Francesco Paolo TOSTI (1846-1916)
The Song of a Life - Volume 2
Monica Bacelli, Desirée Rancatore, Benedetta Torre (soprano)
Jurgita Adamonyté (mezzo-soprano)
Mark Milhofer (tenor)
Piotr Lempa (bass)
Eugene Villanueva (baritone)
Luisa Prayer, Antonio Ballista, Marco Scolastra, Marco Moresco (piano)
Rec. 2015/16, Teatro Clitunno, Trevi, Italy
BRILLIANT CLASSICS 95429 [4 CDs: 239:16]
In 2016, the centenary of Francesco Paolo Tosti’s death in 1916, Brilliant Classics started issuing his almost 400 songs in four volumes, which in due time were to encompass 18 CDs. I reviewed volumes 1 (review), 3 (review) and 4 (review) but for some unaccountable reason missed volume 2. Now I make amends and eventually provide the missing volume, even though it may be like throwing in the yeast after the dough. But it would have been a pity not to report on these 71 songs, since they are some of the loveliest in his whole oeuvre and the singing, by and large, is the most accomplished of the lot. There are few really well-known songs here, but that’s the case with Tosti at large. There is roughly a dozen songs that regularly pop up, often as encores, in the recital halls and likewise as fillers on opera recitals. In this volume Marechiare (CD 1 tr. 6), Malìa (CD 2 tr. 2) and La serenata (CD 3 tr. 14) are top-rated but the remaining 68 are more or less in the same division. I don’t intend to comment on each of them – even though they are well worth highlighting. Better though to buy the set and find out for yourself. Those I dwell upon are the ones I marked with an exclamation mark in my notes. I’ll also comment on the singing, which also is essential knowledge for those contemplating a purchase. So, here we go!
The first disc opens with the beautiful serenade Apri!, a truly inviting start to the traversal, and one to which I will certainly return. It is sung by the English tenor Mark Milhofer who, after studies at the Guildhall School of Music in London went to Italy on invitation from Renata Scotto and Leyla Gencer. He has had an international career all over Europe and as far away as in Beijing. His is a light lyric tenor with agreeable tone and he nuances well and he can sing beautiful pianissimos, as in In mare (tr. 3). In more strenuous situations his vibrato becomes more prominent. He shares the disc with esteemed mezzo-soprano Monica Bacelli, who here for some reason is given as soprano. And it is true that in her first song, At the Convent Gate, she adopts a girlish tone, singing simply and innocently like a novice. The song is beautiful and Ms Bacelli nuances delicately and her final pianissimo note is lovely. She is also so soft and sensitive in Théophile Gautier’s Prière, a true prayer that suits her nun’s voice. Sogno, is another great song, and it is sung at mezzo-forte with great feeling, but at forte her vibrato becomes a bit too wide for comfort. She also sings Marechiare without too much histrionics – even though Pavarotti’s larger-than-life reading is glorious. Monica Bacelli has been singing leading mezzo roles for many years at the big European opera houses and premiered quite a number of new works.
On CD 2 we first encounter the lyrical soprano Benedetta Torre in the attractive Love Ties. This young singer – only 21 when this recording was made – seems cut out for a fine career. She has a beautiful voice, fresh and clean and, like all the singers in this box, has the ability and musicality to nuance the singing. She has the mini-cycle Malinconia (Melancholy) all to herself and she sings the five songs with deep understanding and constantly beautiful tone. The poems are by Gabriele d’Annunzio, the greatest Italian poet since Dante – at least according to himself – but he certainly was the most esteemed poet of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. They are serious poems and the settings are obviously heartfelt, rather different from the ‘typical’ Tosti. Two highlights are the lovely Ici bas, a setting of a poem by the first Nobel Prize Winner sully Prudhomme, and the solemn prayer Ridonami la calma! In the fast and lively La viuletta Benedetta Torre is joined by San Francisco born baritone Eugene Villanueva, a singer who has quickly established himself on both sides of the Atlantic. On his own he sings the well-known Malìa with a good deal of warmth, and in Segreto he displays his ability to scale down his instrument to soft intimacy as well as expand in volume to express drama. His final pianissimo is riveting. Elsewhere he can sound slightly worn and over-vibrant but he always sings with sensitivity. The setting of Longfellow’s Dreams of the Summer Night is a good example.
