The Trio Lescano was a female vocal group singing in Italian from 1936 to 1950, originally consisting of Hungarian-Dutch sisters Alessandra Lescano (Alexandrina Eveline Leschan; 1910–1987), Giuditta Lescano (Judith Leschan; 1913–1976) and Caterina "Caterinetta" Lescano (Catherine Matje Leschan; 1919–1965). Caterinetta left the group in 1946 and Italian singer Maria Bria (born 1925) took her place. History Origins The three Leschan sisters were the daughters of Alexander Leschan, a Hungarian acrobat born in 1877 in Budapest, and Eva de Leeuwe, a Dutch Jewish operetta singer born in Amsterdam in 1892. In the Netherlands, where they were born and raised, they worked as circus acrobats. Though they were born in the Netherlands and Dutch native speakers, the three sisters were Hungarian citizens until they acquired the Italian citizenship. Consequently to an accident, the father became disabled and the mother, a vaudevillian, decided to form an acrobatic dance group: however, only the elder sisters Alexandrina and Judith joined in under the management of Enrico Portino. They formed the Sunday Sisters and performed in Europe, Syria and Lebanon; Catherine was too young and stayed in a boarding school in Amsterdam. In 1935 they got to Turin, where maestro Carlo Prato, the artistic director of the local EIAR, noted them and decided to raise them as a vocal trio devoted to harmonic singing. Their first reference group was the American Boswell Sisters. The three sisters signed with Parlophon, a record label at the time distributed by Cetra. Their name was ("Lescano Sisters vocal trio", shortened to Trio Lescano), their names and surname were Italianized due to Fascist language policies and their first song, "Guarany Guaranà", was recorded on February 22, 1936, with the EIAR orchestra directed by Cinico Angelini, and it was published in March. Success The years between 1937 and 1941 were fundamental for them: they joined the Orchestra Cetra as singers, directed by Pippo Barzizza. This event gave them a sudden and extraordinary popularity and they were chosen to open the experimental broadcasting of the "radiovision", the future Italian television. In 1940 they performed a musical number ("Oh! Ma-ma!") in the film Ecco la radio! ("Here Is the Radio!"), directed by Giacomo Gentilomo and dedicated to EIAR. They recorded a great number of songs under the direction of Pippo Barzizza. On March 30, 1942, on Benito Mussolini's proposal, King Victor Emmanuel III granted them Italian citizenship. The news – though at the time