A Concert of Italian Salon Art Songs of the Golden Age
by Tosti and his contemporaries,
with tenor Minghao Liu
Jorge Parodi at the piano

March 25, 2024 at the Williamsburg Regional Library Auditorium, 515 Scotland Street, Williamsburg, VA 23185

Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1915) was born in in Ortona, Abruzzo, and studied music in Ortona and in Naples. He was a contemporary of both Verdi and Puccini. He excelled in writing for the voice, but did not compose operas. Rather, he specialized in art songs, both in Italian and in English (by 1885 he was the most popular composer of songs in England). This concert will feature some of his many Italian compositions, including some based on folk songs from the Abruzzi region and some in the Neapolitan dialect.