Lanza introduced opera to the screen exposing millions of American to the splendid compositions of the great composers. His beautiful voice was appreciated by all. He sang from the heart. A student of the GREAT ENRICO ROSATI who taught BENIAMINO GIGLI, the stellar tenor of that era, Lanza would have entered the operatic scene had it not been for the fact he was too lucrative a property of the film industry. The High C here is far superior to tenors of this era.
what i fail to understand, is why, more than 50 years after his death, it remains so important to ignore and discredit his talent. are we so afraid that we were wrong?
Too bad we cannot get the 3rd act of Boheme, a tough act for the tenor but he sang it live and it was not recorded that I know of. We have not one complete opera from Lanza sadly but many songs, operetta, arias and film.
Someone said this was recorded on primitive equipment but no it was not. 1949 is not primitive, just not Stereo like the late 50's and in some cases better then late 50's! Caruso recorded on primitive equipment, before 1923 and it was into a horn. Nobody who didn't hear him in house can appreciate him fully and my grandfather heard him 3 times, once in Aida. My grandfather died in 1980 at the age of 100. He said Caruso had the greatest voice he ever heard in house. Could be I don't know.
When anyone hits gay tenor for being gay they all ready lost the argument, stick to facts and singers not personal attacks. Many narrow minded bigoted people attack him for it. Who cares what he likes for sex, that has zero to do Mario Lanza anyhow. We all love the ML voice as far as voice goes and in opera many sang this aria very well. Lanza had a drinking problem and so did Jussi and Tibbett but that has nothing to do with his singing . He choose Hollywood for whatever reason Money etc.
@GAYTENOR I can't compare and won't compare Lanza to Caruso for opera technique, also his voice was different from EC and as far as pavoratti I am not a big fan but he did have a great technique. Lanza had a great voice and made some excellent recordings of operetta etc. He was an operatic tenor but sang mostly in films and concerts. I don't think as a opera singer in recorded arias Lanza was better then Pav. or Caruso but sure his natural voice was one of the best. Perhaps Warmer then Pav.
I am so terribly sorry about the fate of Mario Lanza. This performance proves his incredible talent and his divine voice. I don't know why we didn't hear him sing like this all the time. He is incredible in this aria - and a fierce competitor to the legendary Enrico Caruso and much is better than Pavarotti, etc
@tomfroekjaer I couldn't agree more......Enrico was amazing too but I have a soft spot for Mario......I have watched so many of his movies......That midnight kiss, Serenade, to name a few. His voice is as familiar and dear to me as many new tenors these days. Placido Domingo is another of my favorites. You have to hear Mario sing the Ave Maria and The Lord's Prayer......
part 2: His operatic recordings are more often than not Mario Lanza pretending he's an opera singer. When he had the chance to audition for Toscanini he failed to show up. What sane man would have avoided the opportunity to learn from Toscanini? The answer is a singer so totally insecure that he couldn't trust his great gift to get him through the audition. There is enough really good stuff available without all the would have beens. He was not an opera singer period!
@gaytenor: The "failed audition" story has been disputed, though even if true one could hardly blame a 25-year-old for being overawed at the thought of singing for someone of Toscanini's reputation. I knew conductor Herb Grossman, Toscanini's one-time assistant. He was unaware of any audition, and his own view of Lanza from working with him in 1948 for a projected televised Boheme was that he was intelligent, musical, a load of fun and "indeed serious about his art." My site has the interview.
@derekmcgovern Why with Lanza is everything projected but never done? What went on in 1948 has no real bearing over the trip into darkness that Lanza went on for the last years of his life. He was young, had a free will, and an excellent chance at an outstanding career but he wanted the easy cash from Hollywood. While he had a really great voice I will never place him in the company of the greats who performed for years, live in front of a large audience and critics.
@jgraif Pray tell where an actual quote from Toscanini can be found. Toscanini never heard Lanza in person because Lanza backed out of the scheduled audition.
@gaytenor The closest connection I could ever discover between Lanza and Toscanini was a (pretty reputable) report saying that Toscanini listened to some recordings of Lanza when considering casting one of his operas (which obviously didn't work out.) When he made the oft-quoted "greatest voice of the 20th century" statement I have no idea (it's conceivable he never made it at all, I suppose.) I've never heard one from Toscanini calling Lanza the 'next Caruso,' and I'm sure they never met.
@ShawDAMAN You probably are closer to the truth of the situation. It was, I believe, in reference to the possibility of his singing in the Manzoni Requiem. His recording of the aria from the Requiem is really quite good. If that often told story is true its too bad he didn't audition because Toscanini might well have transformed him into the GREAT SINGER he wanted to be.
@dereckmcgovern I didn't mean to imply that you said it was a dramatic aria. I know what you mean of course and we all hear things differently, so even though I don't prefer his Otello recording over some others he made I can accept the quotes of mentioned singers stating how great the Otello recording is. Many lyric tenors sang Celeste Aida and recorded it . Kraus lighter then Lanza and no way a lyric spinto recorded the aria late in his career and Cielo E mar also!
derekmcgovern: As for the troll he has written his filth all over the place about me and Richard Tucker. Tucker was an exceptional man who I had the great pleasure of meeting! This cretin has, I believe, two recordings or so, and he references them endlessly. Homophobic morons do not go away if your nice to them and I'm not some Mary that's going to let an illiterate moron insult me especially one who for all the world I would bet is in the closet.
@derekmcgovern Celeste Aida is really not a dramatic aria, it seems to me but lyric spinto as it reflects the words Heavenly Aida, Later in the opera is some dramatic singing. Lanza's last note in this aria in the Caruso film is one of his best ever. His voice was amazing as anyone can hear. I like the Student Prince original recording of all the pop stuff he recorded best and his last film "for the first time" had some fine singing in it, especially the vesti la giubba.
@SHICOFF1: I didn't say Celeste Aida was "a dramatic aria"; I said that on his 1949 version Lanza recognizes that he's in spinto (not dramatic) territory, and therefore sings the aria with a darker colouring than on Rodolfo's more lyric aria. @gaytenor: Lanza wouldn't have been ready to sing Otello on stage in 1955, when he recorded the Monologue, but by 1958 the voice had darkened considerably. "Black and warm" Tucker's UK concert agent described it. He was bordering on a spinto by then.
@derekmcgovern Bordering on a spinto doesn't cut it in Otello nor does vocal color. Otello should be sung by a dramatic tenor, i.e. Mario Del Monaco or Jon VIckers. The singer should also have a real understanding of the text and Lanza's approach was more Leoncavallo than Verdi. Atlantov another remarkable dramatic tenor was singing the role at 30 and very, very well indeed. The main problem was frankly that Lanza was a very poor actor gifted with a great voice trying to play an opera singer.
@gaytenor: God knows Lanza made enough bad recordings, but his Otello renditions were not among them. In my opinion, his singing of the Monologue shows a perfect understanding of the text. As for Lanza being a very poor actor, obviously these things are subjective, but the critics who reviewed his Pinkerton didn't think so. Nor did Albanese, who stated that he knew exactly how to move on a stage. "He had everything [a great tenor' needs," she added.
@derekmcgovern By reputation Licia Albanese was a CLASS ACT known for her KINDNESS. The Otello recordings from Serenade are among the most over blown examples of Lanza's career. You see when he could play Otello on a sound stage he didn't have to contend with critcs, etc. Compare Lanza's overblown nonsense with a real Otello like Giovanni Martinelli or Mario Del Monaco. And didn't you comment about him not being ready for Otello in 1955? Get a life I have other things to do!!!
@gaytenor: Since you brought up Atlantov, you may be interested in his opinion of Lanza: "When I listen to [Lanza], I feel as if some golden lava is flowing toward me. I'm deeply moved when I hear him sing, and not only because he has a voice of unique beauty -- it has everything from amazing firmness, resolution and dramatism to piercing, throbbing tenderness." Notice his point about "dramatism."
@derekmcgovern You can quote, probably out of context, from great singers who are being kind, showing artistic courtesy, etc. The point all of you glide over is that singers like Peerce, Tucker, Del Monaco, Atlantov, Shicoff, Pavarotti, Di Stefano, Bjorling, etc. PAID THEIR DUES! They were real opera singers who had the stones to face a live audience and critics they deserve MORE RESPECT because their careers were not made on MOVIE SOUND STAGES!
@gaytenor There are far more qualified people in the world of music who have a far higher opinion of Mario Lanza than you have. So you're a tenor? Yeah, and you couldn't even begin to compare! So take your insults and shove them up your arse - though judging by your name you'd probably enjoy it!
@TheMG63 And there are lots of dumb Lanza loonies like you that try to deny a person's right to comment unless its so proLanza as to make a music lover sick. If someone disagrees with your illerate opinion you sink to personal insults and by the way what are shoving up your arse Mary! Piss off !!!
@derek mcgovern I have seen many posts where they go off on tangents about other singers, it can be interesting until it gets into sex or politics but as you see I have now posted about Lanza again. His fans are not as fanatical as JB's, none are yet two good friends of mine are huge JB fans and don't post and they are irritated by JB's fanatical fans. Had Lanza and Jussi lived in these times they may have lived longer lives with new meds. Lanza died at 38 just going into his prime years.
Lanza had a great voice and this is a fine recording but not everything he recorded is the best as with anyone else. We all hear things differently, different voice types but you can say that some fans of his and Jussi / Corelli and one Tucker fan (not me or gaytenor) like all they sang and that's bull. Look at Jussi's great book by Farkus, his widow said Fans - Fanatic's. I prefer Lanza's later coke show Boheme and in opera his early . Bowl concerts etc. and the 1959 movie vesti and aida
@SHICOFF1 My good friend how true!! The sad thing about Lanza is the battery of ghouls that write ghastly books, create rumors of contracts offered or discussions per-se that never were mentioned while the man was alive, and praise every note ever recorded by him including his play acting as Otello. A good deal of what ill befell Lanza could and probably should be placed at the door of the parasites that attached themselves to him like leeches letting him destroy himself.
@GAYTENOR Yes Peerce held up well as far as everything besides voice, breath etc. but you say he was on a show for lucky strike so maybe that two pack thing was to help the sales I doubt he smoked later anyhow and when I was in his home and he was older then, no he didn't and I knew him when he was in his middle 60's and he never smoked then at all. I drove him to his concerts several times and we had food after and more often breakfast and he never had a smoke, that i saw, he was 65 then.
@GAYTENOR Bonci sounded more lyric then Caruso and probably had a smaller voice and some people I know prefer Pertile over Caruso who really for me anyhow cannot touch him or for that matter Lauri Volpe after Pertile was terrific. Gigli is a bad comparison cause he was so lyric but really he sang it all anyhow, in Aida, Chenier and Forza . Bjorling was smart he stayed away from more Spinto roles like those.
