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Sir
Francesco Paolo Tosti, Italian composer naturalised English, was born
in Ortona a Mare (Chieti) on 9 April 1846 and died in Rome on 2 July
1916. It is about time we remembered in a more tangible way this musician,
who was an apprentice of Saverio Mercadante (of whom he became secretary)
for composition and left school in 1866. After the usual hard period
of traineeship - during which he held a position as organist in the
Ortona cathedral and also conducted three operas in the theatre of his
native town - in 1870 he settled in Rome and first met Giovanni Sgambati.
The
latter stimulated him to make his music known in the aristocratic salons,
also performing as a singer. His career was significantly boosted and
he became singing teacher of Margaret of Savoy and administrator of
the court musical archive. Destiny had a royal career in store for him:
in 1875 he met with considerable success in London, and was appointed
the Royal Family’s singing teacher in 1880. In 1906 he was given British
citizenship and in 1908 he was made a baronet.
He
never neglected his native country and he spent the summer season in
Italy, at Francavilla a Mare together with Gabriele D’Annunzio and other
well-known personalities. When reflecting upon his artistic production
and style, one immediately realises his great and deep love for Mediterranean
melody, which follows the patter of the “chamber aria” which was generously
resorted to by the great opera composers of the nineteenth century.
One
could try and create a daring link with a noble “Lied” without forgetting
that also other terms, such as “melodia”, “aria” and “canzonetta” led
to a frequent resort to this musical form.
Tosti
was undoubtedly the father of a refined salon style, he was fully successful,
mainly thanks to the direct impact which his music had in Italy during
the time of Umberto I and in England during the Victorian age.
Tosti
was not trying to rival the mythical opera figures; he wished to broaden
the people’s repertoire, the folk music of his native land.
An
emblematic example is provided by the “Canti popolari abruzzesi” [Abruzzo
Folk Songs], which are undeniable evidence of an excellent knowledge
of the Abruzzo traditions as well as of the Campania culture.
And
we should not forget that “Marechiare”, one of the banners of Naples,
based on verse by Salvatore di Giacomo, became a memorable musical document
reflecting the “people’s feelings”. We should not neglect the fact that
G. D’Annunzio also played a considerable role in creating Tosti’s figure,
by making him publicly known through articles, which celebrated his
effectiveness as a musician and as a fresh creator of catchy tunes.
Besides proving of great help to Tosti, D’Annunzio also became an anonymous
collaborator of his, by writing, under the pen name of Mario de’ Fiori,
the words of “A vucchella”, a piece which became part of the Italian
and worldwide opera tradition.
The
splendid pages of the “Canzoni di Amaranta” also represent an important
and unique testimony to a prestigious friendship and partnership. Of
the thirty pieces written by D’Annunzio and set to music by Tosti, sixteen
were expressly written to be accompanied by melody.
For
instance the piece “Malinconia” was found among Tosti’s papers by the
maestro A. Piovano, and after a first edition dated 1888, no more was
known about this piece. Leoncavallo, a close fiend of Tosti’s, defined
him with two lapidary sentences which summarise precisely the role played
by the composer within the musical scene of the time: “inwardly a modern
troubadour” and “prince of Italian chamber aria”. He intended to record
the feelings, the loves and the emotional exaggerations of a cultural
and social period that allowed plenty of room to the extremist aspects
of love thought.
He
became the reporter of the time, of the fleeting moment, which directly
took into account two aspects of reality, the royal side and the people’s
side, combined in an almost grotesque use of the voice, exaggerating
the affectation of the text. The time aided the creation of light and
frivolous sceneries. The “café chantant” and the “operetta” were musical
forms that had great success and, in the Rome variety theatres during
the time of Umberto I, places such as Esedra, Trianon and Gambrinus
were patronized by aristocrats, who found here, in their private salons,
Tosti’s pieces. In 1904, Tosti introduced Puccini to one of his female
students, Sybil Selingman, whose husband was a banker of the City. Puccini
had an affair with the woman, which later led to friendship.
This
proves how influential Tosti was in British high society.
His
already wide fame became everlasting with the film “Torna, caro ideale”
by C. Brignone; and we should not forget the performance of his pieces
by epoch-making interpreters of Italian opera, such as Caruso, Schipa,
Di Stefano, Pavarotti, Carreras. Over the last few years, Tosti’s name
is back in international concert circuits; a new Tosti season would
bring further prestige to the Italian school of music not exclusively
based on opera. (traduzione Interpres sas-Giussano)
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