Ex. 7-8: Ideale

Composed in 1882, to a poem by Carmelo Errico (1848–1892). Tosti was born in Ortona, Abruzzo, and studied voice and composition at the Naples Conservatory. He was himself a tenor and worked as a vocal teacher.

Tosti moved to London in 1875, and in 1880 became singing teacher to the British royal family — including Queen Victoria's children. In recognition of his service, he was awarded a knighthood — the title "Sir" — a rare honour for an Italian musician in Britain.

The poem speaks to a vanished ideal — not simply a lost lover, but a guiding light: "I followed you like a rainbow of peace along the paths of the sky. I felt you in the light, in the air, in the fragrance of flowers." The singer begs: "Return, dear ideal, for just a moment — smile at me once more, and a new dawn will shine in your face."

Tosti studied with the opera composer Saverio Mercadante in Naples. He never wrote an opera himself, but he stood at the centre of Italian musical life: a friend of Puccini and Mascagni — whom he helped bring into London's music world — and admired by Verdi.

From the album The Love Song of Paolo Tosti by Gillian Zammit and Lucia Micallef (2013)
Spotify