Gennaro Pasquariello: New Sources for Reconstructing the History of Neapolitan Song

An important collection of documents dedicated to Gennaro Pasquariello, one of the leading figures in 20th-century Neapolitan song, has been added to the collection of the Chair of Ethnomusicology at the University of Naples Federico II, coordinated by Professor Simona Frasca. This initiative further strengthens the ties between all of our university’s musicology departments and important institutions in the city, such as the Murolo Foundation and the Murolo House Museum/Center for Neapolitan Song Studies.

The donation comes from Paolo Speranza, a collector and film scholar, who over the years has gathered and preserved valuable materials documenting Pasquariello’s artistic life and critical acclaim. The material includes rare newspaper clippings dating back to the 1930s, authored by Federico Petriccione, along with more recent articles by authoritative scholars, writers, and historians of Neapolitan song, including Vittorio Paliotti and Domenico Rea.

As a singer and performer of the Neapolitan tradition, Gennaro Pasquariello contributed significantly to the dissemination of the Neapolitan repertoire, distinguishing himself through a performing style that combined expressive intensity, theatricality, and a sense of popular culture. The donated materials provide insight into his artistic profile and, at the same time, help reconstruct the cultural, musical, and social context in which his career unfolded.

The collection enriches an already significant heritage, now available to students, researchers, scholars, and enthusiasts. Newspaper clippings, personal accounts, and critical essays are, in fact, valuable sources for investigating not only the figure of Pasquariello but also the processes of production, performance, and dissemination of Neapolitan song throughout the 20th century.