Paolo Tosti

Sir Francesco Paolo Tosti KCVO (9 April 1846, Ortona, Abruzzo2 December 1916, Rome) was an Italian composer and music teacher. Today, he is remembered mostly for his light-hearted songs, which are popular among vocal students. Biography Francesco Paolo Tosti received most of his music education in his native Ortona, Italy, as well as at the conservatory in Naples. Tosti began studying at the Royal College of San Pietro a Majella in Naples at the age of eleven. Once recovered from his illness, Tosti moved to Ancona, where his poverty was such that for weeks at a time he subsisted on nothing but oranges and stale bread. His travels brought him to Rome, where his fortunes turned. He met the pianist and composer Giovanni Sgambati, who became his patron. Sgambati arranged for Tosti to give a concert at the Sala Dante which the Princess Margherita of Savoy (who would become Queen of Italy in 1878) attended. Impressed with his performance, she appointed him as her singing professor. She later appointed him curator of the Musical Archives of Italy at the Court. A memorial plaque on his former home at 12 Mandeville Place, Marylebone (now the Mandeville Hotel) was unveiled on 12 June 1996. I