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Salvatore Cardillo

Salvatore Cardillo (20 February 1874 – 5 February 1947) was an Italian-American composer. Born in Naples, he studied piano and composition in Italy before emigrating in 1903 to the United States as a university graduate. His career encompassed songwriting and movie music. He died in New York.

Cardillo's richly scored and still popular 1911 romance Core 'ngrato (Ungrateful Heart) — also known by its lyric Catarì, Catarì, pecchè me dici sti parole amare — was written in America to a text in Neapolitan by Alessandro Sisca (Riccardo Cordiferro); it is in fact the only famous Neapolitan song by an Italian-American immigrant. The song's first exponent was the operatic tenor Enrico Caruso, but it is not clear whether he commissioned it. Franco Corelli, Luciano Pavarotti, Giuseppe di Stefano, José Carreras and, more recently, Roberto Alagna and Jonas Kaufmann are among the tenors to have included Core 'ngrato in their repertories.

The composer also wrote the songs Barcarola, to a text by Edoardo San Giovanni, and Oi luna (O Silvery Moon), to a text by Riccardo Cordiferro. These were published in 1921 as "Two Neapolitan Songs" by G. Schirmer Inc. in New York.

Birth and Death Data: Born Naples (city and commune in Campania, Italy), Died February 5, 1947 (New York City (most populous city in the United States) )

Date Range of DAHR Recordings: 1911 - 1949

Roles Represented in DAHR: composer

= Recordings are available for online listening.
= Recordings were issued from this master. No recordings issued from other masters.

Recordings

Company Matrix No. Size First Recording Date Title Primary Performer Description Role Audio
Victor C-11274 12-in. 11/19/1911 Core 'ngrato Enrico Caruso Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor B-22648 10-in. 3/21/1919 Oi luna Giuseppe De Luca Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor CAVE-012840 10-in. 7/4/1939 Catari Antonio Marranti ; Gianna Pederzini Mezzo-soprano vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Victor BS-018894 10-in. 3/1/1938 Core 'ngrato Enrico Caruso Jr. Tenor vocal solo, with piano composer  
Victor D9RC-1731 12-in. 5/5/1949 Core 'ngrato Constantine Callinicos ; Mario Lanza ; RCA Victor Orchestra Tenor vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 49522 12-in. 10/2/1918 Core 'ngrato Riccardo Stracciari Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia 44993 10-in. either 1916 or 1917 Core 'ngrato Roberto Rotondo Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Brunswick X9916-X9917 12-in. 2/14/1923 Core‘ngrato Giuseppe Danise Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Brunswick X9948-X9949 12-in. 2/19/1923 Core ’ngrato Giacomo Lauri-Volpi Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Brunswick XE23052-XE23053 12-in. 5/9/1927 Core’ngrato Giuseppe Danise Baritone vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CB5843 10-in. 1/31/1934 Core 'ngrato Enzo De Muro Lomanto Male vocal solo, with orchestra composer  
Columbia (U.K.) CL6423 10-in. 10/23/1937 Catarì! Catarì! Marcel Carivan ; Tino Rossi Male vocal solo, with instrumental ensemble composer  

Citation

Discography of American Historical Recordings, s.v. "Cardillo, Salvatore," accessed January 8, 2026, http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/107508.

Cardillo, Salvatore. (2026). In Discography of American Historical Recordings. Retrieved January 8, 2026, from http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/107508.

"Cardillo, Salvatore." Discography of American Historical Recordings. UC Santa Barbara Library, 2026. Web. 8 January 2026.

DAHR Persistent Identifier

URI: http://adp.library.ucsb.edu/names/107508

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