Mario Lanza - Che Gelida Manina

Just Music. Mario Lanza sings "Che Gelida Manina" from "La Bohème" by Giacomo Puccini in this recording from May 5, 1949 with the RCA Victor Orchestra. Constantine Callinicos is conducting.

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Music

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• Mario
• Lanza
• Che
• Gelida
• Manina
• La
• Bohème
• Boheme
• Giacomo
• Puccini
• GreekCallas

[blueeagle8066]

What he possessed was beyond just skill or talent. It was a gift from God, something that can never be duplicated or rivaled ever again. Thank you Mario for inspiring the world with your music.

[Jimbotyke]

Mario was the man who introduced millions to opera and to his glorious voice and he still takes some beating.

Jimbo

[abialex]

Mrsammy, tho a bit extreme, howeva, finally someone who just doesn't blindly discars every other tenor as being subsingers compare to Caruso...we will never know though...

[MrSammyscroll]

In all honesty. who can compare to this glorious voice....noone, absolutely noone....if Caruso were around during the Lanza years, even he could not compare......

[SHICOFF1]

In the studio recordings I would pick the Student Prince as his most beautiful popular recording from the first 1953 recording #LM 1837 not the one done later with Norma Gusti. I think also that his Vesti La Giubba in the last film he made "for the first time" was better then the version in the Great Caruso, his voice was fine in both but the later one is sung more in Character and was excellent.

[SHICOFF1]

I doubt Butterfly is any easier than Tosca but you need more memory for Tosca of course for it as it's the longer role even if the opera is shorter. Act 2 needs more heft. I don't think it's used as a stick against Lanza perhaps had he learned Tosca and they where doing it in New Orleans he would have sung it. Later he had chances in opera but was already in Hollywood making lots of $ plus his health problems didn't help. I actually prefer his later recording for his radio show of this aria

[SHICOFF1]

@dereckmcgovern I never knew about Sherwood but always liked Blyth and saw her on stage in "wait until dark" Doubleday was a very attractive woman kind of a red head as I remember her but only met her once for lunch so long ago. Mary Cocozza did keep in touch with her and had I been older at the time I would have asked her for a dinner date. Liz had a good personality on top of good looks. She met Schipa she mentioned and cooked him a spaghetti dinner once, but that's another story!

[derekmcgovern]

@SHICOFF1 Pinkerton may not be a big role, but, as Domingo has pointed out, if you're not careful you can have more trouble with it than, say, Cavaradossi. The music is deceptively difficult -- just as difficult, in fact, as Cavaradossi's. Too much is made of Butterfly being a soprano's opera, especially when it comes to using it as a stick with which to knock Lanza's operatic potential....But can we now return to the magnificent rendition of Che Gelida Manina that "Greek Callas" uploaded here?

[derekmcgovern]

@SHICOFF1 ...The Doubleday contributions don't make much sense on the Student Prince album (since she sings both the Prince's and Kathy's lines in Deep in My Heart, Dear), but at least RCA elected to preserve Lanza's magnificent vocals from the film rather than getting him to re-record the two songs in question with Doubleday. After all, I doubt he could have bettered his magnificent opening to Deep in My Heart or the sensitivity of his Summertime in Heidelberg.

[Aetion]

@derekmcgovern Thank you very much for the valuable infos. I just visited your site, which seems to be very interesting. Congratulations! I will have to go back to see it more carefully.

[derekmcgovern]

@SHICOFF1 Hi: The Doubleday situation was a little different. Remember that her contributions replaced those of Ann Blyth, who for contractual reasons was unable to appear on the Student Prince soundtrack album. Lanza had already recorded his contributions with Blyth (in person) in 1952. RCA had originally intended for Lanza to re-record the two numbers he sings with Blyth in the film with Gale Sherwood in December 1953, but rare vocal problems (on Lanza's part) caused them to abandon the idea.

[SHICOFF1]

@dereckmcgovern I don't know about the workings of the lanza/ albanese duet but I do know what Double day told me about the student prince LP #LM1837 she said they recorded it Serperately, not a big deal. We had lunch together in the 60's and a nice conversation but she knew little it seemed about Lanza. Andy Karzas told me a few months before he died last April that Albanese- who he was very close too, said Mario told her Respectfully that he adored/loved her She was very moved by that.