We can't compare Lanza's operatic career with that of Caruso & co, given that he only performed two roles. What we *can* legitimately compare, though, are recordings, and on this rendition, at least (and there are many other examples as well), Lanza compares very favourably with the best of them. For once, the (US) critics agreed too, voting it the outstanding operatic recording of its year. As for the person who claimed that Lanza's voice sounded thin here: I recommend a hearing test asap.
Re the "thin" voice claim: Lanza recognizes that Rodolfo is not Canio, & sings the aria with the appropriate lyricism, lightening his tone. Compare his approach here with his recording of Celeste Aida from the same day. On the latter, he uses a darker, more spinto sound. Radames, unlike Rodolfo, is not a lyric role. Lanza knew what he was doing! What I especially love about this recording is its poetry & the way Lanza effortlessly negotiates the fiendish "Talor dal mio forziere" (2:48 mark).
@derekmcgovern You point out the biggest problem with Lanza's operatic recordings mainly he was a lyric tenor who was very young trying to sound like a spinto. Good low voice or not and his was good his singing of Otello's music is so over blown that it approaches a parody. Lanza had a great voice of that there should be no doubt but there are few really great operatic recordings because his dramatic over playing and slovenly musicianship detract from the great sound.
@gaytenor: You may not appreciate Lanza's Otello recordings, but both the Monologue and the Death Scene have been highly praised by the likes of Licia Albanese and, more recently, tenor Joseph Calleja (whose own singing teacher (Paul Asciak), incidentally, was deeply impressed by Lanza's singing when he heard him at the Royal Albert Hall. I'm happy to accept their opinions over those of amateur singers! Moreover, Lanza was a lirico spinto, not a lyric tenor, with a strong baritonal color. (cont)
@gaytenor (contd): There are far more worthy operatic recordings by Lanza out there than his extremely poorly compiled BMG CDs would suggest. BMG almost invariably chooses the worst version by Lanza (typically from his Coca-Cola radio show) to represent him -- a sloppy "Amor Ti Vieta," for example, over the mature 1955 version. Read Part V of my essay "Mario Lanza: A Radical Reassessment" for an overview if you're interested -- you'll find the web site address if you click on my name below.
@derekmcgovern The difference, which you artfully avoid, is that the 78s done by Caruso, etc. were done in one take which probably wasn't the case with Lanza's recordings. His last recordings were zombie affairs. As for Peerce his live performance of this very aria with Toscanini in 1946 is much finer than the version being discussed here mainly because Peerce, also gifted with a great voice, had the authority of having performed the role of Rodolfo in the opera house not a small point.
@gaytenor: You suggest that Lanza's recordings were often the result of multiple takes, but the irony is that too often he settled for the first take when retakes should have been done -- eg, the Core 'Ngrato & Celeste Aida from the same session as this Che Gelida. All 4 recordings that day were single takes, as the RCA logs (which I have) reveal. As for Lanza's 1959 recordings, the only thing "zombie"-like about them was the fact that his co-singers recorded their contributions without him.
@derekmcgovern As to the zombie reference what else describes the way the Desert Song's solo selections were recorded? And why, pray tell, do you have to create a difficult phrase where one doesn't exist in the Boheme aria? The phrase 'talor......' is not all that difficult even when sung in key and Lanza uses a sweeping portamento that is fairly common practice. The phrase can be sung in key without the portamento as illustrated by Jan Peerce in the Toscanini broadcast.
@gaytenor: If you don't think the aria from "Talor dal mio forziere" onwards is difficult, then I suggest you talk to a few great tenors. As for Lanza's intonation problems, yes, they were real enough - he tended to sing sharp a lot (though he was mercifully seldom flat) - but he was hardly alone in that department. Think of Di Stefano, Corelli, & Bergonzi. And, yes, Lanza did have a drinking problem, but again, he was not the only one....You know, a little sympathy from you wouldn't go amiss.
@derekmcgovern I have sung the aria a lot and the problematic part of the aria comes in the penultimate climax reaching to the high c''. I have virtually never heard the aria sung poorly by any professional tenor and the performances by Peerce, DiStefano, Tucker, Pavarotti, Bjorling, etc., are far better. Listen to the way Peerce phrases the 'Talor passage WITHOUT PORTAMENTOS. Telling the truth about Mario may upset you but you nitpicking bullshit is too much you have an excuse for everything
Bonci, McCormack, Peerce, Tibbett et al are not the point here! This is supposed to be a discussion about Lanza's recording of Che Gelida Manina. It seems that every time someone uploads a Lanza recording of an aria on YT, the usual suspects hijack the discussion to push their own agendas. For God's sake, listen to Lanza's actual singing here -- which is pretty bloody magnificent if you ask me -- instead of squabbling about who's homophobic or how many cigarettes Peerce may have smoked.
@derekmcgovern Pardon me for defending myself and answering a troll who haunts various and sundry channels on you tube with his insane comments and personal attacks of myself and others. I thought that this was a forum for free discussion and not a church service for the worship of Mario Lanza. Your right in saying the singing of the aria is very, very good here, but the only problem is that a Hollywood sound stage is not an opera house or a concert hall. Lanza was usually wildly over the top.
@gaytenor: Yes, this is a forum for free speech, but it does get a little tiresome when things veer off-topic so often. Why give homophobic trolls the time of day? As for "worship of Mario Lanza," I find that ironic given that I've often been lambasted for being critical of his lesser recordings. The 1949 Che Gelida is not one of them, though why you feel compelled to qualify your praise by saying it was recorded on a Hollywood stage -- which it wasn't, as it happens -- is beyond me. (contd)
@gaytenor: (contd): It's irrelevant *where* this recording was made, though for the record the venue was RCA's New York studios, and the orchestra mostly members of the NY Philharmonic. But if you insist on examples of Lanza singing in concert, then there's sufficient recorded evidence that he could cut the mustard in a live environment. Listen to his performances at the Hollywood Bowl 1947-49, or his Massey Hall, Toronto concert of April 1948. Many of these recordings can be heard at my site.
@derekmcgovern I never intended to suggest that this present recording which is indeed very good was done in Hollywood but most of them were until he went to Italy I believe. I also acknowledge that his voice sounded excellent in live performance, but you miss my point which is that he was for the most part playing Caruso his whole life rather than himself. When he made 'Mario' and 'Lanza sings Caruso Favorites' he was being himself and the singing and more importantly his musical taste see 2
@gaytenor: On the contrary, I believe Lanza was always himself. In any event, some have argued that, if anything, there's more of a Pertile influence in his singing than a Caruso one. But he was very much his own man, as indeed even Caruso's own son Enrico Jnr noted....I agree with you, though, about the stylistic superiority of the "Mario!" & "Caruso Favorites" albums from the last ten months of his life -- and also the operatic recordings he made in 1955 and 1958.
@derekmcgovern: He simply wore his 'Great Caruso' costume for the fun of it? To be really blunt I sincerely wonder if Lanza had the native intelligence to be a world class classical singer. I have had more than enough of the pie in the sky he was wonderful but! Your legend had serious intonation problems, slovenly musicianship, and a performance style that was so over the top that even Pertile would have been embarrassed. The man was mentally ill with the morals of an alley cat see part 2
@gaytenor: You never worked with Lanza, nor did you know the man or hear him in person. To accuse him of being mentally ill and having the morals of an alley cat is as unfair as it is offensive. It sounds to me like you've been influenced by the Bessette biography. To those who knew him, there was no question that he had the intelligence, voice and musicality to be a great singer. His friend and colleague George London was also adamant that Lanza's musicianship was usually "respectable."
@derekmcgovern I have read the Bessette book but yours is better the mental illness stuff is from the book by his conductor and accompanist and frankly it explains a great deal. As to his musicianship why the hell did he hide it? Its one thing to learn a few arias and quite another thing to learn a role. Pinkerton is a small part that the great tenors very seldom ever sing. Next thing I know will be Mario wasn't really a drunk! This is pointless finalmente!
@gaytenor-- Bonci was a fine singer but his Vibrato is sometimes is too much for me. Peerce told me Toscanini had him study Bonci for the laugh in Ballo, laughing and singing in the aria. Toscanini admired Bonci for they way he pulled it off. The 54 Ballo peerce did with Toscanini is a classic live one for both JP and Toscanini. It would have been Jussi but he backed out not feeling well and Peece was called and at first was pissed and was not going to do it but his wife Alice convinced him.
@SHICOFF1 Did you know that Bonci was considered Caruso's peer by some critics? I agree about the vibrato but that more often than not is caused by the assumption that Bonci didn't transpose which he obviously did like any other tenor. It was a small voice that carried exceptionally well and his top notes even on the acoustic recordings have overtones galore. I didn't like him much for the vibrato either until I heard the wonderful album put out by Pearl where the keys are realistic.
@gaytenor I knew Peerce and was in his home as a guest over night when I was in NYC back in the 80's, No smoking then and I had just quit but I also had several dinners out with him in California and that was in the 60's and in the 70's and by then he also did not. When did he smoke that much? and when I asked him about smoking he told me he did for awhile when he was a younger but Two Packs a day? He obviously quit in time, never got thick and dark, his voice at 73 still had some ring.
@SHICOFF1 There is a picture of Peerce with a cig in his hand in 58 during a break when they were recording Lucia and in the 'Bluebird of Happiness' he mentions two packs a day I believe he liked Lucky Strike since they sponsored one of his radio programs. My good friend he was still puffing at 54 and his breath control was remarkable.
wiseoldfart-part2. You should ask yourself why you must use filth to have fun. With your attitude toward sex you homophobic shithead you have to be a closet queen Nellie. Your cheap insults only serve to betray your ignorance about music. Any real opera lover would know about Bonci but I forget you just troll making a fucking asshole of yourself. As to Caruso's recording of 1904 it stinks!! Experts agree with me with the wretched excess of tempi, etc. Its way, way too slow and morose.
@wiseoldfart the reason JB sang as well as he did with all the booze he drank was also when he died he was only 49 not 60's like tibbett was,LT drank and lost in his 50's. JB had a great tech. Mac Neil does drink some and lasted pretty well but started to go later . I would guess smoking hurts the voice more and both ML and EC smoked and EC at 48 when he died had gotten very Baritonal, JB did not at 49 when he died just darker like many do. Booze Kills you but not the voice it seems.
