About the book
Giuseppe Concone (1801–1861) was a Turin singing teacher and composer, and his books of lessons are among the plainest songs a singer is taught from. The Fifteen Vocalises, Op. 12 (Finishing Studies, for contralto or mezzo-soprano) are a sequel to the Twenty-five Lessons: each is a longer piece without words, for voice and piano, and each takes one difficulty further — the sustained line, the turn, the long breath, the cadenza.
The print. This is the Schirmer edition of 1894, edited by Alberto Randegger, who added the signs of expression and phrasing and revised the breathing marks. The tempo words and metronome marks are the print’s own, and the vocalises are sung on the vowel A.
What is here. Vocalises 1–15 of the fifteen. Each vocalise plays with its piano accompaniment, which is Concone’s own and is never drawn, only heard.
