Arcano Franco Vassallo & Giulio Zappa

• Francesco Paolo Tosti (1846 - 1916), Giovanni Alfredo Cesareo (1860 - 1937):
• 1 La Serenata 03:05
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Carmelo Errico (1848 - 1892):
• 2 Ideale 04:05
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Rocco Emanuele Pagliara (1856 - 1914):
• 3 Malia 02:49
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Francesco Cimmino (1862 - 1939):
• 4 L'ultima Canzone 04:14
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Rocco Emanuele Pagliara:
• 5 Rosa 04:23
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Anonymous:
• 6 Addio Fanciulla... 02:07
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Olindo Guerrini (1845 - 1916):
• 7 Sogno 03:07
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Gabriele D'Annunzio (1863 - 1938):
• 8 Buon Capodanno 03:45
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Rocco Emanuele Pagliara:
• 9 Aprile 03:42
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Gabriele D'Annunzio:
• 10 Arcano 04:29
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Ferdinando Fontana (1850 - 1919):
• 11 È Morto Pulcinella! 05:06
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Gabriele D'Annunzio:
• 12 A Vucchella 02:26
• 13 Due Piccoli Notturni: I. Van Li Effluvî De Le Rose Da I Verzieri 02:32
• 14 Due Piccoli Notturni: II. O Falce Di Luna Calante 02:15
• 15 Notte Bianca 05:00
• 16 Ninna Nanna 03:24
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Riccardo Mazzola (1892 - 1922):
• 17 Luna D'Estate! 02:04
• 18 Tristezza 03:55
• 19 Il Pescatore Canta! 05:03
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, George John Whyte-Melville (1821 - 1878):
• 20 Good-bye! 04:19
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Enrico Panzacchi (1840 - 1904):
• 21 Mattinata 02:53
• Francesco Paolo Tosti, Gabriele D'Annunzio:
• 22 Vuol Note O Banconote? 00:40
• Total Runtime 01:15:23

Info for Arcano

An invitation to the magical world of Tosti’s Salon Music

High-ceilinged rooms with elaborate chandeliers and exquisite furniture, lavish meals and delicate wines, civilized conversation with the most interesting people of the day, and of course, music. These were the late 19th and early 20th centuries’ pleasures the Salons had to offer, and music was not a minor component of this most sophisticated social tradition which thrived in western societies up until 1914.

Francesco Paolo Tosti was no stranger to this world. By putting music to the words of exquisite poets, his fame grew so widely that in 1880 he was appointed the singing master to the British Royal Family, and even Verdi allegedly said that Tosti was the best singing teacher of his time.

On this new recital album, the majestic and accurate baritone of Franco Vassallo along with the accomplished piano playing of Giulio Zappa will take us to that magical time where poetry, beauty, and pleasure were part and parcel of the artistic experience.

Franco Vassallo, baritone
Giulio Zappa, piano

Franco Vassallo
is a native of Milan where at a very early age he discovered his great enthusiasm for Opera and Classical music.

His unusual singing talent was spotted by a teacher at school who heard him singing in the corridors. The teacher was able to introduce him to his father, the baritone Carlo Meliciani , who had studied singing with the great Carlo Tagliabue and who then became Vassallo’s teacher. Meliciani encouraged him to attend the Civic School of Music in Milan (which is nowadays dedicated to the memory of Claudio Abbado).

Vassallo understood that a developed artist must have broad interests, so later he devoted himself to the study of Literature and Philosophy at the State University of Milan. He was also aware of how very important is the dramatic structure of Opera and how much acting skills can contribute to the intensity of the art form. Accordingly he devoted much time to the study of Stanislavski’s Method.

His singing career really took off in 1994 when he won the international singing competition ‘As. Li. Co’ in Milan.

In 1997 he won the competition for the Verona Arena to sing Ford alongside Renato Bruson in Verdi’s Falstaff.

These performances quickly led on to an outstanding success in the title role in Rossini’s Barber of Seville. For a number of years Vassallo was the performer of choice in that role almost everywhere.

In the following years he specialised in the bel canto roles of Donizetti and Bellini that took him to la Scala Milan, the Staatsoper Vienna, and the Metropolitan Opera New York. He performed under the baton of such maestri as Riccardo Chailly, Daniele Gatti, Valery Gergiev, Daniel Harding, James Levine, Nello Santi, Jeffrey Tate, James Conlon, Fabio Luisi, Daniel Oren, Anton Guadagno, Marco Armiliato, Marcello Viotti, Michele Mariotti, and Gianandrea Noseda.

He worked as well with great directors as Robert Carsen, David McVicar, Hugo De Ana, Gianfranco De Bosio, Giancarlo Del Monaco, Claus Guth, Denis Krief, Christof Loy, Ermanno Olmi, Pierluigi Pizzi, Toni Servillo, Bartlett Sher, Ferruccio Soleri, Graham Vick, and Franco Zeffirelli.

In his more mature years Vassallo has stayed true to his belcanto roots while developing his career as an interpreter of the great Verdi baritone roles which include Simon Boccanegra, Attila, Un Ballo in Maschera, Don Carlo, Rigoletto, Macbeth, Nabucco, Otello, Il Trovatore and La Forza del Destino, with performances in all the great Opera Houses of the world.

The last two seasons have been characterized by important debuts: Verdi's Luisa Miller and Le Trouvére at the Teatro Regio in Parma, Donizetti's Requiem and Bellini's Pirata.

Vassallo has also approached for the first time the pre-verist and verist repertoire by successfully tackling Puccini‘s leading roles of Scarpiain in Hamburg Staatsoper‘s Tosca and Michele in the Maggio Musicale Fiorentino‘s Tabarro as well as at Barnaba in Ponchielli‘s La Gioconda at La Monnaie in Brussels.

Franco Vassallo happens to be the last descendant of the Marquis of Brignano in Tortona and as such he was recently invested as Knight of Justice in the Spanish noblemen’s association “Capitulo Noble de Fernando VI“, and as Royal Guard of His Royal Highness the Duke of Braganza, the Pretender to the throne of Portugal.

Upcoming engagements include the debut at the Salzburg Easter Festival as Rodrigo, Marquis of Posa in Verdi's Don Carlo, in a production that will be resumed on may in Dresden, always directed by Christian Thielemann. Besides, Vassallo will debut at the Teatro Comunale in Bologna with Luisa Miller and Otello. There are also important recordings scheduled, including Bellini's Pirate in Dortmund.

This album contains no booklet.