The third disc is entirely devoted to the dramatic soprano Desirée Rancatore. She has been one of the brightest stars on the stages in Europe since the mid-90s and her voice has retained its fullness and beauty of tone, but it is here unfortunately afflicted by a strong vibrato on sustained notes. She still sings with great confidence and one gets used to the vibrato. She is also unwilling to scale down the voice to a more intimate format, but she does occasionally, as in Si vous saviez! – another Prudhomme setting. Carmèn is, unsurprisingly, a habanera and there are references to Bizet in the accompaniment. A touch of Iberia is also discernible in Victor Hugo’s Guitare, a poem also set by Bizet, Delibes, Lalo, Liszt, Massenet, Saint-Saëns and several others. Dimmi fanciulla is a duet and here Desirée Rancatore is partnered by an anonymous tenor, who sings with real glow. There are several other songs here where Tosti’s melodic inspiration flowed incessantly, not least the often heard La serenata. The song is reprised at the end of the disc but now with an added cadenza explicitly composed for the great Australian soprano Nellie Melba, who was a close friend. There the listener is invited to a dramatic coloratura flight up in the blue, expertly executed. For comparison I recommend Nellie Melba’s own reading, recorded in 1904 and reissued a couple of years ago (review).
The well-filled CD 4 introduces us to the young Polish bass Piotr Lempa and Lithuanian mezzo-soprano Jurgita Adamonyté. Both are fresh-voiced and sing with both intensity and beauty. Moreover all the songs are definitely from Tosti’s top drawer and should this disc one day be issued separately it should absolutely be picked up by anyone who likes good singing but is uninterested in a large quantity of Tosti. On the other hand this box is so cheap that one can with a clear conscience invest in it without overstepping the household budget. Lempa’s sonorous and warm voice is both powerful and capable of fining down to soft nuances and his range is impressive with an upper extension that is baritonal and brilliant. Any of his solos should be an excellent calling card but Tell me to Stay (tr. 3) and Canzone Veneziana (tr. 5) should be a good starting point, the latter in particular is performed with great charm. In Venetia Song (tr. 4), a truly romantic barcarolle, he is also joined by Ms Adamonyté. They match each other to perfection and the song quickly became a favourite of mine that I’m sure will be played frequently in the future. Jurgita Adamonyté is a dramatic and intensive singer with steady tone and she characterises well. I Dare to Love Thee (tr. 11), a marvellous song that should be heard more often, finds her at her best, but d’Annunzio’s Per morire (tr. 14), filled with sorrow, is also one that lingers in my memory, and so does Comme va? (tr. 15). She is also excellent in the Quattro melodie (tr. 17-20) which are again a little different from the traditional Tosti, just as Malinconia on CD 2. The last of them, Per l’amor d’amore, is another find that I shall savour in the future.
Piotr Lempa gets the last word in this box with a gorgeous reading of In the Hush of the Night.
It has been a delight to listen through these 71 songs and here are many gems that have been more or less forgotten by the general public. Hopefully this laudable initiative to record Tosti’s complete oeuvre will be rewarded in the shape of good sales figures.
