Quartetto Cetra
Encyclopedia
Quartetto Cetra, or simply I Cetra, was an Italian
vocal quartet established during the 1940s.
The group originated from the previous Quartetto Ritmo
following the replacement of one singer. Felice Chiusano
filled the vacancy left by Enrico Gentile
and joined Tata Giacobetti
, Virgilio Savona
and Enrico De Angelis
in the quartet's line-up. Quartetto Cetra debuted in a radio
review titled Riepilogando in 1941.
In October 1947 Enrico De Angelis left the group to join the Army. He was replaced by the singer Lucia Mannucci
, the wife of Virgilio Savona. That was Cetra's final formation, which lasted for the rest of their four-decade career. The first song they performed together was Dove siete stata nella notte del 3 giugno? ("Where were you on the night of 3 June?").
In 1948 Quartetto Cetra did the dubbing of the choruses for the Italian release of Disney's movie
Dumbo
. For their excellent job they received a congratulation note signed by Walt Disney
himself. Afterwards they did the dubbing for other movies such as
Make My Music, Melody Time
and The Wizard of Oz
.
Quartetto Cetra made their stage
debut in Pietro Garinei
& Sandro Giovannini's Gran Baldoria review. Several other musical comedies followed. On stage the Cetras worked with other Italian celebrities of those times, such Wanda Osiris and Alberto Sordi
.
Italian television
was born in 1954. In the same year Quartetto Cetra made their first home television appearance in a show called In quattro si viaggia meglio ("You travel better when you're four"), although they had appeared on British television
as far back as 1948 in Café Continental
. In time they did a great number of other TV programs. Among them, their parodies
of some literature
classics such as The Count of Monte Cristo
or The Three Musketeers
were a huge success.
The quartet's early style was very much similar to Mills Brothers
's, with jazz
and swing
vocal arrangements. The group then found its own way with a combination of songs and entertainment: catchy tunes with funny lyrics yet with sophisticated arrangements, performed in comedy acts. The audience loved that, and Quartetto Cetra soon became very popular at first on the radio, then on stage and on the TV as well.
Quartetto Cetra was widely credited with the great virtue of combining excellent professional skills with popular entertainment.
In over forty years the group's repertoire included more than a thousand songs. Most were written by the duo Tata Giacobetti-Virgilio Savona, two members of the quartet. Just to name a few of them, Il Visconte di Castelfombrone, In un palco della Scala, Un disco dei Platters, Nella vecchia fattoria, Vecchia America, Che centrattacco (dedicated to Virgilio Levratto
), Un bacio a mezzanotte, I ricordi della sera.
Quartetto Cetra officially finished their performing career on 1 July 1988 in Bologna
, with their last public concert.
Their song Crapa Pelada ("Bald head") was used in the TV series Breaking Bad
, in the episode "Full Measure".
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
vocal quartet established during the 1940s.
The group originated from the previous Quartetto Ritmo
Quartetto Ritmo
Quartetto Ritmo was a jazz vocal male quartet working in Italy during the 1940s.The group originated from the previous Quartetto Egie, after Iacopo Jacomelli left the formation...
following the replacement of one singer. Felice Chiusano
Felice Chiusano
Felice Chiusano was one of the singers of Quartetto Cetra, a popular Italian vocal quartet.-Biography:Chiusano was born in Fondi, in the province of Latina of southern Lazio....
filled the vacancy left by Enrico Gentile
Enrico Gentile
Enrico Gentile was an Italian singer of 1940s.In 1940 he founded a vocal quartet named Quartetto Egie together with Tata Giacobetti, Iacopo Jacomelli and Enrico De Angelis. They made their debut on 27 May 1940 at the Valle Theatre in Rome. They performed the song Bambina dall'abito blu...
and joined Tata Giacobetti
Tata Giacobetti
Giovanni "Tata" Giacobetti was one of the singers of Quartetto Cetra, a very famous Italian vocal quartet.-Biography:...
