Investigating Gilda Mignonette as a “Newpolitan” Approach to Popular Culture

In the second half of the last century there were many radio programs devoted to Italian music and culture. From one of them, one could hear the voice of Gilda Mignonette singing “Facimm’ Pace,” a tune recorded for the label La Voce del Padrone in 1940. The radio program was made right after Mignonette’s death in 1953, and the female announcer who introduced her was the actress Mimì Cecchini. When giving homage to the singer, Cecchini recalled that she was a child actor when she first met Mignonette and was playing the role of the young daughter in “Balocchi e