@SHICOFF1 Smoking affects your breathing which is a total no-no. It is shocking how well Peerce, two packs a day, maintained his breath control never breaking up the long lines in Handel and Mozart arias. Tibbett had a serious vocal problem that Peter L. Davis ascribes to the difficulties of some of the operas in English written for him that relied on the exceptional ease and strength of his upper register. Tibbett's singing in Simon Boccanegra and Otello are ample documentation of his greatness
SOME ODD COMMENTS HERE! GAY TENOR'S FAVORITE TENOR IS PEERCE, GOT IT? GUESS SOME DON'T KNOW THAT AND TUCKER WAS NOT JUST LOUD AS FART SAYS EITHER, NO HIS SINGING OF AH SI BEN MIO AND OTHERS WAS NOT JUST LOUD. I LIKE CARUSO BUT POTTS NO WAY. LANZA HAD A GREAT VOICE, BETTER THEN SOME TODAY AT THE MET BUT TO SAY LANZA WAS A BETTER SINGER THEN CARUSO? OPINION- HE MADE SOME RECORDINGS OF ARIAS I MAY ACTUALLY PREFER. HEAR THE SOUND IN EC's RECORDS. ML DID MORE CONCERTS AND FILM THEN OPERA
@SHICOFF1 Do you think this moron has even heard of Jan Peerce? The art of a singer like Peerce is wasted on this trailer trash. I doubt if this idiot ever even heard of Alessandro Bonci and maybe even McCormack as the great opera singer he was in his early years. We know this putz is homophobic which makes me wonder if the asshole has something against Jewish people also which would fully explain his insane remarks concerning Richard Tucker. Peerce could sing the Gott Jussi under the table.
NOBODY HEARD CARUSO ALIVE TODAY IN HOUSE UNLESS HE WAS BORN IN THE VERY EARLY 1900'S WHICH WOULD MAKE HIM PAST 105 YRS OLD! SO IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER. CARUSO WAS AN OPERA SINGER AND A GREAT ONE. I DID NOT HEAR HIM LIVE, HE DIED IN 1921 AND ANYONE TODAY WHO SAYS HE HEARD HIM IS A LIAR OR SENILE MOST LIKELY AND IN FACT HE WOULD HAVE TO BE ABOUT MY AGE OF 70 TO HAVE A PARENT OR GRANDPARENT WHO HEARD HIM.
@tamaria6564 More people agree with me than with you. Caruso was the greatest tenor ever recorded. His 'Una furtiva lagrima' remains the single best performance ever recorded by a tenor. If you fail to understand why upon analyzing it, I feel sorry for you.
@wiseroldfart What an idiot! Have you heard all the recorded examples of tenor singing? Of course not you are more intend on proving what a moron you are. How, for example, could the singing of Melchoir be compared with that of Bonci both of whom were great singers. Caruso's 'Una furtiva lagrima' IS NOT EVEN THE BEST RECORDING OF THE ARIA LET ALONE SOME APOTHEOSIS OF THE TENOR ART. Try the performances of the aria by Schipa, McCormack, Gigli, and Josef Schmidt fool to hear how it should sound.
@gaytenor Somebody's got something up his ass besides his boyfriend's weenie! You're the tasteless opera idiot on the board, not me. If you don't realize the significance of Caruso's 1904 'Una furtiva lagrima' recording, I feel sorry for you.
Now we know why you're a failed amateur - no music sense.
@wiseroldfart Your just a dirty minded troll who's knowledge of music is, in mathematical terms, a null set.
Doesn't it bother you that no one seems to agree with the nonsense you add. Find even one serious reference that agrees with you about the 'Una furtiva lagrima.' If you ever lower yourself to visit a decent library try "Opera on Record.' It is, however, wonderful to know someone who has heard all the recordings ever made. You have a habit of wondering about my sex life. see: Part 2
If you like this song, catch The Ten Tenors' version from 2004, Dom Smith, David Kidd and Shannon Brown do Excellent jobs and follow Mario's tempo quite closely Bravissima!
To all whom the word apologists offended. In this case, the word simply means defenders. As in Platos Apology or Longinus s Apology for Poetry. It is not my intention to insult or offend Lanza fans.. regards, mike
it never fails, I try and try to find what it is that Lanza apologists find so compelling in this mans singing, and I simply cant. I will admit he had a successful carreer, and good throat, but im sorry I just cant stand him. I find his exaggerated emotion irritating, his phrasing suspect, and something seems totally affected. His glisendo seems ingenuine, Corelli who is among my favorities, never had a clean attack, but he always sounded geunine. Lanza never did to me. Sorry
@operalament thank you for your considered comments regarding mario lanza. may i suggest, with all due respect, that "leading" your comments by defining those who appreciate his talent as "apologists", only serves to obscure the quality of your remarks as you throw additional fuel onto the fire. both koussevitzky and toscanini thought he was brilliant. should they have apologized?
@operalament and i am sorry, but i "just can't stand" pavarotti for many of the same reasons. as his fame grew, his performances became increasingly devoid of any genuine emotion. is it possible that those who would defend his talent are guilty of "apologizing" for him?
Placido Domingo responds that after seeing The Great Caruso and hearing those wonderful opera arias sung by Lanza ..a voice of enormous dramatic impact..after seeing the film a no. of times ..Domingo realized that being able to sing opera like Lanza was what he would want to do... he has often listened to Mario's recordings..'ea. time i've been thrilled by the heroic sound of that voice'
The 'wiseoldfart' compares Lanza to Potts! Anything said by this mentally disabled moron can be safely ignored. People don't be insulted by the remarks of this fool because he repeats them with very limited variations on any site he visits. He pretends to know music and singing but he doesn't know shit from shinola and his secret knowledge is totally astral in nature. Neither Lanza--lyrico-spinto and Caruso--spinto are called dramatic tenors by knowledgeable fans.
@gaytenor What are you talking about? Potts isn't even close! Lanza is very good, Potts is unpolished, but decent for a modern day amateur. Tucker, your dream boy, is just loud and a bit of an oddball. Your bad taste shows every time you defend him.
@wiseroldfart Go take some Beano you goddamn idiot. Where on this channel did I even mention Tucker asshole? Have you no shame? I'm not a world class Lanza fan but thin isn't the way to describe a voice that was exceptionally baritonal at times. I have come to the conclusion that your just a trolling moron since you do not know that most critics prefer Caruso's later 'Una furtiva lagrima' since the tempi are more appropriate. To quote G Marx "Drill a hole in your head and let the sap run out."
Lanza's was a rich voice with the timbre, strength and range that spells greatness. BUT he chose movies. Now it's about big bucks they with hold and you've got expenses. Che gelida manina is written with the serenity of gentle enchantment. But they point out your competition is now Elvis and they need it to sound like Hound Dog. You strain at it with vein popping triple fortes and hints of hysteria until
they're happy. Of course Mimi listening to this is now alarmed and gets a restraining order.
look, i try my best not to play the "trained musician card", but if you cannot hear the power in this man's voice (the recording has NOTHING to do with it), you simply don't have an ear!! listen to ANYTHING recorded by bocelli and tell me he possesses the same power. you cannot. oh...lanza's FIRST stage performance was considered "just fair"? please produce the rave reviews from caruso's first performance at the metropolitan opera. they don't exist.
The purest and richest voice in operatic history. No one can match his superior tones even with modern megabuck studios covering over weak pretenders.
@tamaria6564 Sure, you'll get a few big time Lanza fans to agree with you. If only you'd get around more and listen to the greatest tenors ever recorded - the ones most people put on their 'A' list. There's are reasons for that. I hope you discover those reasons.
@wiseroldfart I have listened to them all and have an extensive library of 78s and vinyl spanning many years. I have no A list and do not categorise or list in a top 10. Lists are for people who conform and wish agreement. Lanza IS the purest tenor and the saddest demise of a talent unrivaled
@tamaria6564 Caruso was a much better tenor than Lanza. They were both considered 'dramatics.' Bjorling and perhaps Pavarotti were more talented. Bjorling for sure. His 'O holy night' is a great example. There are many other examples.
My list is based on MY preferences. You also judge. You called Lanza the purest tenor, after all..
The purest, most talented tenor ever recorded was Caruso. His 1904 'Una furtiva lagrima' is the most sophisticated work ever recorded by a tenor. Case closed!
@wiseroldfart : I am a huge Bjorling fan and also admire his version of O Holy Night. He had the voice of an archangel and often brings me to tears.
However, he was not without his own flaws. His unique vibrato caused him to be sharp throughout his career, his voice was not overly powerful in his lower registers, his Italian diction was imperfect and late in his career he often avoided singing his trademark high C. You can criticize any tenor. Lanza's voice was magnificent. Enjoy it.
@badpdx I realize Bjorling's flaws and I'm amazed that he could sing as well as he did shortly before his death despite all the booze he gargled through the years. They say alcohol is a good preserver. Maybe in his case it was, but not in Lanzas..
I don't see Caruso or Bjorling greatness in Lanza's recordings. He was very good with the pleasant voice expected of an Italian, but he doesn't blow me away like a few others.
@wiseroldfart: I find many of Lanza's recordings to be magnificent, and others make me cringe. Among his best are the Hollywood Bowl recordings, his RCA versions of Grenada, Celeste Aida, Mamma Mia Che Vo Sape, A Vuchella, Recondita Armonia, Silent Night and his later Neapolitan recordings, as well some of his Coke show recordings such as Santa Lucia and Non ti scordar di me. He also recorded godawful stuff such as the Pineapple Pickers and a English language version of Funiculi Funicula.
Lanza did not have a large voice either though probably on par with Bjorling and I certainly agree it was thin. This is especially true when you listen to recordings which haven't been pumped up by studio engineers like this, such as the "Mario Lanza at MGM" CD. Hell, listen to a live recording of a real opera singer and compare it to even one of the same singer's studio recordings. Someone who was in attendance of Lanza's one performance of "Butterfly" in '48 described him as "just fair."
@romanazazel Nice argument. I've heard from people in attendance at his only opera performance who described him as "just fair" and I bet you've never even heard the recordings I mentioned as being the only studio ones NOT over engineered that show his true voice. I own every recording he ever made; all pumped up studio rubbish. Learn something and so some research before you spout your ignorance off.
@VinylToVideo "pumped up studio rubbish"...do you mean the same kind of crap we accept from andrea bocelli today as we credit him with bridging the gap between opera and pop audiences? clearly, you do not own every recording lanza ever made. the 1958 LIVE recording at the royal albert hall cannot be dismissed as "pumped up studio rubbish". i find it amazing that, 52 years after this man's untimely passing, the "know-it-alls" continue to defend their baseless criticisms of him. learn something??
@VinylToVideo You are an imbecile and not worthy to even try and convince of what Mario Lanza truly had. Just look up what some of the greatest artists in opera - from composers and singers - have said about hearing Mario Lanza live; from Richard Bonning and Joan Sutherland's assessment of Mario's "Huge" sound and musical expression to Callas's lament of never having sung with the "greatest tenor voice she had ever heard" to many more from many others. :)
@romanazazel Richard Bonning??? I've NEVER seen a valid source for any of these supposed quotes by opera singers other than books written by delusional fans of Lanza's. The supposed Toscanini quote is always wrongly quoted, and why did Lanza refuse to audition for Toscanini if he was any good? I guess it doesn't seem odd to you that every one of Lanza's duets with real opera singers were recorded separately and tape spliced together later by studio engineers (Bob Dolphi is my source for this)?