, Virgilio Savona
Virgilio Savona
Antonio Virgilio Savona was one of the members of the Italian vocal group, the Quartetto Cetra.-Biography:Antonio Savona was born at Juventus, Italy. His artistic career had a very early start. In 1926, aged 6, he began studying music...
and Enrico De Angelis
Enrico De Angelis
Enrico De Angelis was an Italian singer of 1940s.In 1940, he founded a vocal quartet named Quartetto Egie together with Tata Giacobetti, Iacopo Jacomelli and Enrico Gentile. They made their debut on 27 May 1940 at the Valle Theatre in Rome. They performed the song Bambina dall'abito blu...
in the quartet's line-up. Quartetto Cetra debuted in a radio
Radio
Radio is the transmission of signals through free space by modulation of electromagnetic waves with frequencies below those of visible light. Electromagnetic radiation travels by means of oscillating electromagnetic fields that pass through the air and the vacuum of space...
review titled Riepilogando in 1941.
In October 1947 Enrico De Angelis left the group to join the Army. He was replaced by the singer Lucia Mannucci
Lucia Mannucci
Lucia Mannucci is an Italian singer, best known as one of the singers of Quartetto Cetra, an Italian vocal quartet.-Biography:...
, the wife of Virgilio Savona. That was Cetra's final formation, which lasted for the rest of their four-decade career. The first song they performed together was Dove siete stata nella notte del 3 giugno? ("Where were you on the night of 3 June?").
In 1948 Quartetto Cetra did the dubbing of the choruses for the Italian release of Disney's movie
Film
A film, also called a movie or motion picture, is a series of still or moving images. It is produced by recording photographic images with cameras, or by creating images using animation techniques or visual effects...
Dumbo
Dumbo
Dumbo is a 1941 American animated film produced by Walt Disney and released on October 23, 1941, by RKO Radio Pictures.The fourth film in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series, Dumbo is based upon the storyline written by Helen Aberson and illustrated by Harold Pearl for the prototype of a...
. For their excellent job they received a congratulation note signed by Walt Disney
Walt Disney
Walter Elias "Walt" Disney was an American film producer, director, screenwriter, voice actor, animator, entrepreneur, entertainer, international icon, and philanthropist, well-known for his influence in the field of entertainment during the 20th century. Along with his brother Roy O...
himself. Afterwards they did the dubbing for other movies such as
Make My Music, Melody Time
Melody Time
Melody Time is a 1948 animated feature produced by Walt Disney and released to theatres by RKO Radio Pictures on May 27, 1948. Made up of several sequences set to popular music and folk music, the film is, like Make Mine Music before it, the popular music version of Fantasia Melody Time is a 1948...
and The Wizard of Oz
The Wizard of Oz (1939 film)
The Wizard of Oz is a 1939 American musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. It was directed primarily by Victor Fleming. Noel Langley, Florence Ryerson and Edgar Allan Woolf received credit for the screenplay, but there were uncredited contributions by others. The lyrics for the songs...
.
Quartetto Cetra made their stage
Stage (theatre)
In theatre or performance arts, the stage is a designated space for the performance productions. The stage serves as a space for actors or performers and a focal point for the members of the audience...
debut in Pietro Garinei
Pietro Garinei
Pietro Garinei was an Italian playwright, actor, and songwriter.-Biography:Garinei was born at Trieste and graduated in pharmacy...
& Sandro Giovannini's Gran Baldoria review. Several other musical comedies followed. On stage the Cetras worked with other Italian celebrities of those times, such Wanda Osiris and Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi
Alberto Sordi, also known as Albertone, Cavaliere di Gran Croce OMRI was an Italian actor. He was also a film director and the dubbing voice of Oliver Hardy in the Italian version of the Laurel & Hardy films....
.
