Agostino Capozzi (born 2 November 1941), known professionally as Mario Trevi, is an Italian singer and actor.
Biography
Trevi was born in
Melito di Napoli
Melito di Napoli () is a (municipality) in the Metropolitan City of Naples in the Italy, Italian region of Campania, located about north of Naples.
Melito di Napoli borders the following municipalities: Casandrino, Giugliano in Campania, Mugnano ...
, Metropolitan City of Naples, on 2 November 1941. He is the son of Domenico and Maddalena Capozzi Ciletti and the first of nine children. Mario is the head of a family set in the melodic song in the heart of Naples, Italy. He is the brother of Lino Capozzi, Stefano Fany, and Franco Moreno. He is also the uncle of Salvatore Capozzi and Mimmo Moreno and grandfather of Tony Mariano.
Mario Trevi spent his childhood in poverty during Italy's post-war. At a young age he began working as a bricklayer, and some evenings he sang for free in the basement of a local puppet theatre where he entratained small audiences. Agostino, in art known as Mario Trevi, soon changed job from a bricklayer to a fabric cutter in a fabric shop at Piazza Nicola Amore in Naples, but did not give up singing. Instead his passion for singing grew, and he soon became a fan of
Sergio Bruni
Sergio Bruni (stage name of Guglielmo Chianese; 15 September 1921 – 22 June 2003) was a popular Italian singer, guitarist, and songwriter. He was often called "The Voice of Naples".
He was born in the commune of Villaricca, near Naples, Italy ...
, a well-known Neapolitan singer. At the age 14, he took on singing lessons with Maestro Attilio Staffelli, a professor at the
Conservatory of San Pietro a Majella.
Soon, Mario's voice was heard in one of
Galleria Umberto I
Galleria Umberto I is a public shopping gallery in Naples, southern Italy. It is located directly across from the San Carlo opera house. It was built between 1887 and 1890, and was the cornerstone in the decades-long rebuilding of Naples—called ...
, thanks to one of his uncles. At that event, Vincenzo Acampora noticed Mario's talent and proposed him to sing at the
Piedigrotta
Piedigrotta (; ; "at the foot of the grotto") is a section of the Chiaia quarter of Naples, Italy
Italy, officially the Italian Republic, is a country in Southern Europe, Southern and Western Europe, Western Europe. It consists of Ital ...
Festival, a well-known local show. Mario started his career at the age of 17, when he sang ''Nuvole D'Ammore''. That night, he shared the stage with famous artists such as
Giacomo Rondinella
Giacomo Rondinella (30 August 1923 – 25 February 2015) was an Italian singer and actor.
Life and career
Born in Messina, the son of a couple of Neapolitan actors and singers, Rondinella started his career as a singer after World War II, follo ...
,
Tecla Scarano
Tecla Scarano (20 August 1894 – 22 December 1978) was an Italian actress and singer. She appeared in more than 30 films between 1937 and 1966.
Life and career
Born in Naples, the daughter of tenor Giovanni Moretti and operetta singer Anna ...
and Nicla Di Bruno. Soon, his fame started to build as he performed with famous singers Gennaro Pasquariello and
Claudio Villa
Claudio Villa (born Claudio Pica; 1 January 1926 – 7 February 1987) was an Italian singer and actor.
Biography
Tenor Claudio Villa was born Claudio Pica in the Trastevere quarter of Rome in 1926. He recorded over 3000 songs, sold 45 million ...
in
Porta Capuana
The Porta Capuana is a Renaissance city gate in Naples, Italy, originally passing through the medieval city walls, of which two bastions remain to the sides. The gate also gives its name to the zone, which is one of the ten boroughs of Naples. Th ...
.
In 1961, Mario Trevi was invited to
Totò
Antonio Griffo Focas Flavio Angelo Ducas Comneno Porfirogenito Gagliardi De Curtis di Bisanzio (15 February 1898 – 15 April 1967), best known by his stage name Totò (), or simply as Antonio de Curtis, and nicknamed ''il principe della risat ...
