When we think about Italian music, we think above all of opera. Liriche have always been overshadowed by French mélodie and German Lieder. The intensity and scope of Italianate emotion seems to require a sprawling canvas to contain it. However, the foundation of Italian opera is melody--passionate, soaring, sensuous. And what better way to showcase melody than in the simple and direct genre of the song? The liriche performed here were written during the great efflorescence of operatic art that took place around the turn of the 20th century known as verismo: truth. The basic experiences of life, such as romantic love and love of nature are depicted here on a more human scale than that of opera, a scale we indeed feel to be true. We can hear our own lives reflected in these exquisite miniatures, colored by the warmth of the Mediterranean sun: riflessi di sole.
A recording project dedicated
to a forgotten repertoire
Anton Belov, Baritone
The voice of baritone Anton Belov was described as mellifluous by the New York Times and that of an emerging star by the Philadelphia Inquirer. He is the winner of eight vocal competitions and has earned critical praise for his portrayals of Count Di Luna (Il Trovatore) , Enrico (Lucia di Lammermoor) , Don Giovanni and Eugene Onegin. A native of Moscow, Dr. Belov holds degrees from New England Conservatory, Boston University and the Juilliard School.
www.antonbelov.com
Heather Gallagher, Mezzo-Soprano
American mezzo-soprano Heather Gallagher's work has been called "standout", and is characterized by its "care and sweetness". She studied with Marcello Giordani at the Academy at the Teatro Bellini in Sicily. She has received awards from the Licia Albanese-Puccini Foundation and the Metro West Opera Competition. Ms. Gallagher was a Presidential Scholar at the Longy School of Music in Cambridge, MA. She is a graduate of New World School of the Arts and the University of Florida.
www.heatheragallagher.com
Giovanni Formisano, Tenor
Tenor Giovanni Formisano, born in Torre del Greco Naples, Italy began his vocal studies in Boston with Anton Belov. Giovanni is noted for his performances in such roles as Cavaradossi (Tosca) , the Duke of Mantua (Rigoletto) and Nemorino (LElisir dAmore) . He is achieving wide recognition as a master of Italian vocal style.
Yuriko Nonaka, Soprano
Soprano Yuriko Nonaka, first prize winner of the International Madama Butterfly Competition, currently enjoys an international career. Ms. Nonaka has performed with the Tokyo Philharmonic Orchestra, Opera North, Opera Brooklyn, Commonwealth Opera, Opera Providence and The Key West Symphony Orchestra. A native of Japan, she holds a BA in vocal performance from Tokyo National University of Fine Arts and a Graduate Diploma in Opera from Longy School of Music.
Eric Mazonson, Piano
Eric Mazonson's playing has been described by New York Newsday as full of technical sparkle. Mr. Mazonson received his Bachelor and Master of Music degrees from Boston University, where he studied piano with Anthony di Bonaventura and coached chamber music with Leslie Parnas, Eugene Lehner, Louis Battle and Walter Trampler. He has been heard in many solo, chamber music and vocal recitals in the United States, Canada and Europe. Mr. Mazonson has served on the faculties of the University of Rhode Island, Roger Williams University, Providence College, Framingham State University, and the Rhode Island Philharmonic Music School.
Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916)
Tosti dedicated his composing career almost exclusively to song. A native of Ortona, he studied at Naples Conservatory. He first came to prominence when he performed one of his ballads at Sala Dante in Rome before the future Queen of Italy, Princess Margherita of Savoy, who appointed him her singing instructor. In 1880 Tosti relocated permanently to England, where he was offered the post of royal singing teacher. His English songs became immensely popular--so much so that he was paid exorbitant retainer fees by his publishers for a mere twelve songs a year. He was knighted in 1908, and spent his final years in Italy.
Stefano Donaudy (1879-1925)
Stefano Donaudy was born in Palermo, Sicily of a French father and an Italian mother. He began composing at an early age, writing one of his most famous songs, Vaghissima Sembianza , at the age of thirteen. Donaudy studied at Palermo Conservatory. Ricordi, the famed Italian publishing house, released a collection of his songs titled Аrie di Stile Antico . Some of these songs became immensely popular and are commonly used by voice teachers when teaching young singers.
Pietro Mascagni (1863-1945)
Born in Livorno in Tuscany, Mascagni was one of the most important Italian opera composers of the early 20th century. He never quite matched the success of his one-act opera, Cavalleria Rusticana, composed as a contest piece in 1890 (it won). He wrote in many genres in addition to his fifteen operas: operetta, art song, orchestral works and piano music. He also had a significant career as a conductor. His opera L'Amico Fritz is notable for two reasons: it contains a gorgeous duet known as "The Cherry Tree Duet" for soprano and tenor; and Mussolini banned its performance after instituting anti-Semitic racial laws in the 1930s because one of its main characters was a rabbi. Mascagni died in Rome in 1945.
Ermanno Wolf-Ferrari (1876-1948)
Wolf-Ferrari, the son of a German-Jewish father and his Italian wife, was born in Venice. Before he was thirty, he achieved great success with the choral work La Vita Nuova and the opera Le Donne Curiose . The latter is notable for its quartet for the unusual combination of four sopranos. His comic opera Il Segreto di Susanna concerns a woman who hides her smoking habit from her husband (well-bred women didn't smoke at the turn of the twentieth century), who concludes that she is having an affair when he finds cigarette butts in his ashtrays. It contains a famous aria in which Susanna rhapsodizes about the joys of smoking, and a frequently-performed overture. At 27 he received a lifetime appointment as director of a conservatory in Venice, but resigned after six years, and spent the next 35 years in Munich. He died in Venice in 1948.
Ottorino Respighi (1879-1936)
Ottorino Respighi was born in Bologna to a musical family. His father was a piano teacher. He studied violin and viola at the Liceo Musicale in his native city, and traveled widely during his formative years, playing viola at the Mariinsky Theater in Saint Petersburg and studying briefly with Rimsky-Korsakov. Respighi was profoundly interested in Baroque music. His orchestral transcription of Monteverdi's Lamento D'Arianna brought him his first public recognition. For over a decade, he held a professorship at the Liceo Musicale di Santa Cecilia. He married his former student, mezzo-soprano Elsa Olivieri-Sangiacomo, who became a tireless advocate of his music. Respighi wrote many magnificent songs, which remain in the repertoire of recitalists worldwide.
Francesco Santoliquido (1883-1971)
Santoliquido is one of the most neglected Italian composers of the twentieth century. Despite a handful of recent recordings, his works remain almost completely unknown. He was born near Naples in San Giorgio at Cremona, and studied composition in Rome at the Liceo di Santa Cecilia. Subsequently, he spent nearly a decade in Tunis, returning to Italy in 1921 and settling in Anacapri, where he spent the rest of his long life. In addition to twenty-six songs, Santoliquido composed four operas, several symphonies and works for piano and chamber ensembles. His embrace of Italian fascism might provide a partial explanation for the unpopularity of his music.
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