Italian television
Television
Television is a telecommunication medium for transmitting and receiving moving images that can be monochrome or colored, with accompanying sound...
was born in 1954. In the same year Quartetto Cetra made their first home television appearance in a show called In quattro si viaggia meglio ("You travel better when you're four"), although they had appeared on British television
British television
Public television broadcasting started in the United Kingdom in 1936, and now has a collection of free and subscription services over a variety of distribution media, through which there are over 480 channelsTaking the base Sky EPG TV Channels. A breakdown is impossible due to a) the number of...
as far back as 1948 in Café Continental
Café Continental
Café Continental was a British television variety show on the BBC Television Service from 1947 to 1953. Broadcast live from the BBC's studios at Alexandra Palace, the programme opened with a "Maître d'hôtel" who welcomed the television audience to the "cafe" set and told them that "your table has...
. In time they did a great number of other TV programs. Among them, their parodies
Parody
A parody , in current usage, is an imitative work created to mock, comment on, or trivialise an original work, its subject, author, style, or some other target, by means of humorous, satiric or ironic imitation...
of some literature
Literature
Literature is the art of written works, and is not bound to published sources...
classics such as The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo
The Count of Monte Cristo is an adventure novel by Alexandre Dumas. It is often considered to be, along with The Three Musketeers, Dumas's most popular work. He completed the work in 1844...
or The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers
The Three Musketeers is a novel by Alexandre Dumas, first serialized in March–July 1844. Set in the 17th century, it recounts the adventures of a young man named d'Artagnan after he leaves home to travel to Paris, to join the Musketeers of the Guard...
were a huge success.
The quartet's early style was very much similar to Mills Brothers
Mills Brothers
The Mills Brothers, sometimes billed as The Four Mills Brothers, were an American jazz and pop vocal quartet of the 20th century who made more than 2,000 recordings that combined sold more than 50 million copies, and garnered at least three dozen gold records...
's, with jazz
Jazz
Jazz is a musical style that originated at the beginning of the 20th century in African American communities in the Southern United States. It was born out of a mix of African and European music traditions. From its early development until the present, jazz has incorporated music from 19th and 20th...
and swing
Swing (genre)
Swing music, also known as swing jazz or simply swing, is a form of jazz music that developed in the early 1930s and became a distinctive style by 1935 in the United States...
vocal arrangements. The group then found its own way with a combination of songs and entertainment: catchy tunes with funny lyrics yet with sophisticated arrangements, performed in comedy acts. The audience loved that, and Quartetto Cetra soon became very popular at first on the radio, then on stage and on the TV as well.
Quartetto Cetra was widely credited with the great virtue of combining excellent professional skills with popular entertainment.
In over forty years the group's repertoire included more than a thousand songs. Most were written by the duo Tata Giacobetti-Virgilio Savona, two members of the quartet. Just to name a few of them, Il Visconte di Castelfombrone, In un palco della Scala, Un disco dei Platters, Nella vecchia fattoria, Vecchia America, Che centrattacco (dedicated to Virgilio Levratto
Virgilio Levratto
Virgilio Felice Levratto was an Italian football striker and later a coach.Levratto was born at Carcare. He played for F.C. Vado and played also for Hellas Verona F.C., Genoa C.F.C. , Inter Milan in 1932, S.S...
), Un bacio a mezzanotte, I ricordi della sera.
Quartetto Cetra officially finished their performing career on 1 July 1988 in Bologna
Bologna
Bologna is the capital city of Emilia-Romagna, in the Po Valley of Northern Italy. The city lies between the Po River and the Apennine Mountains, more specifically, between the Reno River and the Savena River. Bologna is a lively and cosmopolitan Italian college city, with spectacular history,...
, with their last public concert.
Their song Crapa Pelada ("Bald head") was used in the TV series Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad
Breaking Bad is an American television drama series created and produced by Vince Gilligan. Set and produced in Albuquerque, New Mexico, Breaking Bad is the story of Walter White , a struggling high school chemistry teacher who is diagnosed with advanced lung cancer at the beginning of the series...
, in the episode "Full Measure".