Lanza had a voice, a heart, a presence. He was a truly great tenor who stayed away from the stage because of a pathological stage fright. This is a remarkable, soaring Rodolfo.
@jd1906sf please listen to the 1958 recording of his live performance in the royal albert hall and tell me that you still believe he suffered from stage fright. just a thought.
My first aquintance with opera was in Egypt when I saw Mario Lanza portray Enrico Caruso. I was 9 and didn't understand a word, but I knew when to cry.
I heard him when I was around 10 years old and I still think he is better than anyone else. His voice is richer and deeper and his singing has more feeling. Just great!!!!
opera888ableA huge talent but I repeat, undiscaplined,Have you heard him sing the monologue
from act 1 of andrea chenier,that for me is Lanza at his best.It has beensaid or written he could have made a first rate baritone his middle and lower registers wer3e full of potential
@opera888able may i offer that proposing lanza as a baritone was simply another way to dismiss his obvious talent. what baritone is capable of performing a high c with the ease of lanza? the fact is, he never had trouble achieving the high notes. corelli needed SIX years to perfect his high c. i just don't understand why the disrespect of lanza needs to be perpetuated. today, we welcome the likes of bocelli with open arms. we just don't want to admit we were wrong about lanza
This guy could sing anything and make it sound good. Listen to the way he comes out of the high and hits you with a deep rich dark sound unreal range of vocals for a tenor
@chakani0001 why is it sacreligious to recognize an incredible talent? caruso couldn't even record this aria in the original key, for god's sake. in the year he died, lanza was scheduled to OPEN la scala, the first american ever to do so. does that mean anything to the "know-it-alls" who sit back and judge him? no one has that right. the man possessed a singular talent that we may never enjoy on this earth again.
I am an uneducated (formally) listener, but a big fan and follower of the great tenor voices of time. And they are all fantastic, each in their own way and in their own style. But nobody-absolutely nobody- conveys the meaning and emotion of the music better than Lanza. And the voice, beyond the emotion, just the quality of the voice, is unsurpassed. He is, to me, the very best.
@falcon50flyer: that is a great comment and just the way I think ALL comments on YT should be formulated ! "He is, TO ME, the very best" ! I may not agree with you, but I fully respect you opinion.
@Aetion: Wow! That is SUCH a great quote!!!! I never saw it before. - I'm still stunned. Philosphically taking it even further than the old Greeks and Gautama Siddhartha. Beautiful, thank you !
@Aetion: of course the quote from Voltraire has to be evaluated as respect to its time period - and its potential political miessage, but great none the less !
@tomfroekjaer It’s the essential point of freedom in speech and expression of one’s opinion, without necessarily being correct. I think it’s supporting your comment to falcon50flyer above.
voce SPLENDIDA,PASSIONALE,CHE TI FA VIVERE "UN MOMENTO MAGICO".Mi dispiace per Pavarotti e per tanti altri ! Ma la MUSICA E LA LIRICA non "sono solo note da potere fare"Ma soprattutto "EMOZIONI DA POTERE TRASMETTERE!".E' vero che un tenore"NON PUO' ESSERE APPREZZATO DA TUTTI ALLO STESSO MODO"ma è EVIDENTE CHE MARIO LANZA aveva una GRANDE PASSIONE e riusciva A FARLA CONDIVIDERE A TUTTI ATTRAVERSO I TONI DELICATI E I TONI PIU' ALTI E SQUILLANTI !QUESTA E' L'ARTE! TRASMETTERE EMOZIONI!
Lanza died at 38 while 'drying out' and losing weight for a singing tour. He was pathologically insecure. A stunning physical specifmen in his youth, he was tortured by gaining weight, and drank too much. What a loss: this is an amazing voice. He had heart, humility, incredible looks. He only performed in repertoiry twice because of his crushing stage fright. Every great, mordern tenor loved Lanza: he's at his best here. There's a great documentary on his life: if you're a fan, watch it.
@jd1906sf It's strange that people pick on things about a tenor other than his singing. So what if Lanza had psychological problems or drank too much?
@janetary: The great Mario, stellar tenor - no doubts and no reservations on my part. With all due respect to your grandad and his opinion (but no "absolute truths" when it comes to judgement of quality of singing or one's own emotional response - regardless of one's age or one's own personal experiences). IMO, Marios was not better than his idole, Caruso. IMO Caruso had an other dimension - an unsurpassed emotional depth and the ability to absolutely BE the role of what he was singing.
Lanza may have been inspired by and surely learned from the Great Caruso. But he went beyond. Forgive me if you personally heard Caruso live, I never did. Nor did I hear Lanza live. Are we both going by recordings here? Because if so, IMHO Lanza shows more sincerity, more maturity, more range of emotion, more honesty, and more and pure power!
Isn't it great that we are all diffent with our own opinions. Life would be terribly boring if we all thought the same. I' judging from my own response to the recordings and so are you and we are both right. It's like preferring cherries over strawberries.
@4Rachy Most that heard them both said that Lanza did not come close- although many of the same adored Lanza for what he offered, as do I. Ask any tenor, including Lanza, who was the greatest tenor. They will tell you it was Caruso. Anyone who in turn cannot marvel at Lanza should have their ears examined.
Just so. As to 'ask any tenor', I assume you refer to the modern greats, It is the epitome of modesty and humility to deflect praise to a worthy predecessor (and NOT a contemporary). They are far too modest to admit their superiority....
@janetary Trust me, your granddad never heard Caruso in the early 1900's, especially in 1904 when Caruso recorded several benchmark arias. Lanza couldn't approach those recordings. The only other tenor to amaze me on more than two recordings was Bjorling.
I've seen negative comments about some performances of the very best. I'm sure they all had bad days here and there. I judge them by their best performances.
That's not to say Lanza wasn't very good. He just wasn't among the very best.
This might be Mario at his absolute best. This is one of the great arias, a simple, romantic poet pouring out his heart to Mimi, who he has just met. The joy, love and innocence are perfectly suited to Lanza's shy, endearing character. And what a voice: he soars on this one. I love DiStefano's version, and Caruso's always, but Mario is way up there with anyone on this. Bravo.
My dad was mad about Mario Lanza and showed me what a beautiful voice he had. He brings a tear to my eye and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. RIP Mario.
C'est en écoutant cette interprétation spécifique avec d'autres comme Because, que plusieurs experts musicaux en ont conclu que la voix de LANZA était l'une ou la plus belle du XXè siècle. GC
It is by listening to this specific interpretation with others like Because, that several musical experts concluded from it that the voice of LANZA was one or most beautiful of the XXè century. GC
Every night I listen to it over and over. And also Pavarotti's version. They are both so good. And yet, Mario moves me more. Actually, I like Pavarotti's voice the most but Mario's total presentation the best. And remembering, Mario did not have the benefit of modern recording technology. Who can say how his actual voice quality compares to modern artists?
For the past week I have listened to this same piece by all the greats posted on Youtube. What strikes me about Lanza's rendition is his sincerity...... Right? I hear in his the truest voice to a lover.
A singer's first job is to communicate. This ML did as did few others. I did not like many of his interpretations, and other singers would side with me, but what a lovely, lovely voice.
grew up listening to mario lanza, thanks mum, introduced me and many to opera with his wonderful moving voice, shame he,s devalued by opera snobs because he was commercial, later same said for pavarotti, wonderful tenors.
FANTASTIC!
nicandronatividad 1 week ago in playlist YouTube Mix for Mario Lanza
yes for me the best.....by far......
rouman7 3 months ago
What's to discuss ? Why not sit back, relax, and enjoy a truly wonderful voice.
Cakalene 4 months ago
The Jan Kiepura versions leave them all in the dust.
dziady1 4 months ago
Lanza introduced opera to the screen exposing millions of American to the splendid compositions of the great composers. His beautiful voice was appreciated by all. He sang from the heart. A student of the GREAT ENRICO ROSATI who taught BENIAMINO GIGLI, the stellar tenor of that era, Lanza would have entered the operatic scene had it not been for the fact he was too lucrative a property of the film industry. The High C here is far superior to tenors of this era.
MrSkylark1 4 months ago
what i fail to understand, is why, more than 50 years after his death, it remains so important to ignore and discredit his talent. are we so afraid that we were wrong?
jgraif 4 months ago
Pavrotti kicks his butt. This guy's voice is stuck in his throat.
Doowopper45 5 months ago
Wow, wow, wow......
MrSammyscroll 6 months ago
i don't know who's better him or pavarotti
0theunit01 6 months ago
Too bad we cannot get the 3rd act of Boheme, a tough act for the tenor but he sang it live and it was not recorded that I know of. We have not one complete opera from Lanza sadly but many songs, operetta, arias and film.
SHICOFF1 6 months ago
Someone said this was recorded on primitive equipment but no it was not. 1949 is not primitive, just not Stereo like the late 50's and in some cases better then late 50's! Caruso recorded on primitive equipment, before 1923 and it was into a horn. Nobody who didn't hear him in house can appreciate him fully and my grandfather heard him 3 times, once in Aida. My grandfather died in 1980 at the age of 100. He said Caruso had the greatest voice he ever heard in house. Could be I don't know.
SHICOFF1 6 months ago
When anyone hits gay tenor for being gay they all ready lost the argument, stick to facts and singers not personal attacks. Many narrow minded bigoted people attack him for it. Who cares what he likes for sex, that has zero to do Mario Lanza anyhow. We all love the ML voice as far as voice goes and in opera many sang this aria very well. Lanza had a drinking problem and so did Jussi and Tibbett but that has nothing to do with his singing . He choose Hollywood for whatever reason Money etc.
SHICOFF1 6 months ago
@GAYTENOR I can't compare and won't compare Lanza to Caruso for opera technique, also his voice was different from EC and as far as pavoratti I am not a big fan but he did have a great technique. Lanza had a great voice and made some excellent recordings of operetta etc. He was an operatic tenor but sang mostly in films and concerts. I don't think as a opera singer in recorded arias Lanza was better then Pav. or Caruso but sure his natural voice was one of the best. Perhaps Warmer then Pav.
SHICOFF1 6 months ago
A tenor WAY ahead of his time...
ronaldo190172 7 months ago
One of the best renditions of this aria available
ronaldo190172 7 months ago
And yet, why do we few keep coming back to this piece? With all the modern recordings to hear?
We know his recordings were on primitive equipment. Still, is there a more
thrilling rendition?
RIP genius, Mario.
4Rachy 8 months ago
I am so terribly sorry about the fate of Mario Lanza. This performance proves his incredible talent and his divine voice. I don't know why we didn't hear him sing like this all the time. He is incredible in this aria - and a fierce competitor to the legendary Enrico Caruso and much is better than Pavarotti, etc
tomfroekjaer 8 months ago 2
@tomfroekjaer I couldn't agree more......Enrico was amazing too but I have a soft spot for Mario......I have watched so many of his movies......That midnight kiss, Serenade, to name a few. His voice is as familiar and dear to me as many new tenors these days. Placido Domingo is another of my favorites. You have to hear Mario sing the Ave Maria and The Lord's Prayer......
ginoraveable 4 months ago
@ginoraveable In this recording Mario reveals his "true colors" - he is just incredible and he makes me "float."
