Love in Portofino
| "Love in Portofino" | |
|---|---|
 Cover of EP | |
| Song by Dalida | |
| Released | July 1959 |
| Recorded | July 1959 |
| Genre | |
| Length | 3:04 |
| Label | Barclay |
| Composer(s) | Fred Buscaglione |
| Lyricist(s) |
|
"Love in Portofino" is a 1958 song by Italian writing duo Leo Chiosso and Fred Buscaglione, first sung by Buscaglione. Picked up by Italian-French singer Dalida the next year, she recorded it with additional French-language lyrics written by Jacques Larue. Her version achieved sales success in the European market, spawning dozens of covers. Embraced by musical intellectuals as masterpiece of Dalida's early repertoire of 1950s, it eventually became the symbolic song for the Italian coastal town Portofino, where it is set.
Background
[edit]Italian lyricist Leo Chiosso wrote the song in 1958. It was mostly in Italian, only the repeating verse "I found my love in Portofino" was in English. Song's composer Fred Buscaglione was the first one to record the song.
French lyricist Jacques Larue soon discovered the song and adapted it wholly in French, titled "À San Cristina". It was immediately recorded by a few French singers, with no success.
It was then when Eddie Barclay noticed the song and got it for Dalida. But in collaboration with Larue, the French part was rewritten and reduced to minimum, just as an addition to original Italian and English lyrics that were kept. "Love in Portofino" thus became a trilingual song, and under this version it became famous. It was recorded during Dalida's 1959 summer tour pause, under orchestra conduction of Raymond Lefèvre, and was published first on the EP (Barclay – 70 271). It was also featured as a title song of her end of year album.[1][2]
Charts
[edit]| Chart (1959) | Peak position |
|---|---|
| France[3] | 15 |
| Wallonia[4] | 20 |
Sales
[edit]| Region | Sales |
|---|---|
| Italy | 100,000[5] |
Other recordings
[edit]Johnny Dorelli in 1959, Andrea Bocelli in 2013, and many more. Italian rapper Geolier sampled Dalida in the song Finchè non si muore, released on his third studio album Dio Lo Sa in June 2024.
See also
[edit]References
[edit]- ^ "Album format". Dalida Official Website. Archived from the original on 29 July 2017. Retrieved 8 February 2019.
- ^ "Personnel". Studio Hoche. Retrieved 15 April 2019.
- ^ "Classement des 20 plus grands succès du mois". Music Hall: 1. Autumn 1959.
- ^ "Chart". ultratop.be.
- ^ Chris Barrett (10 January 1960). "Cash Box - Italy" (PDF). Cash Box. p. 46. Retrieved 26 August 2023.