's house, a well-known comedian, in Rome, who asked him to sing ''Malafemmena'', a famous song written by Totò himself.
In that same year Trevi married Titina Spagnolo, the daughter of a Neapolitan record dealer.
In 1965, two days after the birth of their second child, Titina died of
aneurysm
An aneurysm is an outward :wikt:bulge, bulging, likened to a bubble or balloon, caused by a localized, abnormal, weak spot on a blood vessel wall. Aneurysms may be a result of a hereditary condition or an acquired disease. Aneurysms can also b ...
. Among many who honored her at her funeral was Sergio Bruni.
In 1967, despite family opposition, Trevi married Titina's younger sister, Teresa, with whom he had two more daughters.
Career
During his career, Mario Trevi has recorded more than eight hundred songs and has participated in ten
Festival of Naples
The Festival della Canzone Napoletana ("Festival of Neapolitan Song"), commonly known as the Festival di Napoli, is a Neapolitan song contest. The first edition was held in 1952 and the last in 2004. From 1952 to 1970 the show was broadcast on RAI ...
. In 1959, he recorded the first series of 78's with the Royal records. Among Mario Trevi's famous songs several have become classics, such as ''Indifferentemente'' (1963), ''Mare Verde'' (1961, written by Giuseppe Marotta), ''Me Parlano 'e Te'' (1964, written by the poet Salvatore Palomba and music by Antonio Vian), ''Settembre Cu' Mme' '' (1962, written by Renato flowers and music by Antonio Vian), and ''Cara Busciarda'' (1969, directed by Eduardo Alfieri). Because of his successful career, Mario Trevi was appointed to the ''Encyclopedia of the Neapolitan song'' by Ettore De Mura.

In 1973 Trevi devoted himself to a new musical genre known as "songs of the underworld," and to the
sceneggiata
The ''sceneggiata'' (, pl. sceneggiate) or ''sceneggiata napoletana'' () is a form of musical drama typical of Naples. Beginning as a form of musical theatre after World War I, it was also adapted for cinema; ''sceneggiata'' films became espec ...
. Among many of his plays, '' 'A Paggella'', brought so much success that was filmed in 1980 and directed by Ninì Grassia, starring Mario Trevi,
Marc Porel
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie (3 January 1949 – 15 August 1983), known professionally as Marc Porel, was a Swiss-born French film actor. He appeared in 40 films between 1967 and 1983.
Life
Marc Michel Marrier de Lagatinerie was born in ...
,
Rosalia Maggio
Rosalia Maggio (1 May 1921 – 25 July 1995) was an Italian actress, dancer, singer and showgirl. She was the youngest of the Maggio siblings.
Biography
Born in Palermo, she was the daughter of two comedian actors and sister of actors Enzo, D ...
, Beniamino Maggio, Marzio Onorato, Marisa Laurito.
In 1981 he was scheduled to play in another movie, '' 'O Carabiniere'', but he ended up turning down the opportunity and his character was played by
Fabio Testi
Fabio Testi (born 2 August 1941) is an Italian actor. After growing up witnessing film work done around Lake Garda, Testi entered the sets of the film and began work as a stuntman and a double on set, where he worked as a stuntman on ''The Good, ...
.
In 1978, Mario Trevi took on tours to the U.S. and Canada. In New York, he sang at the
Madison Square Garden
Madison Square Garden, colloquially known as the Garden or by its initials MSG, is a multi-purpose indoor arena in New York City. It is located in Midtown Manhattan between Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh and Eighth Avenue (Manhattan), Eig ...
, at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music
The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues.
BAM was chartered in 18 ...
and at the Kenkiol Theatre. He also participated in a tour in Europe and worked side by side with other Italian artists such as,
Luciano Tajoli
Luciano Tajoli (17 April 1920 – 3 August 1996) was an Italian singer and actor.
