Renowed for her amazing vocal range covering almost five octaves, she would blend musical and composing skills with an unique vocal interpretation. The mix of all of these qualities makes Giuni Russo one of the most interesting and unique artists ever in the Italian and international musical scene.
Giuni's family took lyrical music into the utmost consideration. Her mother was a natural soprano,as Giuni herself was. At a very young age, Giuni had her first singing and composing lessons, quickly developing her great natural talents.
In 1967, under the name of Giusy Romeo she won the Castrocaro Festival with the song "A Chi" (an italian cover version of Hurt by Timi Yuro). She was awarded the right to participate to Sanremo Festival, Italy's most important musical event, to be held the following year.
In 1968 she sang "No Amore" - her first single - at the 18th Sanremo Festival. On the same year were released two more singles, including L'onda and I Primi Minuti, the italian cover of Aretha Franklin's "I Say a Little Prayer".
In 1969 Giuni moved to Milan were she was to spend most of her life. There she met Maria Antonietta Sisini, a musician who would share with Giuni the ups and downs of a 36-year rare artistic union and friendship.
In the seventies, Giuni changed her name in Junie Russo and recorded a few tracks for some minor labels.
Her first album, Love is a Woman - with English lyrics - was released in 1975. All the tracks are signed by Giuni and Maria Antonietta Sisini.
In 1978 - for the first time with the name of Giuni Russo - she got good exposure with the single "Soli noi/La chiave", hitting the French market, too.
In the early eighties Giuni's lifelong collaboration with Franco Battiato begins. In a recent interview Franco recalled: "... a natural talent. Amazing! Yes, the first time I heard Giuni sing it was in my home. I was struck with wonder by her vocal strength (...) matched with her musical sensibility. An uncommon feature since if one has a powerful voice often lacks subtlety. She mastered the most refined nuances."
In 1981 Giuni released the fine album Energie, but the big hit came the following year with the single "Un'estate al mare". The song won Giuni the 1982 Festivalbar contest and a huge popularity. The single stayed on the top ten charts for months. On the wave of this success Energie was reissued.
On one hand, the large success brought by "Un'estate al mare" gave Giuni a great popularity, but on the other hand biases the artist's career. It isn't easy to keep a balance between popularity and the musical research and experimentation that are the unvarying elements of Giuni's artistic journey.
The albums released in the following years - Vox (1983), Mediterranea (1984), Giuni (1986) and Album (1987) - display a constant artistic evolution. Giuni was able to blend the easy melodic strike of her many hits (Good good bye, Sere d'agosto, Limonata cha cha cha, Mediterranea, Alghero, Adrenalina) with a truly unique vocal experimentation.
In 1988 the album A casa di Ida Rubinstein marks the end of Giuni's easy pop phase. With uncommon and stunning influences, she performs popular arias and romances by Bellini, Donizetti and Verdi, a repertoire confirming her natural talent for an innovative musical approach. This album made Giuni the first and only representative of borderline music.
The release of A casa di Ida Rubinstein led the artist to tour with important lyrical and cultural associations. In contrast, recording companies look upon Giuni's experimentalism suspiciously and the relationship between them soon grew more and more precarious.
In 1992 Giuni released Amala, an album of greatest hits with two previously unreleased singles - "Amala" and "Alla spiaggia dell’amore".
In 1994 the new album Se fossi più simpatica sarei meno antipatica reached the shop shelves. Based on an imaginative interpretation of a writing of Ettore Petrolini, the album features the single "Fortunello".
Giuni followed an increasingly personal path that led her to collaborate with writers and poets. She read ancient holy texts, while touring a lot and writing new songs. It is during this period of her life that Giuni came in contact with Carmelite spirituality and began to study and appreciate Saint Teresa of Avila, Edith Stain and St. John of the Cross. The writings by these exalted personalities proved to be a constant source of inspiration for her.
In 1997 Giuni was called to work with Giorgio Albertazzi (one of the most popular and renewed italian actors) for the theatrical show Verba Tango. She sang lyrics by Jorges Luis Borges. On the same year the single "Gabbiano" was released, to be followed in the intentions by Gelsomini d'Arabia, a discographic project that never came to be.
In 1998 Giuni releases her first live album Voce Prigioniera.
In 2002, after four years of absence from the recording market and of an intense schedule of live performances, Giuni released Signorina Romeo live. The album is a selection of songs performed live in the preceding years.
2003 was the year of the great comeback to the mass audience. Giuni performed "Morirò d’amore" at the 53rd Sanremo Festival. This song also gave its name to the new album. Irradiazioni was released on CD the same year. It contains singles like "Gabbiano", "Fonti mobili" and the previously unreleased "Voce che grida", along with new versions of Giuni's greatest hits.
At the end of 2003 Demo De Midi was released, featuring fourteen new unreleased tracks from the '80s and the '90s in demo version.
In 2004 Napoli che canta, a suite for Roberto Leone Roberti's film (1926) was released on CD and DVD.
The night between 13 and 14 September 2004, Giuni Russo died at her home in Milan. Her last wish was to be buried at the Carmelite nuns' cemetery.
La Sposa
Giuni Russo Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Come un cipresso sui monti dell'Ermon
Come un ulivo maestoso in pianura
Sei cresciuta come un platano
Come palma in Engaddi
E le rose in Gerico
E rigogliosa come lampo di fuoco
Fuoco che mi inebria
E fra mille e mille ti riconoscerei
Dimmi anima mia dimmi dove si nasconde
Dov'è l'acqua che disseterà me
Dimmi anima mia il segreto dell'amante
Il segreto che ti lega a me.