I certainly understand why you have a "soft spot" for Mario, so do I !
His Ave Maria and The Lord's Prayer are also the true Lanza (the ones I heard). Extremely beautiful.
tomfroekjaer 4 months ago
part 2: His operatic recordings are more often than not Mario Lanza pretending he's an opera singer. When he had the chance to audition for Toscanini he failed to show up. What sane man would have avoided the opportunity to learn from Toscanini? The answer is a singer so totally insecure that he couldn't trust his great gift to get him through the audition. There is enough really good stuff available without all the would have beens. He was not an opera singer period!
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: The "failed audition" story has been disputed, though even if true one could hardly blame a 25-year-old for being overawed at the thought of singing for someone of Toscanini's reputation. I knew conductor Herb Grossman, Toscanini's one-time assistant. He was unaware of any audition, and his own view of Lanza from working with him in 1948 for a projected televised Boheme was that he was intelligent, musical, a load of fun and "indeed serious about his art." My site has the interview.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern Why with Lanza is everything projected but never done? What went on in 1948 has no real bearing over the trip into darkness that Lanza went on for the last years of his life. He was young, had a free will, and an excellent chance at an outstanding career but he wanted the easy cash from Hollywood. While he had a really great voice I will never place him in the company of the greats who performed for years, live in front of a large audience and critics.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor ????? so why did toscanini describe lanza as the "next caruso"?
jgraif 4 months ago
@jgraif Pray tell where an actual quote from Toscanini can be found. Toscanini never heard Lanza in person because Lanza backed out of the scheduled audition.
gaytenor 4 months ago
@gaytenor The closest connection I could ever discover between Lanza and Toscanini was a (pretty reputable) report saying that Toscanini listened to some recordings of Lanza when considering casting one of his operas (which obviously didn't work out.) When he made the oft-quoted "greatest voice of the 20th century" statement I have no idea (it's conceivable he never made it at all, I suppose.) I've never heard one from Toscanini calling Lanza the 'next Caruso,' and I'm sure they never met.
ShawDAMAN 4 months ago
@ShawDAMAN You probably are closer to the truth of the situation. It was, I believe, in reference to the possibility of his singing in the Manzoni Requiem. His recording of the aria from the Requiem is really quite good. If that often told story is true its too bad he didn't audition because Toscanini might well have transformed him into the GREAT SINGER he wanted to be.
gaytenor 4 months ago
@dereckmcgovern I didn't mean to imply that you said it was a dramatic aria. I know what you mean of course and we all hear things differently, so even though I don't prefer his Otello recording over some others he made I can accept the quotes of mentioned singers stating how great the Otello recording is. Many lyric tenors sang Celeste Aida and recorded it . Kraus lighter then Lanza and no way a lyric spinto recorded the aria late in his career and Cielo E mar also!
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
derekmcgovern: As for the troll he has written his filth all over the place about me and Richard Tucker. Tucker was an exceptional man who I had the great pleasure of meeting! This cretin has, I believe, two recordings or so, and he references them endlessly. Homophobic morons do not go away if your nice to them and I'm not some Mary that's going to let an illiterate moron insult me especially one who for all the world I would bet is in the closet.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor AMEN!
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern Celeste Aida is really not a dramatic aria, it seems to me but lyric spinto as it reflects the words Heavenly Aida, Later in the opera is some dramatic singing. Lanza's last note in this aria in the Caruso film is one of his best ever. His voice was amazing as anyone can hear. I like the Student Prince original recording of all the pop stuff he recorded best and his last film "for the first time" had some fine singing in it, especially the vesti la giubba.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1: I didn't say Celeste Aida was "a dramatic aria"; I said that on his 1949 version Lanza recognizes that he's in spinto (not dramatic) territory, and therefore sings the aria with a darker colouring than on Rodolfo's more lyric aria. @gaytenor: Lanza wouldn't have been ready to sing Otello on stage in 1955, when he recorded the Monologue, but by 1958 the voice had darkened considerably. "Black and warm" Tucker's UK concert agent described it. He was bordering on a spinto by then.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern Bordering on a spinto doesn't cut it in Otello nor does vocal color. Otello should be sung by a dramatic tenor, i.e. Mario Del Monaco or Jon VIckers. The singer should also have a real understanding of the text and Lanza's approach was more Leoncavallo than Verdi. Atlantov another remarkable dramatic tenor was singing the role at 30 and very, very well indeed. The main problem was frankly that Lanza was a very poor actor gifted with a great voice trying to play an opera singer.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: God knows Lanza made enough bad recordings, but his Otello renditions were not among them. In my opinion, his singing of the Monologue shows a perfect understanding of the text. As for Lanza being a very poor actor, obviously these things are subjective, but the critics who reviewed his Pinkerton didn't think so. Nor did Albanese, who stated that he knew exactly how to move on a stage. "He had everything [a great tenor' needs," she added.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern By reputation Licia Albanese was a CLASS ACT known for her KINDNESS. The Otello recordings from Serenade are among the most over blown examples of Lanza's career. You see when he could play Otello on a sound stage he didn't have to contend with critcs, etc. Compare Lanza's overblown nonsense with a real Otello like Giovanni Martinelli or Mario Del Monaco. And didn't you comment about him not being ready for Otello in 1955? Get a life I have other things to do!!!
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: Since you brought up Atlantov, you may be interested in his opinion of Lanza: "When I listen to [Lanza], I feel as if some golden lava is flowing toward me. I'm deeply moved when I hear him sing, and not only because he has a voice of unique beauty -- it has everything from amazing firmness, resolution and dramatism to piercing, throbbing tenderness." Notice his point about "dramatism."
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern You can quote, probably out of context, from great singers who are being kind, showing artistic courtesy, etc. The point all of you glide over is that singers like Peerce, Tucker, Del Monaco, Atlantov, Shicoff, Pavarotti, Di Stefano, Bjorling, etc. PAID THEIR DUES! They were real opera singers who had the stones to face a live audience and critics they deserve MORE RESPECT because their careers were not made on MOVIE SOUND STAGES!
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor There are far more qualified people in the world of music who have a far higher opinion of Mario Lanza than you have. So you're a tenor? Yeah, and you couldn't even begin to compare! So take your insults and shove them up your arse - though judging by your name you'd probably enjoy it!
Bye bye gaybendor.
TheMG63 6 months ago
@TheMG63 And there are lots of dumb Lanza loonies like you that try to deny a person's right to comment unless its so proLanza as to make a music lover sick. If someone disagrees with your illerate opinion you sink to personal insults and by the way what are shoving up your arse Mary! Piss off !!!
gaytenor 6 months ago
@derek mcgovern I have seen many posts where they go off on tangents about other singers, it can be interesting until it gets into sex or politics but as you see I have now posted about Lanza again. His fans are not as fanatical as JB's, none are yet two good friends of mine are huge JB fans and don't post and they are irritated by JB's fanatical fans. Had Lanza and Jussi lived in these times they may have lived longer lives with new meds. Lanza died at 38 just going into his prime years.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
Lanza had a great voice and this is a fine recording but not everything he recorded is the best as with anyone else. We all hear things differently, different voice types but you can say that some fans of his and Jussi / Corelli and one Tucker fan (not me or gaytenor) like all they sang and that's bull. Look at Jussi's great book by Farkus, his widow said Fans - Fanatic's. I prefer Lanza's later coke show Boheme and in opera his early . Bowl concerts etc. and the 1959 movie vesti and aida
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1 My good friend how true!! The sad thing about Lanza is the battery of ghouls that write ghastly books, create rumors of contracts offered or discussions per-se that never were mentioned while the man was alive, and praise every note ever recorded by him including his play acting as Otello. A good deal of what ill befell Lanza could and probably should be placed at the door of the parasites that attached themselves to him like leeches letting him destroy himself.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@GAYTENOR Yes Peerce held up well as far as everything besides voice, breath etc. but you say he was on a show for lucky strike so maybe that two pack thing was to help the sales I doubt he smoked later anyhow and when I was in his home and he was older then, no he didn't and I knew him when he was in his middle 60's and he never smoked then at all. I drove him to his concerts several times and we had food after and more often breakfast and he never had a smoke, that i saw, he was 65 then.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@GAYTENOR Bonci sounded more lyric then Caruso and probably had a smaller voice and some people I know prefer Pertile over Caruso who really for me anyhow cannot touch him or for that matter Lauri Volpe after Pertile was terrific. Gigli is a bad comparison cause he was so lyric but really he sang it all anyhow, in Aida, Chenier and Forza . Bjorling was smart he stayed away from more Spinto roles like those.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
We can't compare Lanza's operatic career with that of Caruso & co, given that he only performed two roles. What we *can* legitimately compare, though, are recordings, and on this rendition, at least (and there are many other examples as well), Lanza compares very favourably with the best of them. For once, the (US) critics agreed too, voting it the outstanding operatic recording of its year. As for the person who claimed that Lanza's voice sounded thin here: I recommend a hearing test asap.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
Re the "thin" voice claim: Lanza recognizes that Rodolfo is not Canio, & sings the aria with the appropriate lyricism, lightening his tone. Compare his approach here with his recording of Celeste Aida from the same day. On the latter, he uses a darker, more spinto sound. Radames, unlike Rodolfo, is not a lyric role. Lanza knew what he was doing! What I especially love about this recording is its poetry & the way Lanza effortlessly negotiates the fiendish "Talor dal mio forziere" (2:48 mark).
