OSCAR MANCINO: "THE VOICE OF NAPLES"
Whether it is his favourite operatic role "Rigoletto", a 'bel canto' recital, his commedia dell 'arte production "Pulcinella malgré lui " or an evening of Neapolitan songs, the Maestro's approach is the same.:
"Credo molto nell'interpretazione, vorrei trasmettere il piacere del canto che è un concentrato di istinto e ragione - dice il baritono - Napoli continua ad ispirare le mie canzoni, non ho mai smesso di conciliare la musica classica con la canzone partenopea: due scuole molto vicine"
"Believing strongly in interpretation, I want to transmit the pleasure of the song, that is an amalgam of instinct and reason ... Naples continues to inspire my songs, I have never stopped conciliating classical music with the Parthenopean song: two schools closely linked".
An innovative CD with memorable songs such as "Comme si Bella Napule ...", written by Oscar Mancino himself. An ever-green which is sure to become the anthem for Naples - nostalgia for the native land being the trademark of all Italians at home or abroad!
"Ammore e lacreme" carries with it the pain and the defiance of lost love. "Cowboy Napulitano" by Tonino Esposito, the bitter-sweet taste of exile. Humour and pathos combined. "Tu" grandiose waves of emotion ..."Io Sento" by Siciliano and Alfano evoking the unswerving devotion of Neapolitans to every sight, sound, and emotion of a great city and culture.
Each song contains a story to discover absolutely.
The underlying message being 'love', in all its manifestations.
*****
"THE VOICE OF NAPLES"
An Italian 'Buena Vista Social Club' with the Neapolitan Song as its star: not neglected musicians but a neglected art form, stuck in the groove of O Sole Mio!
THIS IS THE STORY OF 3 NEAPOLITANS:
1. Oscar Mancino - A prize winning lyric artist, pianist and composer living between the UK, Switzerland and France.
2. Louis Siciliano - A composer of several award-winning film scores, musical director, record producer and sound engineer living and working in Naples and Rome.
3. Tonino Esposito - A most respected Jazz musician, accordion virtuoso and professor of music, and of comparative literature, at the New York University.
What they had in common:
-All three were born and bred in Naples.
-All 3 were multi-talented classically trained musicians
-All three had composed original Neapolitan songs
How they came into contact:
A music-loving Swiss resident, (the president of Recitar Cantando, a non-profit making association for the promotion of Italian music), in her search for a recording studio to produce a CD of Oscar Mancino singing traditional Neapolitan songs 'chose' (that is another story!) and contacted a recording studio in Naples. It could have been any studio in the UK or in Italy.
What followed:
Louis Siciliano, turned out to be a great enthusiast of the traditional Neapolitan art form.
Once he had heard recordings of Oscar Mancino's voice, he picked up his guitar and drove all the way to Geneva, where he declared the Maestro to be the new Caruso, the only Neapolitan left who could do justice to the Neapolitan song, and proceeded to sing two songs which he (LS) himself had composed many years earlier, but had felt too protective towards to entrust to any of the singers on the current music scene..
In the following days he contacted an old friend, Tonino Esposito, in New York, to give him the good news of his discovery, where-upon Esposito also reveals his own hidden treasures, which he had refused to give to some well-known singers, for whom he had written other songs. He had also been waiting for a worthy interpreter.
The result:
The three artists teamed up with a most enthusiastic and dynamic band of classically trained virtuoso Neapolitan musicians to record 12 magnificent songs, in Naples, so that 'The Voice of Naples' would convey their passion, warmth, energy and love of life to the four corners of the world.
Viva La Musica!
*****
Presentation of the Maestro OSCAR MANCINO:
YOU HAVE HEARD OF CARUSO
YOU HAVE KNOWN PAVAROTTI
YOU WILL LOVE OSCAR MANCINO
Oscar Mancino, a lyric artist with a voice that has marked him as a great 'Rigoletto', and earned him the title of 'The Voice of Naples' from his compatriots.
He is not only an exceptional classical and operatic singer, but like all great Neapolitans, such as Caruso, he has Naples and its volcanic energy running through his veins.
An extraordinary voice, with a range from bass through baritone to dramatic tenor; a worthy heir and unique flag-bearer of the Neapolitan tradition on the current world music scene.
For the UK premiere of his forthcoming CD, "The Voice of Naples", at the Edinburgh Festival, Oscar Mancino was accompanied by seven of his most accomplished virtuoso Neapolitan musicians. On the CD he is backed by 80 such musicians. A great production, marrying symphonic and ethnic.