Göran Forsling
Contents
CD 1 [48:08]
1. Apri! (1886) CS81 [5:40]
2. At the Convent Gate (1886) CS82 [4:59]
3. In mare (1886) CS83 [4:38]
4. Prière (1886) CS84 [5:04]
5. Sogno (1886) CS85 [3:05]
6. Marechiare (1886) CS86 [3:31]
7. Pepita (1887) CS87 [4:12]
8. Lutto (1886) CS88 [4:49]
9. L’ultimo bacio (1887) CS89 [2:19]
10. Chanson de Fortunio (1887) CS90 [4:31]
Monica Bacelli (soprano), Mark Milhofer (tenor), Antonio Ballista (piano)
CD 2 [67:37]
1. Love Ties (1887) CS91 [4:24]
2. Malìa (1887) CS92 [2:48]
3. Segreto (1887) CS93 [4:56]
4. Vieni (1887) CS94 [2:28]
5. We Have Loved (1887) CS95 [4:15]
“Malinconia” (1887) CS96:
6. I. Dorme la selva [2:12]
7. II. Quand’io ti guardo [1:24]
8. III. L’ora è tarda [1:49]
9. IV. Or dunque addio! [3:45]
10. V. Chi sei tu che mi parli? [2:45]
11. La viuletta. Si na scingiate te putesse dà (1888) CS97 [2:06]
12. Luce d’amore! (1888) CS98 [3:54]
“Due melodie” CS 100
13. I. Deh, ti desta (1875) [3:20]
14. II. Au cimetière (1875) [3:01]
15. Dreams of the Summer Night (My Lady Sleeps) (1888) CS101 [3:34]
16. Chanson d’automne (1888) CS102 [2:31]
17. Ici bas (1888) CS103 [2:23]
18. Mio povero amor! (1888) CS104 [4:43]
19. Ridonami la calma! (1888) CS105 [5:31]
20. Tell Them! (1888) CS106 [5:07]
Benedetta Torre (soprano), Eugene Villanueva (baritone), Luisa Prayer (piano)
CD 3 [53:28]
Altre pagine d’album (1889) CS107
1. Lasciali dir (1889) [1:48]
2. Tout passe, tout lasse, tout casse! (1889) [1:42]
3. Automne (1889) [1:41]
4. Primavera (1889) [2:20]
5. Mon Coeur est plein de toi (1889) [2:21]
6. Fiaba (1889) [2:15]
7. Si vous saviez! (1889) [2:20]
8. Carmèn (1889) [2:24]
9. Je voudrais (1889) [2:24]
10. Guitare (1889) [3:21]
11. Si tu le volais (1889) [2:29]
12. Dimmi fanciulla (a 2 voci) (1889) [2:16]
13. Carmela (1880) CS108 [3:39]
14. La serenata (1880) CS109 [2:50]
15. Shall We Forget (1890) CS110 [2:55]
16. Non senti tu (1890) CS113 [2:28]
17. Un bacio (1890) CS114 [3:52]
18. Pianto di monaca (1890) CS115 [3:10]
19. Io mi domando (1890) CS116 [3:23]
20. Cadenza a La serenata, scritta appositamente per Nellie Melba CS109B [2:29]
Desirée Rancatore (soprano), Marco Scolastra (piano)
CD 4 [70:03]
1. Beauty’s Eyes (1891) CS117 [4:22]
2. Ever Yours Sincerely (1891) CS118 [2:32]
3. Tell me to Stay (1891) CS119 [4:02]
4. Venetian Song (vocal duet) (1891) CS120 [4:06]
5. Canzone Veneziana (1892) CS120B [3:50]
6. Winged Echoes (1891) CS121 [4:01]
7. Entra! (1892) CS124 [3:02]
8. Magia (1891) CS125 [3:15]
9. My Memories (1891) CS126 [3:49]
10. Triste ritorno (1892) CS128 [3:18]
11. I Dare to Love Thee (1892) CS129 [2:57]
12. Novena profana (1892) CS130 [3:16]
13. Neapolitan Song (1892) CS131 [3:09]
14. Per morire (1892) CS132 [4:20]
15. Comme va? (1892) CS134 [1:27]
16. Nel mio segreto? (1893) CS135 [3:34]
“Quattro melodie” (1895) CS150
17. I. Laggiù, laggiù! [3:09]
18. II. La fioca anima mia [1:49]
19. III. Non m’aspettare! [3:15]
20. IV. Per l’amor d’amore [3:30]
21. In the Hush of the Night (1894) CS149 [2:38]
Jurgita Adamonyté (mezzo-soprano), Piotr Lempa (bass), Marco Moresco (piano)