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern You point out the biggest problem with Lanza's operatic recordings mainly he was a lyric tenor who was very young trying to sound like a spinto. Good low voice or not and his was good his singing of Otello's music is so over blown that it approaches a parody. Lanza had a great voice of that there should be no doubt but there are few really great operatic recordings because his dramatic over playing and slovenly musicianship detract from the great sound.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: You may not appreciate Lanza's Otello recordings, but both the Monologue and the Death Scene have been highly praised by the likes of Licia Albanese and, more recently, tenor Joseph Calleja (whose own singing teacher (Paul Asciak), incidentally, was deeply impressed by Lanza's singing when he heard him at the Royal Albert Hall. I'm happy to accept their opinions over those of amateur singers! Moreover, Lanza was a lirico spinto, not a lyric tenor, with a strong baritonal color. (cont)
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@gaytenor (contd): There are far more worthy operatic recordings by Lanza out there than his extremely poorly compiled BMG CDs would suggest. BMG almost invariably chooses the worst version by Lanza (typically from his Coca-Cola radio show) to represent him -- a sloppy "Amor Ti Vieta," for example, over the mature 1955 version. Read Part V of my essay "Mario Lanza: A Radical Reassessment" for an overview if you're interested -- you'll find the web site address if you click on my name below.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern The difference, which you artfully avoid, is that the 78s done by Caruso, etc. were done in one take which probably wasn't the case with Lanza's recordings. His last recordings were zombie affairs. As for Peerce his live performance of this very aria with Toscanini in 1946 is much finer than the version being discussed here mainly because Peerce, also gifted with a great voice, had the authority of having performed the role of Rodolfo in the opera house not a small point.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: You suggest that Lanza's recordings were often the result of multiple takes, but the irony is that too often he settled for the first take when retakes should have been done -- eg, the Core 'Ngrato & Celeste Aida from the same session as this Che Gelida. All 4 recordings that day were single takes, as the RCA logs (which I have) reveal. As for Lanza's 1959 recordings, the only thing "zombie"-like about them was the fact that his co-singers recorded their contributions without him.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern As to the zombie reference what else describes the way the Desert Song's solo selections were recorded? And why, pray tell, do you have to create a difficult phrase where one doesn't exist in the Boheme aria? The phrase 'talor......' is not all that difficult even when sung in key and Lanza uses a sweeping portamento that is fairly common practice. The phrase can be sung in key without the portamento as illustrated by Jan Peerce in the Toscanini broadcast.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: If you don't think the aria from "Talor dal mio forziere" onwards is difficult, then I suggest you talk to a few great tenors. As for Lanza's intonation problems, yes, they were real enough - he tended to sing sharp a lot (though he was mercifully seldom flat) - but he was hardly alone in that department. Think of Di Stefano, Corelli, & Bergonzi. And, yes, Lanza did have a drinking problem, but again, he was not the only one....You know, a little sympathy from you wouldn't go amiss.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern I have sung the aria a lot and the problematic part of the aria comes in the penultimate climax reaching to the high c''. I have virtually never heard the aria sung poorly by any professional tenor and the performances by Peerce, DiStefano, Tucker, Pavarotti, Bjorling, etc., are far better. Listen to the way Peerce phrases the 'Talor passage WITHOUT PORTAMENTOS. Telling the truth about Mario may upset you but you nitpicking bullshit is too much you have an excuse for everything
gaytenor 8 months ago
Bonci, McCormack, Peerce, Tibbett et al are not the point here! This is supposed to be a discussion about Lanza's recording of Che Gelida Manina. It seems that every time someone uploads a Lanza recording of an aria on YT, the usual suspects hijack the discussion to push their own agendas. For God's sake, listen to Lanza's actual singing here -- which is pretty bloody magnificent if you ask me -- instead of squabbling about who's homophobic or how many cigarettes Peerce may have smoked.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern Pardon me for defending myself and answering a troll who haunts various and sundry channels on you tube with his insane comments and personal attacks of myself and others. I thought that this was a forum for free discussion and not a church service for the worship of Mario Lanza. Your right in saying the singing of the aria is very, very good here, but the only problem is that a Hollywood sound stage is not an opera house or a concert hall. Lanza was usually wildly over the top.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: Yes, this is a forum for free speech, but it does get a little tiresome when things veer off-topic so often. Why give homophobic trolls the time of day? As for "worship of Mario Lanza," I find that ironic given that I've often been lambasted for being critical of his lesser recordings. The 1949 Che Gelida is not one of them, though why you feel compelled to qualify your praise by saying it was recorded on a Hollywood stage -- which it wasn't, as it happens -- is beyond me. (contd)
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@gaytenor: (contd): It's irrelevant *where* this recording was made, though for the record the venue was RCA's New York studios, and the orchestra mostly members of the NY Philharmonic. But if you insist on examples of Lanza singing in concert, then there's sufficient recorded evidence that he could cut the mustard in a live environment. Listen to his performances at the Hollywood Bowl 1947-49, or his Massey Hall, Toronto concert of April 1948. Many of these recordings can be heard at my site.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern I never intended to suggest that this present recording which is indeed very good was done in Hollywood but most of them were until he went to Italy I believe. I also acknowledge that his voice sounded excellent in live performance, but you miss my point which is that he was for the most part playing Caruso his whole life rather than himself. When he made 'Mario' and 'Lanza sings Caruso Favorites' he was being himself and the singing and more importantly his musical taste see 2
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: On the contrary, I believe Lanza was always himself. In any event, some have argued that, if anything, there's more of a Pertile influence in his singing than a Caruso one. But he was very much his own man, as indeed even Caruso's own son Enrico Jnr noted....I agree with you, though, about the stylistic superiority of the "Mario!" & "Caruso Favorites" albums from the last ten months of his life -- and also the operatic recordings he made in 1955 and 1958.
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern: He simply wore his 'Great Caruso' costume for the fun of it? To be really blunt I sincerely wonder if Lanza had the native intelligence to be a world class classical singer. I have had more than enough of the pie in the sky he was wonderful but! Your legend had serious intonation problems, slovenly musicianship, and a performance style that was so over the top that even Pertile would have been embarrassed. The man was mentally ill with the morals of an alley cat see part 2
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor: You never worked with Lanza, nor did you know the man or hear him in person. To accuse him of being mentally ill and having the morals of an alley cat is as unfair as it is offensive. It sounds to me like you've been influenced by the Bessette biography. To those who knew him, there was no question that he had the intelligence, voice and musicality to be a great singer. His friend and colleague George London was also adamant that Lanza's musicianship was usually "respectable."
derekmcgovern 8 months ago
@derekmcgovern I have read the Bessette book but yours is better the mental illness stuff is from the book by his conductor and accompanist and frankly it explains a great deal. As to his musicianship why the hell did he hide it? Its one thing to learn a few arias and quite another thing to learn a role. Pinkerton is a small part that the great tenors very seldom ever sing. Next thing I know will be Mario wasn't really a drunk! This is pointless finalmente!
gaytenor 8 months ago
I'm not getting involved in a bitch fight with you old fart. Piss off and get cultured
tamaria6564 8 months ago
@gaytenor-- Bonci was a fine singer but his Vibrato is sometimes is too much for me. Peerce told me Toscanini had him study Bonci for the laugh in Ballo, laughing and singing in the aria. Toscanini admired Bonci for they way he pulled it off. The 54 Ballo peerce did with Toscanini is a classic live one for both JP and Toscanini. It would have been Jussi but he backed out not feeling well and Peece was called and at first was pissed and was not going to do it but his wife Alice convinced him.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1 Did you know that Bonci was considered Caruso's peer by some critics? I agree about the vibrato but that more often than not is caused by the assumption that Bonci didn't transpose which he obviously did like any other tenor. It was a small voice that carried exceptionally well and his top notes even on the acoustic recordings have overtones galore. I didn't like him much for the vibrato either until I heard the wonderful album put out by Pearl where the keys are realistic.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor I knew Peerce and was in his home as a guest over night when I was in NYC back in the 80's, No smoking then and I had just quit but I also had several dinners out with him in California and that was in the 60's and in the 70's and by then he also did not. When did he smoke that much? and when I asked him about smoking he told me he did for awhile when he was a younger but Two Packs a day? He obviously quit in time, never got thick and dark, his voice at 73 still had some ring.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1 There is a picture of Peerce with a cig in his hand in 58 during a break when they were recording Lucia and in the 'Bluebird of Happiness' he mentions two packs a day I believe he liked Lucky Strike since they sponsored one of his radio programs. My good friend he was still puffing at 54 and his breath control was remarkable.
gaytenor 8 months ago
wiseoldfart-part2. You should ask yourself why you must use filth to have fun. With your attitude toward sex you homophobic shithead you have to be a closet queen Nellie. Your cheap insults only serve to betray your ignorance about music. Any real opera lover would know about Bonci but I forget you just troll making a fucking asshole of yourself. As to Caruso's recording of 1904 it stinks!! Experts agree with me with the wretched excess of tempi, etc. Its way, way too slow and morose.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@wiseoldfart the reason JB sang as well as he did with all the booze he drank was also when he died he was only 49 not 60's like tibbett was,LT drank and lost in his 50's. JB had a great tech. Mac Neil does drink some and lasted pretty well but started to go later . I would guess smoking hurts the voice more and both ML and EC smoked and EC at 48 when he died had gotten very Baritonal, JB did not at 49 when he died just darker like many do. Booze Kills you but not the voice it seems.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1 Smoking affects your breathing which is a total no-no. It is shocking how well Peerce, two packs a day, maintained his breath control never breaking up the long lines in Handel and Mozart arias. Tibbett had a serious vocal problem that Peter L. Davis ascribes to the difficulties of some of the operas in English written for him that relied on the exceptional ease and strength of his upper register. Tibbett's singing in Simon Boccanegra and Otello are ample documentation of his greatness
gaytenor 8 months ago
SOME ODD COMMENTS HERE! GAY TENOR'S FAVORITE TENOR IS PEERCE, GOT IT? GUESS SOME DON'T KNOW THAT AND TUCKER WAS NOT JUST LOUD AS FART SAYS EITHER, NO HIS SINGING OF AH SI BEN MIO AND OTHERS WAS NOT JUST LOUD. I LIKE CARUSO BUT POTTS NO WAY. LANZA HAD A GREAT VOICE, BETTER THEN SOME TODAY AT THE MET BUT TO SAY LANZA WAS A BETTER SINGER THEN CARUSO? OPINION- HE MADE SOME RECORDINGS OF ARIAS I MAY ACTUALLY PREFER. HEAR THE SOUND IN EC's RECORDS. ML DID MORE CONCERTS AND FILM THEN OPERA
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
@SHICOFF1 Do you think this moron has even heard of Jan Peerce? The art of a singer like Peerce is wasted on this trailer trash. I doubt if this idiot ever even heard of Alessandro Bonci and maybe even McCormack as the great opera singer he was in his early years. We know this putz is homophobic which makes me wonder if the asshole has something against Jewish people also which would fully explain his insane remarks concerning Richard Tucker. Peerce could sing the Gott Jussi under the table.
gaytenor 8 months ago
NOBODY HEARD CARUSO ALIVE TODAY IN HOUSE UNLESS HE WAS BORN IN THE VERY EARLY 1900'S WHICH WOULD MAKE HIM PAST 105 YRS OLD! SO IT REALLY DOESN'T MATTER. CARUSO WAS AN OPERA SINGER AND A GREAT ONE. I DID NOT HEAR HIM LIVE, HE DIED IN 1921 AND ANYONE TODAY WHO SAYS HE HEARD HIM IS A LIAR OR SENILE MOST LIKELY AND IN FACT HE WOULD HAVE TO BE ABOUT MY AGE OF 70 TO HAVE A PARENT OR GRANDPARENT WHO HEARD HIM.
