Carlo Albanesi (1858-1926): Romance “Souhait“ - Julia Severus, piano

The composer Carlo Albanesi was born in Naples, Italy, on 22 October 1858 and received his musical education from his father, the composer Luigi Albanesi, and from Sabino Falconi. After his first successful concerts in Italy, he went to Paris at the age of 20 to make a name for himself; in 1882, on recommendation of the composer Francesco Paolo Tosti, he settled in London, where he gave numerous concerts and devoted himself to composition over the next ten years. In 1893 Albanesi was appointed professor of piano at the Royal Academy of Music, where he taught for 33 years until his death on 26 September 1926 and was held in the highest esteem by his colleagues and students, who included the Chilean pianist and composer Norman Fraser, the English pianist and composer Mary Lucas and the Welsh composer Meirion Williams. Apart from his professorship at the Royal Academy of Music, Albanesi was an examiner of piano classes at the Royal College of Music in London and at the Royal Academy of Music in Dublin. At