Mario Lanza - Vesti la giubba (studio recording)

Lanza's voice in my opinion, was in terms of quality equalled by few and surpassed by none...what a pity the man was pulled into the Hollywood industry which destroyed his life. I suppose it was inevitable; he was too good. In the end, money always wins. If he hadn't passed so soon, he may very well have entered into a sucessful operatic career...but I suppose through Hollywood he managed to influence generations of singers who never would have known him had it not been for the film industry...
The first Lanza film I saw was not as one might expect, 'The Great Caruso', but 'The Student Prince' years and years ago, of course Edmund Purdom (spelling?) was lip synching to Lanza's voice...didn't know who Mario Lanza was at that point but I was immediately struck with the glorious sound.
This 1940s recording is my favorite studio rendition of the famous aria from Pagliacci...along with the Caruso version.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• mario
• lanza
• vesti
• la
• giubba
• pagliacci
• leoncavallo
• canio
• studio
• recording

[Ritasheba]

Yes you are right, Mario Lanza , was the best , thats why he played, Caruso, in the film The Great Caruso, or was that before your time , and i have heard the 1907.

[GermanOperaSinger]

@Ritasheba Well it's really all subjective, but how can you possibly say that a tenor who's singing career was Hollywood based was better than a tenor who was the leading tenor at the Met for almost 20 seasons and sang over 600 performances there? Caruso actually sang real operatic roles on stage, Lanza only sang Pinkerton and that was early in his career, the rest of the 'opera' he sang was just arias and in studio, on the radio, occasionally in concert - with a mike no doubt.

[danofsydney]

Lanza, Rocky and the Declaration of Independence.... the best things to come out of Philly ever!

[csd166]

still the greatest tenor! listen and compare to current  I HAVE AND THEIR IS NO COMPARISON, He is great...........LISTEN AND COMPARE VESTI LA GIUBBLA...........TO ALL OTHERS!

[Doub820]

@joshandm Я тоже считаю, что Корелли в этой арии лучший!

[joshandm]

Lanza is a special talent. My favorite Vesti la giubba is Corelli's, but that doesn't take anything away from Lanza. To be mentioned in the same sentence is Corelli is quite the compliment.

[AGuyInAHat]

At Six, Thirty in the morning I listen to Mario Lanza sing opera, my day is officially set.

[petereuropa]

@VcUb3mAsT3r613 The English Wikipedia info of Mario Lanza is very well written as a biography (my opinion). He studied with teacher Enrico Rosati for 15 months. And earlier was a student in the Berkshire Music Center. He studied more than that, I'm sure of that. To sing an opera (Madame Butterfly) or to sing an aria, you have to study and create technique to perform well. I'm sure of that Hollywood also offered him the best teachers to sing well in the film productions that he participateed in.

[VcUb3mAsT3r613]

LANZA WAS AND STILL IS THE BEST....ESPECIALLY , SNCE HE NEVER RECIEVED ONE OPERA LESSON

[Takken1256]

Solamente decir de acuerdo a los comentarios, es una de las voces que más identifican el carácter de la opera Italiana. The very best italian voice!

[badpdx]

Lanza, Caruso, Bjoerling . . .all were great . . .and all had their flaws. I think germanoperasinger does Lanza an injustice to say he needed a microphone. There is ample evidence from those who sang with him that his voice was quite powerful. That was never his problem. Unfortunately lack of confidence and perhaps discipline along with the lure of Hollywood kept him from a true operatic career. No matter. I am a huge Caruso and Jussi fan but I am still in absolute awe of Lanza's voice.

[MrCandido7]

as talented as all the major tenors of the 20th century were, they are but whispers in the tempest that once was lanza.the esoteric snobbery of the operatic clique who continue to denigrate his ability,may perhaps one day accept the fact, he was simply the best.but then again perhaps not. after all .... one cannot become a great tenor without jumping through all the time honoured hoops.