Music festival
Luciano Tajoli participated several times (1961, 1962, 1963, and 1970) in the Sanremo Music Festival, winning in 1961 with the song Al di là.Ma ...
,
Nilla Pizzi
Adionilla Pizzi (; 16 April 1919 – 12 March 2011), known by her stage name Nilla Pizzi, was an Italian singer and actress.
Born in Sant'Agata Bolognese, Italy, she was particularly famous in Italy during the 1950s and 1960s. She is well know ...
, and Claudio Villa.
In 1995 he recorded an album with
Zeus Record, a record making company, where he sang
Pino Daniele
Giuseppe "Pino" Daniele (19 March 1955 – 4 January 2015) was an Italian singer-songwriter and musician. His influences covered a wide number of genres, including pop, blues, jazz, and Italian and Middle Eastern music.
Biography
Daniele wa ...
's songs. In 1997 he was invited by
Paolo Limiti
Paolo Mario Limiti (8 May 1940 – 27 June 2017) was an Italian lyricist, journalist, radio and television writer and presenter.
Born in Milan, Limiti begin his career as a journalist, then in 1960 he started a long collaboration with Mike Bongio ...
in the show ''Ci vediamo in Tv'' and in 2001,
Piero Chiambretti
Piero Chiambretti (born 30 May 1956) is an Italian television presenter.
Biography
Born on 30 May 1956 in Aosta to Felicita Chiambretti, an 18-year-old single mother, he grew up in Turin. He later moved to Bologna, where he studied arts, Music a ...
and
Fabio Fazio
Fabio Fazio (; born 30 November 1964) is an Italian television presenter. After debuting in 1982, he presented many TV programs, including '' Quelli che... il Calcio'', '' Vieni via con me'' and ''Quello che (non) ho''. Since 2003, he presents ...
invited him to the
Festival della canzone italiana
The Sanremo Music Festival ( ), officially the Italian Song Festival (), is the most popular Italian song contest and awards ceremony, held annually in the city of Sanremo, Liguria, organized and broadcast by (RAI). It is the longest-running ...
to represent the Neapolitan song genre.
Mario Trevi also participated in television shows such as ''
Canzonissima
(; ) was an Italian musical variety show broadcast by Rai 1 from 1958 to 1975, aired on Saturday evenings except for the last two editions, which were aired on Sunday afternoon. The program has been referred to as "the synthesis and paradigm of ...
'', ''Napoli Contro Tutti'', ''Scala Reale'', ''Canzoni alla Finestra'', ''4 Passi Tra Le Note'', ''Il Paroliere'', ''Questo Sconosciuto'', ''15 Minuti Con ...'', ''La Fiera dei Sogni'', ''Senza Rete'', ''Napoli Prima e Dopo'', ''Viva Napoli'', ''Domenica In'', ''Mezzogiorno in Famiglia'', ''La vita in diretta''.
On 26 November 2005 Mario Trevi was appointed,
Knight of Malta
The Sovereign Military Order of Malta (SMOM), officially the Sovereign Military Hospitaller Order of Saint John of Jerusalem, of Rhodes and of Malta, and commonly known as the Order of Malta or the Knights of Malta, is a Catholic lay religious ...
, together with
Bruno Venturini and
Mario Merola Mario Merola could refer to:
*Mario Merola (singer)
Mario Merola (6 April 1934 – 12 November 2006) was an Italian singer and actor, most prominently known for having rejuvenated the traditional popular Neapolitan melodrama known as the ''Music ...
.

On 22 September 2009 Mario Trevi inaugurated its official website and entered the world of YouTube.
