Giuni Russo Part I: Solar Energy, Voice, and Mediterranean Longing

Record executives said no, but she did it anyway.

Giuni Russo was one of the greatest innovators in Italian music. A classically-trained soprano, she fused Italian music traditions and global influences with experimentalism in instrumentation, top-line melody, and lyrics.

Admittedly, the impetus behind the writing of this series came from the release of Rosalia’s Lux, as she combined mysticism, operatic, industrial, and contemporary pop sounds in a way that those who are familiar with Giuni Russo’s music would instantly recognize. This series will take as many posts as necessary. At first, we wanted to go by theme but given the complexity of her work, going by album was the more reader-friendly option.

Born Giuseppa Romeo, she went by different names early in her career. In the 1960s, she was “Giusy Romeo”, in the 1970s, when attempting an English-language career, she was “Junie Russo” in order to pose as an Italian-American artist.

She stepped into her stage name Giuni Russo in 1978, when her single “Soli noi” became a surprise hit i…