Songs for Lyric Tenor: An Analysis of Five Francesco Paolo Tosti Songs

Authors

  • Mark Aaron Kano Bellarmine University - Louisville, KY

DOI:

https://doi.org/10.18533/jah.v10i6.1954

Keywords:

Tosti, Lyric Tenor, Performance Guide, Song Analysis, Vocal Performance

Abstract

Selecting diverse repertoire for the undergraduate lyric tenor can be a challenging process for instructors of this voice type. Francesco Paolo Tosti, a lyric tenor and composer, wrote songs that exemplify technical concepts that should be cultivated in the undergraduate lyric tenor voice. This guide will present five Tosti songs that address technical issues, which the lyric tenor must overcome to progress into more advanced repertoire. 

Author Biography

  • Mark Aaron Kano, Bellarmine University - Louisville, KY

    Mark Kano is Assistant Professor of Music, Vocal Music Area Coordinator, and Director of Chapel Music at Bellarmine University in Louisville, KY. He received a Bachelor of Music degree in Vocal Performance from Middle Tennessee State University and both the Master of Music and Doctor of Musical Arts degrees in Vocal Performance from the University of Kentucky.

    Mark made his international debut singing the role of Eisenstein in Die Fledermaus in Rome, Italy. Regionally, Kano has performed with Kentucky Opera, Nashville Opera, Cincinnati Opera, OperaLex, Evansville Philharmonic Orchestra, Kentucky Symphony Orchestra, Lexington Philharmonic Orchestra, and Louisville Orchestra. He is a member of the esteemed American Spiritual Ensemble, as well as the National Chorale, and is a frequent recitalist, equally at home with musical theatre. Kano has performed in our nation's leading performance venues, such as the Kennedy Center for the Arts, Carnegie Hall, and David Geffen Hall at Lincoln Center.

    Operatic roles in his repertoire include Tamino in Die Zauberflöte, Alfred in Die Fledermaus, Nanki Poo in The Mikado, Kaspar in Amahl & the Night Visitors, and the Witch in Hansel & Gretel. Additionally, he has sung many comprimario roles, including Gastone in La Traviata, Monostatos in Die Zauberflöte, the Emperor in Turandot, Borsa in Rigoletto, Ruiz in Il Trovatore, Remendado in Carmen, as well as roles in Porgy & Bess, La Bohème, and Samson et Dalila. Kano has been the tenor soloist in Mozart’s Requiem, Saint-Saëns’ Christmas Oratorio, Handel’s Messiah, Dubois’ The Seven Last Words of Christ, Beethoven’s Choral Fantasy, and other masses and oratorios. 

    A dedicated voice teacher, Dr. Kano’s students have been winners in various vocal competitions, participated in summer music festivals in the states and abroad, and have gone on to pursue music studies at University of Michigan, Indiana University, Cincinnati College Conservatory of Music, The Julliard School, and many others. Dr. Kano is an active masterclass clinician and adjudicator and has served as Visiting Instructor of Voice at the University of Kentucky, as well as on the voice faculties of Centre College, Transylvania University, Kentucky Center Governor’s School for the Arts, and Operafestival di Roma. He serves as Governor for the Mid-South Region of the National Association of Teachers of Singing.  

References

Kimball, Carol. Song: A Guide to Style and Literature. Redmond, Washington: Pst…Inc., 1996, 2000.

Miller, Richard. Training Tenor Voices. New York: Schirmer Books, 1992.

Retzlaff, Jonathan. Exploring Art Song Lyrics: Translation and Pronounciation of the Italian, German & French Repertoire. New York, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 2012.

Sanvitale, Francesco. The Song of a Life: Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846-1916). Aldershot, Hampshire, England; Burlington, VT: Ashgate, 2004.

Tosti, Francesco Paolo: 30 Songs, High Voice. Milan, Italy: Ricordi, Distributed by Hal Leonard, 2002.

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Published

2021-07-10

Issue

Vol. 10 No. 6 (2021): June

Section

Article

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