SHICOFF1 8 months ago
You are entitled to your opinion old fart but your name says it all. Caruso couldn't lace lanzas spatz
tamaria6564 8 months ago
@tamaria6564 More people agree with me than with you. Caruso was the greatest tenor ever recorded. His 'Una furtiva lagrima' remains the single best performance ever recorded by a tenor. If you fail to understand why upon analyzing it, I feel sorry for you.
wiseroldfart 8 months ago
@wiseroldfart What an idiot! Have you heard all the recorded examples of tenor singing? Of course not you are more intend on proving what a moron you are. How, for example, could the singing of Melchoir be compared with that of Bonci both of whom were great singers. Caruso's 'Una furtiva lagrima' IS NOT EVEN THE BEST RECORDING OF THE ARIA LET ALONE SOME APOTHEOSIS OF THE TENOR ART. Try the performances of the aria by Schipa, McCormack, Gigli, and Josef Schmidt fool to hear how it should sound.
gaytenor 8 months ago
@gaytenor Somebody's got something up his ass besides his boyfriend's weenie! You're the tasteless opera idiot on the board, not me. If you don't realize the significance of Caruso's 1904 'Una furtiva lagrima' recording, I feel sorry for you.
Now we know why you're a failed amateur - no music sense.
wiseroldfart 8 months ago
@wiseroldfart Your just a dirty minded troll who's knowledge of music is, in mathematical terms, a null set.
Doesn't it bother you that no one seems to agree with the nonsense you add. Find even one serious reference that agrees with you about the 'Una furtiva lagrima.' If you ever lower yourself to visit a decent library try "Opera on Record.' It is, however, wonderful to know someone who has heard all the recordings ever made. You have a habit of wondering about my sex life. see: Part 2
gaytenor 8 months ago
If you like this song, catch The Ten Tenors' version from 2004, Dom Smith, David Kidd and Shannon Brown do Excellent jobs and follow Mario's tempo quite closely Bravissima!
lmsundin 9 months ago
To all whom the word apologists offended. In this case, the word simply means defenders. As in Platos Apology or Longinus s Apology for Poetry. It is not my intention to insult or offend Lanza fans.. regards, mike
operalament 9 months ago
The year that Lanza recorded this aria, it was adjudged "Record of The Year.!"
catlec39 9 months ago
it never fails, I try and try to find what it is that Lanza apologists find so compelling in this mans singing, and I simply cant. I will admit he had a successful carreer, and good throat, but im sorry I just cant stand him. I find his exaggerated emotion irritating, his phrasing suspect, and something seems totally affected. His glisendo seems ingenuine, Corelli who is among my favorities, never had a clean attack, but he always sounded geunine. Lanza never did to me. Sorry
operalament 9 months ago
@operalament thank you for your considered comments regarding mario lanza. may i suggest, with all due respect, that "leading" your comments by defining those who appreciate his talent as "apologists", only serves to obscure the quality of your remarks as you throw additional fuel onto the fire. both koussevitzky and toscanini thought he was brilliant. should they have apologized?
jgraif 9 months ago
@operalament and i am sorry, but i "just can't stand" pavarotti for many of the same reasons. as his fame grew, his performances became increasingly devoid of any genuine emotion. is it possible that those who would defend his talent are guilty of "apologizing" for him?
jgraif 9 months ago
Opera News..9 / 99..Ira Siff
what's the greatest voice you ever heard ?
Placido Domingo responds that after seeing The Great Caruso and hearing those wonderful opera arias sung by Lanza ..a voice of enormous dramatic impact..after seeing the film a no. of times ..Domingo realized that being able to sing opera like Lanza was what he would want to do... he has often listened to Mario's recordings..'ea. time i've been thrilled by the heroic sound of that voice'
ck. out Op.News..entire quote...
NicoloDantes 9 months ago
The 'wiseoldfart' compares Lanza to Potts! Anything said by this mentally disabled moron can be safely ignored. People don't be insulted by the remarks of this fool because he repeats them with very limited variations on any site he visits. He pretends to know music and singing but he doesn't know shit from shinola and his secret knowledge is totally astral in nature. Neither Lanza--lyrico-spinto and Caruso--spinto are called dramatic tenors by knowledgeable fans.
gaytenor 9 months ago
@gaytenor What are you talking about? Potts isn't even close! Lanza is very good, Potts is unpolished, but decent for a modern day amateur. Tucker, your dream boy, is just loud and a bit of an oddball. Your bad taste shows every time you defend him.
wiseroldfart 8 months ago
@wiseroldfart Go take some Beano you goddamn idiot. Where on this channel did I even mention Tucker asshole? Have you no shame? I'm not a world class Lanza fan but thin isn't the way to describe a voice that was exceptionally baritonal at times. I have come to the conclusion that your just a trolling moron since you do not know that most critics prefer Caruso's later 'Una furtiva lagrima' since the tempi are more appropriate. To quote G Marx "Drill a hole in your head and let the sap run out."
gaytenor 8 months ago
Mario was one of the greats, beautiful voice!
GiovanniMariaTommaso 10 months ago
Lanza's was a rich voice with the timbre, strength and range that spells greatness. BUT he chose movies. Now it's about big bucks they with hold and you've got expenses. Che gelida manina is written with the serenity of gentle enchantment. But they point out your competition is now Elvis and they need it to sound like Hound Dog. You strain at it with vein popping triple fortes and hints of hysteria until
they're happy. Of course Mimi listening to this is now alarmed and gets a restraining order.
ioehrf 11 months ago
look, i try my best not to play the "trained musician card", but if you cannot hear the power in this man's voice (the recording has NOTHING to do with it), you simply don't have an ear!! listen to ANYTHING recorded by bocelli and tell me he possesses the same power. you cannot. oh...lanza's FIRST stage performance was considered "just fair"? please produce the rave reviews from caruso's first performance at the metropolitan opera. they don't exist.
jgraif 11 months ago
The purest and richest voice in operatic history. No one can match his superior tones even with modern megabuck studios covering over weak pretenders.
tamaria6564 11 months ago
@tamaria6564 Sure, you'll get a few big time Lanza fans to agree with you. If only you'd get around more and listen to the greatest tenors ever recorded - the ones most people put on their 'A' list. There's are reasons for that. I hope you discover those reasons.
wiseroldfart 11 months ago
@wiseroldfart I have listened to them all and have an extensive library of 78s and vinyl spanning many years. I have no A list and do not categorise or list in a top 10. Lists are for people who conform and wish agreement. Lanza IS the purest tenor and the saddest demise of a talent unrivaled
tamaria6564 11 months ago
@tamaria6564 Caruso was a much better tenor than Lanza. They were both considered 'dramatics.' Bjorling and perhaps Pavarotti were more talented. Bjorling for sure. His 'O holy night' is a great example. There are many other examples.
My list is based on MY preferences. You also judge. You called Lanza the purest tenor, after all..
The purest, most talented tenor ever recorded was Caruso. His 1904 'Una furtiva lagrima' is the most sophisticated work ever recorded by a tenor. Case closed!
wiseroldfart 9 months ago
@wiseroldfart : I am a huge Bjorling fan and also admire his version of O Holy Night. He had the voice of an archangel and often brings me to tears.
However, he was not without his own flaws. His unique vibrato caused him to be sharp throughout his career, his voice was not overly powerful in his lower registers, his Italian diction was imperfect and late in his career he often avoided singing his trademark high C. You can criticize any tenor. Lanza's voice was magnificent. Enjoy it.
badpdx 9 months ago
@badpdx I realize Bjorling's flaws and I'm amazed that he could sing as well as he did shortly before his death despite all the booze he gargled through the years. They say alcohol is a good preserver. Maybe in his case it was, but not in Lanzas..
I don't see Caruso or Bjorling greatness in Lanza's recordings. He was very good with the pleasant voice expected of an Italian, but he doesn't blow me away like a few others.
wiseroldfart 9 months ago
@wiseroldfart: I find many of Lanza's recordings to be magnificent, and others make me cringe. Among his best are the Hollywood Bowl recordings, his RCA versions of Grenada, Celeste Aida, Mamma Mia Che Vo Sape, A Vuchella, Recondita Armonia, Silent Night and his later Neapolitan recordings, as well some of his Coke show recordings such as Santa Lucia and Non ti scordar di me. He also recorded godawful stuff such as the Pineapple Pickers and a English language version of Funiculi Funicula.
badpdx 9 months ago
This video is a real treat with Bjorling and Tebaldi live:
Jussi Björling - Che gelida manina (1956)
Bjorling really shines here.
wiseroldfart 11 months ago
Lanza did not have a large voice either though probably on par with Bjorling and I certainly agree it was thin. This is especially true when you listen to recordings which haven't been pumped up by studio engineers like this, such as the "Mario Lanza at MGM" CD. Hell, listen to a live recording of a real opera singer and compare it to even one of the same singer's studio recordings. Someone who was in attendance of Lanza's one performance of "Butterfly" in '48 described him as "just fair."
VinylToVideo 1 year ago
@VinylToVideo what a load garbage you spin.
romanazazel 11 months ago
@romanazazel Nice argument. I've heard from people in attendance at his only opera performance who described him as "just fair" and I bet you've never even heard the recordings I mentioned as being the only studio ones NOT over engineered that show his true voice. I own every recording he ever made; all pumped up studio rubbish. Learn something and so some research before you spout your ignorance off.
VinylToVideo 11 months ago
@VinylToVideo "pumped up studio rubbish"...do you mean the same kind of crap we accept from andrea bocelli today as we credit him with bridging the gap between opera and pop audiences? clearly, you do not own every recording lanza ever made. the 1958 LIVE recording at the royal albert hall cannot be dismissed as "pumped up studio rubbish". i find it amazing that, 52 years after this man's untimely passing, the "know-it-alls" continue to defend their baseless criticisms of him. learn something??
jgraif 11 months ago
@VinylToVideo You are an imbecile and not worthy to even try and convince of what Mario Lanza truly had. Just look up what some of the greatest artists in opera - from composers and singers - have said about hearing Mario Lanza live; from Richard Bonning and Joan Sutherland's assessment of Mario's "Huge" sound and musical expression to Callas's lament of never having sung with the "greatest tenor voice she had ever heard" to many more from many others. :)
romanazazel 10 months ago
@romanazazel Richard Bonning??? I've NEVER seen a valid source for any of these supposed quotes by opera singers other than books written by delusional fans of Lanza's. The supposed Toscanini quote is always wrongly quoted, and why did Lanza refuse to audition for Toscanini if he was any good? I guess it doesn't seem odd to you that every one of Lanza's duets with real opera singers were recorded separately and tape spliced together later by studio engineers (Bob Dolphi is my source for this)?
