Martinelli had one of the incredible voices of the early twentieth century. A well trained natural big voice. My father heard him in the Park in Chicago in '46. The wind knocked out the sound system but you could still hear him beautifully projecting above the orchestra. A week later the same thing happened to Mario Lanza, the rising star, but my dad said all you could see was his mouth moving.
This video always makes me smile. It starts with gondolas on the Grand Canal in Venice then cuts away to GM in a stationary vessel against a black background requesting the hearer to Return to Sorrento (remembering now and again to do a few pretend strokes of the oar). Not to take away from a great tenor, but Sorrento sits atop a two hundred foot cliff and has lousy plumbing and no canals! No Venetian gondolier would sing this and the great Manrico, Otello, etc. can't sing canti di Napule!
I think you misunderstand the intent. The song is/was a standard for gondoliers. GM was from the Venetian region, with a delicious regional accent. That's the allusion. And what a high note!
The song is about Sorrento,a town south of Naples ,what has to do with VENICE and Gondolas ? Martinelli was a great Otello ,also a leading Tenor for many operas,but his Neapolitan accent stinks ! I suppose this is better than nothing .Grazie for posting Saluti GINO
