Bella Notte

Bella Notte

by Mary Lee Sunseri

Six-time children's music award winner, Mary Lee Sunseri, offers a fun bilingual experience for your little one. Among the twelve songs, most are in Italian, but a few have some verses in English as well. Instruments featured include the guitar, harmonica, recorder, and tambourine. The songs are great for playtime and car rides, since they provide great beats and fun lyrics.

Even if your little one doesn't understand the words, they can experience the mood of the song and learn some Italian words by sound. Mary Lee includes many upbeat songs, such as Eh, Campare!, featuring the guitar and harmonica with accents from a tambourine and bell, as well as slower tempo songs, like Santa Lucia which utilizes the guitar and background singers. That's Amore! may be the most recognizable song, with its famous opening line, "When the moon hits your eye like a big pizza pie, that's amore!" You may also recognize the tune of The Chicken Dance. Although the version traditionally heard in America is all instrumental, Mary Lee sings a fun melody all in Italian. Funiculi, Funicula and Fra Michele include Italian and English, while Little Grandma Mazurka and the title track, Bella Notte, are in English.

Many of the songs include repetition of the title or chorus, as heard in Bella Bimba, or 'words' that are not really words at all, but more like sound effects. For example, Giro, Giro Tondo, Fra Michele, and Funiculi, Funicula are all fleshed out with many "la la la"s throughout the chorus and at the beginning of the song. In Eh, Campare! Mary Lee joyfully sings, "chippity chippity chop! da da da dum!" And the title of Ninna-Nanna rhymes and is fun to say, especially with the song's very prominent beat breaking the words at the syllables, "Ni-na, na-na." These are all easy sounds for little ones to make, so they can participate. Encourage your child to join in (and join in yourself) and try pronouncing the Italian words. Having the words presented through song provides a wonderful memory aid, and both you and your child will learn a few words in Italian.

I just wanted to see how my four-year-old niece would react to music in another language, so I popped this CD in while we were riding in the car. When the music began, she smiled at me and moved her head to the beat. About half way through the song, she finally asked, "How come I don't understand this song?" I told her it was in Italian. She paused for a moment, considering this while the music continued, and then said, "It is beautiful. I like it." She really got excited about the song Little Grandma Mazurka because it was all in English and she understood the story line. However, when it was over, she looked to me and asked, "Now, how do we sing that one in Italian?" I had to admit that I didn't know, and she said, "You'll have to learn with me then, I guess."

--Audra

Mary Lee Sunseri is the winner of two American Library Notable Children's Recordings and four Parents Choice Awards. She has produced and performed 16 CD's of traditional and original music. Mary Lee has performed with the legendary Burl Ives, opened for Bill Cosby and Lily Tomlin, recorded the title song to Walt Disney's movie The Apple Dumpling Gang, recorded nursery rhymes for Mattel Toys' See 'N Say, toured as a member of "Randy Sparks & The Back Porch Majority,"and appeared in the MGM Elvis Presley movie The Trouble with Girls.

Mary Lee received her certificate of study in Musical Theatre from London Drama School with distinction in singing. She performs at festivals, concerts, folk clubs, and corporate and academic groups. She is a frequent performer at public schools and　libraries throughout California, Massachusetts and Washington, and gives workshops on music and infant brain development.