VinylToVideo 10 months ago
Beautiful, just beautiful. I see why they chose him to play Caruso.
tsmlink 1 year ago
Lanza had a voice, a heart, a presence. He was a truly great tenor who stayed away from the stage because of a pathological stage fright. This is a remarkable, soaring Rodolfo.
jd1906sf 1 year ago
@jd1906sf please listen to the 1958 recording of his live performance in the royal albert hall and tell me that you still believe he suffered from stage fright. just a thought.
jgraif 1 year ago
Brilliant!!
saltcommission 1 year ago
My first aquintance with opera was in Egypt when I saw Mario Lanza portray Enrico Caruso. I was 9 and didn't understand a word, but I knew when to cry.
missepearl 1 year ago 3
The tenor voice is not my favorite voice type, but Lanza always sounds so very beautiful to me.
arpeggio1358 1 year ago
I heard him when I was around 10 years old and I still think he is better than anyone else. His voice is richer and deeper and his singing has more feeling. Just great!!!!
sophocles8 1 year ago 4
Eccezionale!
MrGARRO84 1 year ago
My version of Che gelida manina!!!
GabrielGarcia1976 1 year ago 2
opera888ableA huge talent but I repeat, undiscaplined,Have you heard him sing the monologue
from act 1 of andrea chenier,that for me is Lanza at his best.It has beensaid or written he could have made a first rate baritone his middle and lower registers wer3e full of potential
opera888able 1 year ago
@opera888able may i offer that proposing lanza as a baritone was simply another way to dismiss his obvious talent. what baritone is capable of performing a high c with the ease of lanza? the fact is, he never had trouble achieving the high notes. corelli needed SIX years to perfect his high c. i just don't understand why the disrespect of lanza needs to be perpetuated. today, we welcome the likes of bocelli with open arms. we just don't want to admit we were wrong about lanza
jgraif 1 year ago
@jgraif Yes, I did find the recordings, thank you! :)
Barelyjazzy 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This is one of the few arias where he doesn't sing lousy, but his interpretation is phoney as hell...
zgopify 1 year ago
@zgopify Lousy? Phoney? Then why post ignorant remarks here and not somewhere else? Probably another frustrated musician...
DiamondDEK 1 year ago
@DiamondDEK Hear Hear
ww2berry 1 year ago
This guy could sing anything and make it sound good. Listen to the way he comes out of the high and hits you with a deep rich dark sound unreal range of vocals for a tenor
kopite1963 1 year ago 4
I saw his movies when I was a kid...I'd forgotten how beautiful his voice was...
williamrmorrison 1 year ago 3
Magnifica voz! Grande interpretação!!!
sarolask 1 year ago
manifique
yukico2906 1 year ago 2
I know this is sacreligious, but this version grabs me more than Caruso's.
chakani0001 1 year ago 2
@chakani0001 why is it sacreligious to recognize an incredible talent? caruso couldn't even record this aria in the original key, for god's sake. in the year he died, lanza was scheduled to OPEN la scala, the first american ever to do so. does that mean anything to the "know-it-alls" who sit back and judge him? no one has that right. the man possessed a singular talent that we may never enjoy on this earth again.
jgraif 1 year ago 4
Best !!!
21Placido 1 year ago
Absolutely gorgeous...
cesmemael 1 year ago 2
I am an uneducated (formally) listener, but a big fan and follower of the great tenor voices of time. And they are all fantastic, each in their own way and in their own style. But nobody-absolutely nobody- conveys the meaning and emotion of the music better than Lanza. And the voice, beyond the emotion, just the quality of the voice, is unsurpassed. He is, to me, the very best.
falcon50flyer 2 years ago 6
He was not the best, but as you say, few conveyed the emotion better than this man. I remain his ardent fan as well.
Lovelytenor1 2 years ago
@falcon50flyer: that is a great comment and just the way I think ALL comments on YT should be formulated ! "He is, TO ME, the very best" ! I may not agree with you, but I fully respect you opinion.
tomfroekjaer 2 years ago
@tomfroekjaer
"Je ne suis pas d'accord avec ce que vous dites, mais je me battrai jusqu'à la mort pour que vous ayez le droit de le dire." (Voltaire)
Aetion 1 year ago
@Aetion: Wow! That is SUCH a great quote!!!! I never saw it before. - I'm still stunned. Philosphically taking it even further than the old Greeks and Gautama Siddhartha. Beautiful, thank you !
tomfroekjaer 1 year ago
@Aetion: of course the quote from Voltraire has to be evaluated as respect to its time period - and its potential political miessage, but great none the less !
tomfroekjaer 1 year ago
@tomfroekjaer It’s the essential point of freedom in speech and expression of one’s opinion, without necessarily being correct. I think it’s supporting your comment to falcon50flyer above.
Aetion 1 year ago
@Aetion: yes, the quote brilliantly supports my comment to falcon50flyer as well as his comment.
tomfroekjaer 1 year ago
I like Lanza a lot too. To me it is Di Stefano and Lanza then the rest.
tonybada1 2 years ago
i love di stefano, kraus,mc cormac but lanza,s voice is the voice.......
rouman7 2 years ago 3
voce SPLENDIDA,PASSIONALE,CHE TI FA VIVERE "UN MOMENTO MAGICO".Mi dispiace per Pavarotti e per tanti altri ! Ma la MUSICA E LA LIRICA non "sono solo note da potere fare"Ma soprattutto "EMOZIONI DA POTERE TRASMETTERE!".E' vero che un tenore"NON PUO' ESSERE APPREZZATO DA TUTTI ALLO STESSO MODO"ma è EVIDENTE CHE MARIO LANZA aveva una GRANDE PASSIONE e riusciva A FARLA CONDIVIDERE A TUTTI ATTRAVERSO I TONI DELICATI E I TONI PIU' ALTI E SQUILLANTI !QUESTA E' L'ARTE! TRASMETTERE EMOZIONI!
ulisseclisse 2 years ago
hai ragione non c'è pavarotti che tenga...
andyroma72 1 year ago
Lanza died at 38 while 'drying out' and losing weight for a singing tour. He was pathologically insecure. A stunning physical specifmen in his youth, he was tortured by gaining weight, and drank too much. What a loss: this is an amazing voice. He had heart, humility, incredible looks. He only performed in repertoiry twice because of his crushing stage fright. Every great, mordern tenor loved Lanza: he's at his best here. There's a great documentary on his life: if you're a fan, watch it.
jd1906sf 2 years ago
@jd1906sf It's strange that people pick on things about a tenor other than his singing. So what if Lanza had psychological problems or drank too much?
wiseroldfart 11 months ago
Lanza might have been the greatest had he not preferred "wine and women" and excess. He was so great though.
snivelinjack 2 years ago
So my grandad heard Enrico Caruso and Mario Lanza live. He said Mario was better.
My dad heard Mario Lanza and Pavarotti live. He said Mario was better.
I've only heard all three recorded and in my unexpert opinion, Mario is the best!
janetary 2 years ago 5
@janetary: The great Mario, stellar tenor - no doubts and no reservations on my part. With all due respect to your grandad and his opinion (but no "absolute truths" when it comes to judgement of quality of singing or one's own emotional response - regardless of one's age or one's own personal experiences). IMO, Marios was not better than his idole, Caruso. IMO Caruso had an other dimension - an unsurpassed emotional depth and the ability to absolutely BE the role of what he was singing.
tomfroekjaer 2 years ago
Are you kidding?
Lanza may have been inspired by and surely learned from the Great Caruso. But he went beyond. Forgive me if you personally heard Caruso live, I never did. Nor did I hear Lanza live. Are we both going by recordings here? Because if so, IMHO Lanza shows more sincerity, more maturity, more range of emotion, more honesty, and more and pure power!
4Rachy 2 years ago 3
Isn't it great that we are all diffent with our own opinions. Life would be terribly boring if we all thought the same. I' judging from my own response to the recordings and so are you and we are both right. It's like preferring cherries over strawberries.
tomfroekjaer 2 years ago
@tomfroekjaer I do note that we do not 'flame' each other. W e are more alike than different.
Cheers!
4Rachy 2 years ago
@4Rachy Most that heard them both said that Lanza did not come close- although many of the same adored Lanza for what he offered, as do I. Ask any tenor, including Lanza, who was the greatest tenor. They will tell you it was Caruso. Anyone who in turn cannot marvel at Lanza should have their ears examined.
Lovelytenor1 1 year ago 2
@Lovelytenor1
Just so. As to 'ask any tenor', I assume you refer to the modern greats, It is the epitome of modesty and humility to deflect praise to a worthy predecessor (and NOT a contemporary). They are far too modest to admit their superiority....
4Rachy 1 year ago
@janetary Trust me, your granddad never heard Caruso in the early 1900's, especially in 1904 when Caruso recorded several benchmark arias. Lanza couldn't approach those recordings. The only other tenor to amaze me on more than two recordings was Bjorling.
I've seen negative comments about some performances of the very best. I'm sure they all had bad days here and there. I judge them by their best performances.
That's not to say Lanza wasn't very good. He just wasn't among the very best.
wiseroldfart 11 months ago
lovely song
choku97 2 years ago
This might be Mario at his absolute best. This is one of the great arias, a simple, romantic poet pouring out his heart to Mimi, who he has just met. The joy, love and innocence are perfectly suited to Lanza's shy, endearing character. And what a voice: he soars on this one. I love DiStefano's version, and Caruso's always, but Mario is way up there with anyone on this. Bravo.
jd1906sf 2 years ago 2
Absolute perfection, simple as. Mario at his sublime best
ronaldo190172 2 years ago 4
My dad was mad about Mario Lanza and showed me what a beautiful voice he had. He brings a tear to my eye and makes the hair on the back of my neck stand on end. RIP Mario.
rentawitch 2 years ago 3
C'est en écoutant cette interprétation spécifique avec d'autres comme Because, que plusieurs experts musicaux en ont conclu que la voix de LANZA était l'une ou la plus belle du XXè siècle. GC
It is by listening to this specific interpretation with others like Because, that several musical experts concluded from it that the voice of LANZA was one or most beautiful of the XXè century. GC
CREQUIE 2 years ago
And still I am drawn to this piece.
Every night I listen to it over and over. And also Pavarotti's version. They are both so good. And yet, Mario moves me more. Actually, I like Pavarotti's voice the most but Mario's total presentation the best. And remembering, Mario did not have the benefit of modern recording technology. Who can say how his actual voice quality compares to modern artists?
4Rachy 2 years ago 3
For the past week I have listened to this same piece by all the greats posted on Youtube. What strikes me about Lanza's rendition is his sincerity...... Right? I hear in his the truest voice to a lover.
4Rachy 2 years ago
A singer's first job is to communicate. This ML did as did few others. I did not like many of his interpretations, and other singers would side with me, but what a lovely, lovely voice.
Lovelytenor1 2 years ago
grew up listening to mario lanza, thanks mum, introduced me and many to opera with his wonderful moving voice, shame he,s devalued by opera snobs because he was commercial, later same said for pavarotti, wonderful tenors.
auntyl6549 2 years ago 5
Cincuenta Años sin Mario Lanza......te esperamos en el Cementerio Catolico de Culver City ) Overland y Sepulveda
freeway 405 salida Jefferson.. Te esperamos.....
juanbosco31 2 years ago