On 24 September 2009 he participated in the ''Premio Carosone 2009'', held at the
Arena Flegrea,
Mostra d'Oltremare
The Mostra d'Oltremare in Naples is one of the main trade fair venues in Italy and, together with the Fiera del Levante in Bari, the largest in Southern Italy. The venue covers an area of and includes buildings of considerable historical and a ...
in Naples, where he sang ''Indifferentemente'', ''Scalinatella'' and ''Giacca Rossa 'e Russetto''. On 4 November, Mario participated in the show ''Omaggio a Sergio Bruni'' (''Tribute to Sergio Bruni'') where he sang the songs ''Lusingame'' and ''Carmela'', and paired with
Enzo Gragnaniello
Enzo Gragnaniello (born 20 October 1954) is an Italian singer-songwriter and composer.
Life and career
Born in Quartieri Spagnoli, Naples, Gragnaniello began playing the guitar at the age of 12 and began composing his first songs at 18 years ol ...
in singing ''Indifferentemente''.
On 17 April 2010 Mario Trevi starred a new beginning with Luna Bianca, a live concert created to tour Italy. In Luna Bianca, Trevi is accompanied by six young members of the Orchestra Luna Bianca and two young voices, performing the revisiting classic Neapolitan songs with new music arrangements consisting of accelerated rhythms combined with the folklore of the Neapolitan song, a remake Turbo-folk genre.
Discography
*1961: ''Senti Napoli e poi...''
*1961: ''Naples – Today'' (
London Records
London Recordings (or London Records and London Music Stream) is a British record label that marketed records in the United States, Canada, and Latin America for Decca Records from 1947 to 1980 before becoming semi-independent. The London nam ...
)
*1964: ''Indifferentemente''
*1964: ''Mario Trevi con la orquesta de E.Alfieri'' (Ronde de Venezuela)
*1965: ''Canzoni napoletane classiche''
*1966: ''Canzoni napoletane moderne''
*1970: ''Mario Trevi & Mirna Doris, Ammore 'e Napule'' (Fiesta record company)
*1974: ''Le disque d'or des Chansons Napolitanes – Mario Trevi'' (
Pickwick Records
Pickwick Records was an American record label and British record distributor known for its budget album releases of sound-alike recordings, bargain bin reissues and repackagings under the brands Design, Bravo (later changing its name to Internati ...
)
*1975: ''Mario Trevi – vol.1''
*1975: ''Mario Trevi – vol.2''
*1975: ''Mario Trevi – vol.3''
*1975: ''Mario Trevi''
*1975: ''Si me sonno Napule''
*1975: ''Papà''
*1975: '' 'Nu telegramma''
*1975: ''Mario Trevi''
*1976: ''Mario Trevi recita le sue sceneggiate nel ruolo di 1° attore''
*1976: '' 'O presepio''
*1977: '' 'A paggella''
*1977: ''Senti Napoli e poi...'' (Sicamericana Sacifi)
*1978: '' 'A befana''
*1978: ''Mario Trevi – 12° volume''
*1979: ''La sceneggiata napoletana''
*1979: '' 'E candeline''
*1979: ''Canzoni di Napoli'' (Music Hall)
*1981: ''Mario Trevi – 14° volume''
*1982: ''Mario Trevi – 15° volume''
*1983: ''Mario Trevi – 18° volume''
*1984: ''Mario Trevi – 19° volume''
*1985: '' 'Nfizzo 'nfizzo''
*1986: ''Nun è 'nu tradimento''
*1986: ''Ancora io''
*1989: ''I miei successi di ieri... cantati oggi''
*1991: ''Tu si importante''
*1992: ''Cento canzoni da ricordare – vol.1''
*1992: ''Cento canzoni da ricordare – vol.2''
*1992: ''Cento canzoni da ricordare – vol.3''
*1992: ''Cento canzoni da ricordare – vol.4''
*1994: ''Cento canzoni da ricordare – vol.5''
*1994: ''Cento canzoni da ricordare – vol.6''
*1994: ''Carezze d'autore''
*1995: ''...Pecché te voglio bene''
*1995: ''...Niente – Trevi canta Daniele''
*1996: ''Nustalgia''
*2008: ''Il capitano e il marinaio''
*2011: ''Napoli Turbo Folk''
Filmography
*1980 – ''
La pagella''
*2025 - ''Indiffentemente... Mario Trevi''
Indifferentemente... Mario Trevi
/ref>
Theater
*''Cunfiette 'e sposa'' (1969)
*''Sulitario'' (1970)
*O carabiniere'' (1972)
*A mano nera'' (1973)
*O cammurrista'' (1973)
*''Cella 17'' (1974)
*O mariuolo'' (1975)
*O fuggiasco'' (1975)
*O rre d'è magliare'' (1976)
*Nu telegramma'' (1976)
*O presepio'' (1976)
*O professore'' (1977)
*A paggella'' (1977)
*A Befana'' (1978)
*O metronotte'' (1979)
*O diario'' (1979)
*''Papà'' (1980)
*''Astrignete 'a 'mme'' (1980)
*O tesoro'' (1981)
*O carabiniere'' (1981)
Bibliography
*Ettore De Mura, ''Enciclopedia della Canzone Napoletana'', Napoli, Il Torchio, 1969 (''Trevi Mario'', p. 380).
