Lando Fiorni - Affaccete Nunziata
This beautiful serenade is one of my favourite Roman songs. Most Roman songs are romantic and often they are sad, too. Affaccete Nunziata dates back to the end of the 1700s or the start of the 1800s. There is no known lyric writer, it's part of a tradition of old Roman folk songs.
Nino Manfredi - Tanto pe' Cantà
Nino Manfredi, a very famous and prolific Italian actor, sang Tanto pe' Cantà in the 60s and 70s. Until the 90s he was an important actor - he died in 2004 - and it's still a great song.
Claudio Villa - Le Mantellate
There are many Roman prison songs of which this is one. It might even date back to the early 1700s. And, like many old Roman songs, it is written partly in dialect.
Romolo Barzani - Barcarolo Romano
I think this was written Romolo Balzani, a singer and actor, in the 1920s. It's about a boatman who ends a relationship with a woman only to later find her drowned in the river. It's nearly 100 years old and just as sad and romantic now.
Lando Fiorni - Ciumachella de Trastevere
"Ciumachella" is a Roman term of endearment for a charming, pretty young woman. It's a light love song, again around a century old - but it's certainly not as tragic as Il Barcarolo.
Natalino Otto - Fontana di Trevi
A very romantic, popular song performed by Natalino Otto. It was sung in a 1954 film called Tre Soldi Nella Fontana, about three American women who live in the same apartment in Rome. They throw coins in the Fontana di Trevi in the hope that they might each meet the perfect man.
Robertino - Roma non fa' la stupida stasera
This was also sung by Itallian actor Renato Rascel and it means "Rome, please behave tonight". It's just a great song.
Gabriella Ferri - Quanto se bella Roma
A love letter to Rome about how beautiful she is, particularly in the spring. It's been covered by any number of artists so you can choose which version you like best.
Armando Travajoli - Ponentino Romano
The "ponentino" is a light wind that provides relief from the intense summer heat in Rome. This song features in the soundtrack to Gente di Roma, an Italian mockumentary.
Renato Rascel - Arriverderci Roma
Renato Rascel most famously sung Arriverderci Roma; it featured in the 1957 Hollywood musical Seven Hills of Rome in which Rascel starred. It has since be covered by the likes of Dean Martin and Perry Como.