A most successful and enchanting mixture of the traditional and the modern, using a wide selection of instruments, bringing the Neapolitan art form into the 21st century.
A product wholly 'made in Naples', guaranteed to put the sunshine of Italy into the coldest of hearts, and the broadest of smiles on every face.
12 songs, and 3 instrumental interludes, covering every human emotion, with the main message being, as always, love in its many manifestations.
And don't forget to listen out for the songs of Vesuvian birds!
*****
BRIEF BIOGRAPHY of OSCAR MANCINO
Born in Naples, the son of a famous singer and performer, painter, national athlete and boxing champion, Michele di Potenza.
He studied piano and singing at the Geneva Conservatory, at the Modena Conservatory and elsewhere in Italy, under such great Masters as Mario Del Monaco, Paride Venturi, Arrigo Pola and Gianni Raimondi.
He was one of Del Monaco's favourite students and was at the great master's bedside when he died.
He won his first of many singing prizes at the Rovigo conservatory and embarked on a successful operatic career, with a vocal range from baritone to dramatic tenor.
Favourite operas: Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto and 'Don Carlos'; Rossini's Barber of Seville; Donizetti's Elisir D'Amour and Don Pasquale, Mozart's 'Don Giovanni'.
*****
PRESS COMMENT
ITALIAN PRESS
Extracts from the English translation of an article in the Italian national newspaper
La Repubblica :
‘Mancino, the voice of Naples, a CD of classical and new sounds’
In the prestigious showcase of the Edinburgh Festival, from the 7th to the 14th of August, he will be introduced as the heir to Enrico Caruso. ..a natural talent with the love for the song of his native country, which he has the gift to interpret with a chameleonic voice, roving from G bass clef to tenor high C.
A favourite student of Mario del Monaco, and protagonist in 2003 of a grandiose "Rigoletto" at the 'Théâtre Les Salons' in Geneva, Mancino will soon have people
talking about his album "The Voice of Naples" which will be released shortly, produced by Libero Music Publishing (UK), but entirely recorded at the
"Mediterranea studio", and mastered by Bob Fix in Posillipo, in Naples.
A CD on which, Mancino and two other composers, Louis Siciliano and Tonino Esposito. have worked elbow to elbow for three years.
Twelve original songs in Neapolitan (with the exceptions of "Voici Geneve" in French, "Musica" in Italian and "Love and tears", in Neapolitan and French) written by the three and accompanied by a great symphonic orchestra: eighty
musicians between those from Saint Carlo and the Conservatory of Saint Peter of Majella, with the best elements of ethnic-folkloristic music.
The result is a product that conjugates learned originality and tradition, dipping into the roots of Italian music, from the popular of the "Gatta Cenerentola" of De
Simone to the baroque madrigals of Gesualdo, from the counterpoint of the Neapolitan school of the 500's to the 50's by night atmosphere, without scorning huge, and more modern, influences that recall the sonority of the most beautifulst cinematique sounds.
A most notable aspect of the CD is in the sophisticated technology applied to give great natural spontaneity to voice and orchestra. The acoustics of the disc has been subordinated to new technology: that is to say we have what is recreated virtually, through the perfect acoustics of "Concert Gebouw" of Amsterdam- explains Siciliano, who graduated, inter alia, in America as a sound engineer under Peter Miller, the legendary sound engineer of the Beatles - a meticulous job of audio concertation in which every instrument has the role of supporting the voice.
And the voice, that of Oscar Mancino is surely exceptional: it has a dramatic stamp that is reminiscent of the best interpreters of "bel canto", with unexpected apparitions of popular colour and variations in tonality in each number.
But "The Voice Of Naples", indisputable technical qualities apart, is sung with a passion that emanates from the heart. "With a great belief in the importance of
interpretation, I want to transmit the pleasure of singing that is an amalgam of instinct and reason " says the baritone, " Naples continues to inspire my songs, and I have never ceased reconciling classical music with the song of the Parthenon:: two schools very closely linked."
In the album they alternate the nostalgic - "Paesaggio Vesuviano", "Comme si bella Napule..." -the ironic - "Neapolitan Cowboy", "nuttata me scetaste int'a nuttata"- with the romantic songs that seem to belong to the poetry of another time. Then suddenly you have "May is here" with archet and violins , with a baroque flavour and a topical text it speaks of war: "This war does not want to end, it makes us understand, suffer and drives us crazy, it has to be stopped at all costs".
The intermezzi of the songs resonate with the rich and popular sounds of the tambourine, mandolin, castagnettes, scetavajasse and putipù. In short with "The Voice of Naples" you set off on a fascinating journey with the privilege of embracing the whole history of Neapolitan music.
