Thou singest ye carol

Today we focus once again on Italian songs. We’ve already featured Tosti and Respighi but never Mercadante. Italy is, of course, the land of opera and Mercadante wrote as many as 60 of them between 1820 and 1870. He also wrote songs, which he called Arie, Canzoni, or Romanza, usually with piano accompaniment. Always sung by singers from the opera, as in this programme. Listen to Saverio Mercadante’s Italy.

Playlist:

1. Saverio Mercadante – ‘Il pastore svizzero’ (Conte Carlo Pepoli)
   Tenor William Matteuzzi with David Harper at the piano.
2. Saverio Mercadante – ‘Il Zeffiro’ (Conte Carlo Pepoli)
   Soprano Nelly Miricioiu and pianist David Harper.

1839 Ignace Pleyel

3. Saverio Mercadante
a. ‘Il desiato ritorno’ (Jacopo Crescini)
b. ‘Il fiore e la lagrina (text from German M.G. Richter)
c. ‘La prece dell’orfana (Salvadore Cammarano)
Soprano Francesca Rotondo and Alberto Mondini pianoforte (Ignace Pleyel)

4. Saverio Mercadante
a. ‘La pesca’ (Metastasio) sopranos Nelly Miricioiu and Yvonne Kelly, David Harper             piano
b. ‘A mia figlia’ (Salvadore Cammarano) Baritone Alastair Miles and pianist David               Harper
c. ‘La Rosa'(Neapolitan song text by Mercadante) Soprano Yvonne Kenny and                   pianist David Harper
d. ‘Il Brindisi'(Pepoli) Tenor Bruce Ford, baritone Alastair Miles and pianist David              Harper
e. ‘La serenata del marinario’ (Pepoli) Tenor William Matteuzzi and pianist David               Harper.

5. Flute concerto in E minor by Saverio Mercadante (excerpt)

Silvestro Lega – Il canto di uno stornello – 1868