*Pietro Gargano – Gianni Cesarini, ''La Canzone Napoletana'', Milano, Rizzoli editore, 1984.
*''Annuario del cinema italiano'', editore: Centro studi di cultura, promozione e diffusione del cinema, 1986.
*''Annuario del cinema italiano'', editore: Centro studi di cultura, promozione e diffusione del cinema, 1990.
* Gino Castaldo, ''Dizionario della canzone italiana'', Armando Curcio Editore, 1990.
*Vittorio Paliotti, ''Storia della canzone napoletana: i primi canti popolari, le antiche villanelle, le melodie celebri in tutto il mondo...'', Newton Compton, 1992.
*Pino Farinotti, ''Dizionario degli attori, tutti gli attori e i loro film'', Varese, Sugarco Edizioni, 1993.
*Salvatore Tolino, ''Mostra storica permanente della Poesia, del Teatro e della Canzone Napoletana'', Istituto Grafico Editoriale Italiano, 1999.
*Joe Vitale, ''Viaggio nell'etnomusica: Manuale di musica popolare'', ILA Palma, 2000.
*Giovanni Alfano, ''Napule è 'na canzone, Antologia della canzone napoletana'', Salerno, Palladio Editrice, 2001.
*Dario Salvatori, ''Dizionario della canzoni italiane'', Roma, Elle U Multimedia, 2001.
*Pasquale Scialò, ''La Sceneggiata, rappresentazione di un genere popolare'', Napoli, Guida, 2002.
*Mario Merola – Geo Nocchetti, ''Napoli solo andata...il mio lungo viaggio'', Sperling & Kupfer, 2005.
*Enrico Careri – Pasquale Scialò, ''Studi sulla canzone napoletana classica'', Libreria musicale italiana, 2008.
*Tiziano Tarli e Pierpaolo De Iulis, ''Vesuvio Pop, la nuova canzone melodica napoletana'', Rome, Arcana Editore, 2009.
*Salvatore Palomba – Stefano Fedele, ''Le Canzoni di Napoli'', Napoli, ''L'Ancora del Mediterraneo'', 2009.
*Pasquale Scialò, ''Storie di musica'', Napoli, Guida, 2010.
*Antonio Sciotti, ''Cantanapoli. Enciclopedia del Festival della Canzone Napoletana 1952–1981'', Napoli, Luca Torre editore, 2011.
*Pietro Gargano, ''Nuova Enciclopedia Illustrata della Canzone Napoletana vol. VII'', Napoli, ed. Magmata, 2015.
References
External links
*
Official website
(Italian)
Official YouTube channel
Official Facebook page
Mario Trevi on iTunes
{{DEFAULTSORT:Trevi, Mario
1941 births
Living people
Singers from Naples
Male actors from Naples
Italian male singers