La Repubblica :
A Preview of the CD by Annalisa Lualdi for La Repubblica
During the recording of the CD in Naples.
"... a great gift for interpretation with a chameleonic voice, roving from G bass clef to tenor high C." (La Repubblica)
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EDINBURGH REVIEW of Maestro Mancino's show "Napoli e Basta!" featuring songs from his forthcoming CD "The Voice of Naples"
OSCAR MANCINO in "Napoli E Basta!"
"Music, like a torrent you flood my soul, and around me I fly free in space without end." Music from Naples is unashamedly emotional, and as such, needs a passionate performer in order to pull it off. Luckily, Oscar Mancino is just that type. Each song is delivered with emotion and depth, and although I don't understand Italian I can just about get the gist of them. A great performance is also given from the musicians in the Ensemble Recitar Cantando... wonderful music.
Three Weeks
" Mancino with his operatic track record, is the genuine article singing pieces like 'Comme si bella Napole' and 'Musica' with great sentiment, ... "
Dr. Jan Fairley for The Scotsman
festivals@scotsman.com
"My favourite show after my own!"
Gyles Brandreth
* * *
‘The Voice of Naples’ in Oxford:
“…we got our batteries recharged by the volcanic energy, charm and passion of Oscar Mancino...”
The Oxford Editors
‘The show was hugely impressive - he's convincingly theatrical and what a voice!’
Clive Conway (Celebrity Productions)
“We left the North Wall with big smiles on our faces, a spring in our steps and beautiful music ringing in our ears. ”
Musicae Amore
Audience Survey verdict
"stupendous" "captivating" "mesmerising"
“The Tom Jones of opera”
"I wish it would go on for another hour"
* * *
Oscar Mancino's latest CD of original Neapolitan songs
"The Voice of Naples"
"... with "The Voice of Naples"...combining originality and tradition... you set off on a fascinating journey with the privilege of embracing the whole history of Neapolitan music." (La Repubblica)
“This project is the most beautiful that I've ever made. It's all so exciting! I believe that people af all the world will be crazy for it! "
(Louis Siciliano)
“Oscar Mancino has a very distinctive timbre and sings those Neapolitan songs to the manner born… He has great charisma… The orchestrations are very skilful and the songs are endlessly pleasing."
(Humphrey Burton)
Daily Info, Oxford, Review of the show:
Oscar Mancino: ‘The Voice of Naples’,
The North Wall, Tue 7 April
It did what it said on the tin! We left the North Wall with big smiles on our faces,a spring in our steps and beautiful music ringing in our ears. There was a very good turn out indeed for what most would have expected to be a straightforward concert of familiar Neapolitan songs. We were in for a big surprise.
The Neapolitan lyric artist Oscar Mancino treated us to a spell binding show full of humour, magically theatrical in parts, with opaque textile partitions almost hiding from view the very talented bandoneon player, Jérémy Vannereau, who eventually sneaked out wearing a Pulcinella mask and got a big cheer from the audience. A rear projection of slides and video images of Naples, and a nostalgic extract
from Vittorio De Sica’s film L’Oro di Napoli accompanied by Oscar Mancino’s composition for piano, helped set the scene, transporting us into the heart of Naples. Another surprise was that the songs were all originals, specifically composed for Oscar Mancino, and taken from his CD ’The Voice of Naples’.
Oscar Mancino’s tremendous voice, passion and artistry overcame the language barrier and by the time we left the theatre we felt we had knownhim, and the songs, forever : Comme si bella Napule indeed, Maestro!
Musicae Amore, April 2009
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CONSTRUIRE MAGAZINE, GENEVA - SEPTEMBER 2005
"OSCAR MANCINO once again delighted his audience last night at the Palais de l'Athenée.
A combination of charm, volcanic energy and lyric rendering enveloped in a beautiful voice, classically trained, with a wide panapoly of nuances.
We are here in the presence of a master technician who has the confidence to let his voice travel on a long leash. A voice that reaches out and draws you into its snare.
He has in the last year developed great complicity with his musicians, each of whom is given the possibility of expressing himself / herself directly through several beautiful instrumental works…A polished display of virtuosity coupled with great musicianship guiding us through a wide range of emotions.
Not the least of Maestro Mancino's talents is once again displayed in his choice or repertoire: a masterly mix of classical and contemporary, including fresh off the page an avant premier of one of 13 songs written by contemporary Neapolitan composers soon to be recorded by Oscar Mancino in Italy.
Isabelle Vidon,
Construire Magazine
E-Mail: i.vidon@gmge.migros.ch
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