Trio Sorelle Lescano - Three Dutch/Hungarian Girls become the Toast of Torino.
Two By Trio Sorelle Lescano – 1937 – Past Daily Nights At The Round Table – Musical Archeology
Trio Sorelle Lescano – 1. Bambina Innamorata – 2. Ospitalita Hawaiana – Italian Parlophone – 1937 – Gordon Skene Sound Collection –
Switching gears tonight – diving into the vaults of dusty shellac and pulling up a few gems from the deep-dim past. This one comes from Italy and features Trio Sorelle Lescano, who were quite well known and very popular in Italy in the years before World War 2 and briefly after. They recorded considerably and were regular performers on Italian Radio network EIAR. Truth was; although they were hugely popular in Italy, the sisters weren’t Italian, weren’t born in Italy and their father was Hungarian and their mother was Dutch and the family went by the last name Leschan before becoming Italianized. They maintained their Hungarian citizenship until 1942 when they became Italian citizens.
They were Swing vocalists, much on the same order as The Boswell Sisters or The Andrews Sisters. They were initially “house singers” for the Italian Record label Cetra, and in the early 1930’s joined the Cetra Dance Orchestra directed by Pippo Barzizza who was a prominent figure in Big-Band circles and undoubtedly the most prominent personality in the field of Italian jazz-inspired light music of the first half of the twentieth century. He directed them in the recording of hundreds of songs, they gained immense popularity, to the point of becoming the ‘flagship’ of EIAR ‘s light music broadcasts.
World War 2 upended their careers with the group breaking up in 1943, and reuniting in 1946, minus one sister, who was replaced by vocalist Maria Bria. The group permanently broke up in the middle of a South American tour in 1950 when Bria defected the group and decided to live in Caracas, Venezuela.
By all accounts, the Trio Sorelle Lescano have a cult following to this day and a lot has been written about them as well as recent interviews with the remaining sisters, setting a few records straight.
Not entirely sure if their music has made it to reissue (I suspect on lp at least), but this original 78 offers a glimpse into what Italian Swing vocals were all about between the World wars. Two songs are featured; 1. Bambina Innamorata and 2. Ospitalita Hawaiana. Both sides issued by the Italian Parlophone label in 1937.
Interesting antiquities for a slight musical detour with the promise of a lot more to come if positive response warrants it.
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