Sei più dolce e bella del miele vergine
Ed è profumo il suono del suo nome
Come il sale in Engaddi
Sale come polvere
Sai di cinnamomo mirra onice storace
E fra mille e mille ti riconoscerei
Dimmi anima mia la paura dell'amante
Dell'amante che in me cerca te
Dimmi anima mia come nascere dal niente
Se non ho che te resta con me
Dimmi anima mia come nascere dal niente
Se non ho che te resta con me
Dimmi anima mia il segreto dell'amante
Dell'amante che resta con me
The lyrics of Giuni Russo's La Sposa are a poetic description of the beauty and allure of the singer's beloved. The song is a declaration of love, with the singer using metaphors and comparisons to describe the object of their affection. The opening stanza compares the beloved to three different types of trees: a cedar from Lebanon, a cypress from Mount Hermon, and an olive tree from the plain. These are all tall, strong, and impressive trees, symbolizing the qualities of the beloved that the singer admires and loves.
The second stanza continues with comparisons, describing the beloved as a palm tree from Engaddi, as well as roses from Jericho. The imagery is vivid and evocative, conjuring up the beauty of nature and the richness of life. The singer is in awe of the beloved and wants to know everything about them, including their secrets and desires. The lyrics also suggest a longing for union and intimacy, as the singer asks about the water that will quench their thirst, and the secret that binds them together.
The final stanza repeats some of the earlier comparisons, with the singer describing the beloved as being sweeter than virgin honey, and the sound of their name like a perfume. There is also a sense of fear and uncertainty, with the singer asking about the lover who seeks the beloved in them, and how to find new life when all they have is the beloved. In the end, the song is a celebration of love and desire, with the singer expressing their passion and devotion through the beauty and wonder of nature.
Line by Line Meaning
Sei cresciuta come un cedro del Libano
You have grown up strong and resilient like a cedar tree from Lebanon.
Come un cipresso sui monti dell'Ermon
You are tall and majestic like a cypress tree on the mountains of Hermon.
Come un ulivo maestoso in pianura
You are grand and noble like an olive tree in the plain.
Sei cresciuta come un platano
You have flourished like a plane tree.
Come palma in Engaddi
You are graceful like a palm tree in Engaddi.
E le rose in Gerico
And you are as lovely as the roses in Jericho.
E rigogliosa come lampo di fuoco
You are lush and vibrant like a flash of fire.
Fuoco che mi inebria
Your fire is intoxicating to me.
Sai di cinnamomo mirra onice storace
You exude the scents of cinnamon, myrrh, onyx, and storax.
E fra mille e mille ti riconoscerei
Amongst thousands, I would still recognize you.
Dimmi anima mia dimmi dove si nasconde
Tell me, my soul, where do you hide?
Dov'è l'acqua che disseterà me
Where is the water that will quench my thirst?
Dimmi anima mia il segreto dell'amante
Tell me, my soul, the secret of the lover.
Il segreto che ti lega a me.
The secret that binds you to me.
Sei più dolce e bella del miele vergine
You are sweeter and more beautiful than pure honey.
Ed è profumo il suono del suo nome
The sound of your name is like a fragrance.
Come il sale in Engaddi
You are as essential as salt in Engaddi.
Sale come polvere
You are as valuable as dust.
Dimmi anima mia la paura dell'amante
Tell me, my soul, the fear of the lover.
Dell'amante che in me cerca te
The lover who seeks you in me.
Dimmi anima mia come nascere dal niente
Tell me, my soul, how to be born from nothingness.
Se non ho che te resta con me
If I have only you, stay with me.
Dimmi anima mia il segreto dell'amante
Tell me, my soul, the secret of the lover.
Dell'amante che resta con me
The lover who stays with me.
Contributed by Juliana T. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Luana Viciani
Non ci sono parole per descrivere una tale meraviglia...dopo tanti anni sono ancora qui ad ascoltarti. La tua voce è un dono, tocca corde così profonde del mio essere che non posso fare a meno di commuovermi ogni volta che ascolto questa canzone. Grazie
Giancarlo Vadalà
Questo non è solo canto, non è solo arte di livello sublime, è preghiera.
Sil P
Sublime..Giuni ti dobbiamo tanto.sei un sogno di bellezza dolcezza fascino bravura.
themorpheus
senza nulla togliere al talento di Mina, é incredibile che siano pochi quelli che si rendono conto che il dono di Giuni era infinitamente piu impressionante.
iperico
Grande Maestra vocale GiUniRusso!🙏👏👏👏
Sil P
Si concordo. Questa voce è di una bellezza unica ,straordinaria ,superiore a qualsiasi altra, Giuni cantava con tutta sé stessa. Volava nell' aria,ti entrava dentro, nel cuore. Nessun altro mi fa questo effetto,x quanto sia bravo.
bright star
Bello scoprire che non sono l'unica a pensarla così. La capacità di modulare la sua bellissima voce, la raffinatezza, l'estensione , mi lasciano estasiata. Assolutamente vero: voce superiore a tante altre molto più celebrate e pubblicizzate ma che non hanno il colore straordinario di Giuni.
Patrizia Errichiello
Sono in completa sintonia con quanto hai detto . Giuni mi trasporta in altre dimensioni con la sua voce . Mi porta in posti sconosciuti che fanno provare forti sensazioni.Lei tocca l' anima e la fa vibrare .
Eleonora Tarquinio
Ogni tanto bisogna andare oltre.. E questo brano ti trasporta in un' altra dimensione.. Divino, celestiale.. Grazie Giuni per questa eccellenza
Annamaria Zora
I grandi artisti come Giuni Russo in terra non sono apprezzati e compresi, ma in cielo è stata accolta in pace, perché cantava anche per il cielo