recently, by the Brazilian singer, Caetano Veloso.
In 1951 Armando Fizzarotti directed a film of the same name interpreted by Renato Baldini and Maria Frau, and
Luna Rossa is also the name of the recent film made by Antonio Capuano in 2001.
In 1999 the ship piloted by the Neapolitan Francesco De Angelis that took part in the XXX America's Cup was called
Luna Rossa (that won the
Louis Vuitton Cup), and the song played by Renzo Arbore and his Italian Orchestra was the sound track for the event. The ship also participated in the XXXI (2003), XXXII (2007) and XXXIV (2013) edition.
