To follow Barbara Hannigan, another great female singer:

Reminded of Enza Pagliara by my recent post on the intoxicating pizzica (latest in a series on the riches of Mediterranean culture), by way of introduction here’s another perk of the musos’ touring life (cf. here, for Andalucia):

Many years ago I was doing a gig at the Ambronay festival with a baroque band accompanying the choir of New College Oxford. At the reception in the balmy grounds afterwards I found myself chatting with a distinguished-looking Italian woman from the audience—who turned out to be none other than Enza Pagliara. She told me how much she loved the choirboys’ voci bianche, and casually mentioned that she sang too—rather like Lionel Messi saying he likes kicking a ball around. So of course I was keen to learn about her music, and as we were saying goodbye she gave me her CD Frunte de luna.

It was only later when I listened to it, in awe, that I realized it should have been me attending her concert…

Here’s an exhilarating playlist:

Here she is in concert with an all-female group in Pizzica di Torchiarolo, which opens the playlist above:

A do te pizzico la zamara                                          Dove ti ha pizzicato la zamara
Menzu lu canaletto piglia rose e mina ‘mpettu    In mezzo al canaletto piglia rose e butta
                                                                                         sul petto
Menzu lu canaletto de le nenne                              In mezzo al canaletto dei seni

Nannniannia ranira narinaaaa nanaa nira nira laalaaa

Aprime beddhu miu ca portu cose                         Aprimi bello mio che porto cose
Portu nu panarinu de cirase                                    Porto una cesta di ciliegie

Nannniannia ranira narinaaaa nanaa nira nira laalaaa

All’autra manu ‘nci portu tre cose                           Nell’altra mano ci porto tre cose
Nu nieddu, na catena e le granate                           Un anello, una catena e le (mele) granate

Nannniannia ranira narinaaaa nanaa nira nira laalaaa

L’aggiu a purtare a Donna Catarina                        Devo portarlo a Donna Caterina
Ca se marita lu mese ci trase                                    Che si sposa il mese prossimo

Nannniannia ranira narinaaaa nanaa nira nira laalaaa

Idda sta se mmarita e ieu me ‘nzuru                      Lei si sta sposando e io mi sposo
Idda coglie la menta e iou lu fiuru                          Lei coglie la menta e io il fiore

Nannniannia ranira narinaaaa nanaa nira nira laalaaa

And from her album Bona crianza:

Some of the folk-singers assembled for Frunte de luna (including members of Enza Pagliara’s family) can be heard in traditional solo and a cappella style on the CD

• Aria stisa: canti di contadine e trattoristi di Torchiarolo (Le tradizioni musicali in Puglia) (Ethnica, 2008). Playlist:

And here’s an introduction to the Salento scene, mentioning  Ernesto De Martino, Alan Lomax, and local anthropologist Luigi Chiriatti.

See also Italy tag, notably Italy: folk musicking.