The Electrifying Mario Lanza - Rarities and Restored Recordings

For many years I have had Mario's known lp and cd releases but now we are being treated to releases which were not previously available and thanks to Robin Cherry and others we can have MGM selections too. I have on tape this 'love of mine' not heard because it is an MGM release and a bel canto trio release of a section from la boheme.

The sound is the best I have heard brilliant that fabulous voice is out of this world

Great cd from the greatest tenor in the 20 century.

Having released so many dedicated collections in recent years, it’s obvious Sepia Records loves Lanza and it must be said the singer’s catalogue bears reissue scrutiny with his unique vocal talent continuing to influence aspiring young opera singers as well as holding on to a healthy fan base over the decades following the singer’s death in 1959.This latest showcase veers between popular songs and opera as per the Amazon listing and has been sourced from recording studios, film soundtracks, radio broadcasts and rare live performances in the USA and in Rome over the period 1946-1959, with great care taken in restoring the material including studio acetates. As such, this collection is a treasure trove for his fans who will obviously clamour for and appreciate its rarity value. With his ageless appeal as one of the world’s most popular tenors, it’s fortunate despite a relatively brief major career, the Lanza legacy continues to reveal such rare material – much of it new to CD - for our appreciation and enjoyment.Sepia’s usual excellent remastering applies with some rare photos of Lanza and appropriate twelve page biographic/performance/location/dates notes.

The Electrifying Mario Lanza, Rarities and Restored Recordings, SEPIA 1375This 24 track CD spans the years 1946 to 1959 and as the title says includes a number of rarities all of which are detailed in the informative liner notes penned by Derek McGovern.For the many fans of Mario Lanza this CD release and many others on the Sepia Records label have over the years provided both remastered recordings and rare material from the archives and Mario Lanza’s own recordings.It is indeed a pleasure to hear these delightful recordings that have all been remastered with great care by Sepia. For collectors this is a CD they will I’m sure treasure. And for those who enjoy a fine singer who could deliver both operatic songs and songbook songs too this will be a pleasure.

Another wonderful CD of the immortal Mario Lanza.

I rather thought cramped carpings of the kind below about Mario Lanza's singing had given way to a fresh impulse of joy, and that the serious music world had returned to a Hellenic era when gods were celebrated while not expected to be perfect. Evidently not. Suffice it to say that the anonymous carper's nit-pickings are accurate, as far as they go, but are a woefully inadequate portrayal of the complete picture. This CD piles glory upon glory. Especially transcendent are "You Are My Love" and "Call Me Fool." Fifty stars! I have purchased 5 copies. In these bleak, Woke times, we must indeed keep resurrecting the gods, The One Tenor included!

The cd begins with "Yours Is My Heart Alone" which is not that enjoyable due to his occasional out-of-tune singing and scooping. What would his voice teacher, Rosati, have thought? As in most of the operetta arias the English lyrics are cliched and stilted. Lanza does his best to provide some life's blood into them but he does not always succeed. He sings the colloquial lyrics to Berlin's "A Pretty Girl Is Like a Melody" much better due to the melody that Berlin provides fits the lyrics better. The song "Because" is a little better than "Yours Is My Heart Alone". Kern/Hammerstein's "All the Things You Are" leans a bit toward the colloquialism of Berlin's song and you can tell Lanza is enjoying himself though his voice seems to be getting dry in some spots."Lee Ah Loo" is a trifle but calmly sung due to its being a lullaby.The English songs after this are more successful when Lanza reins himself in."My Buddy" is sweetly sung though at times he seems to pronounce the word "buddy" as "body"."You Are My Love", "Call Me Fool", and "Come Dance With Me" are soaked in lyric cliches and trite melodies. Having to deal with these "zombie" songs, Lanza decides to sing all three at full throttle and throttles the listener's ears. He should have taken some phrasing lessons from Frank Sinatra (who attempted, while still at Columbia in the early 50's, to sing in Lanza's style on some Italian/English songs and blew out his voice). The English language (unlike the Italian) is not as conducive to over-emoting. We begin to wonder, "Why is this guy shouting all the time?" Neither do I think much of the song "Be My Love" though it does have its occasional charms. If you must listen to it, listen to it on the youtube video where you can both hear and see Lanza sing the song. His charismatic presence holds the song together. A much better example of Lanza's interpretive power singing in English is his version of "I've Told Every Little Star" which is included on a previous Sepia release.Lanza sings the Italian songs (Mattinata etc.) much better because he listened to Caruso, Gigli & many of the other great tenors, whose recordings were available at that time, sing these same songs.His performance of the aria "Testa Adorata" from Leoncavallo's "La Boheme" truly IS electrifying. Lanza gives a full-blooded performance that fits both melody and lyrics. This is the best version of this aria I have ever heard. He made all the other versions sound pallid.The "Serenade" from "The Student Prince" (this time without the chorus) is very enjoyable and as thrilling as ever, though I do miss the chorus (I have to admit I heard the chorus parts in my mind while listening to this version).Both the truncated "Nocturne" and "Cielo E Mar" are interesting but disappointing in that they are only sections of the songs. "Nocturne" is a little draggy, but "Cielo E Mar" makes the listener wish they could be hearing the whole aria.Richard Tucker, one of the leading tenors at the Met at the time, had a much better vocal production and did not scoop as much as Lanza, but his voice hadn't the charisma nor beauty of Lanza's, nor did Tucker have the physical beauty of Lanza's face which shouldn't matter, but it does.Despite Lanza's vocal flaws, his vocal charisma shines through. There are enough special moments to warrant the buying of this cd. By all means if you love Lanza as I do, buy this cd.Once you've enjoyed all the Lanza sepia cds (or even before), I can heartily recommend the cd "Serenade - A Mario Lanza Songbook" which is full of beautiful singing.As a side comment: the songs listed in the Amazon website are NOT the songs contained on the cd. I had informed them before but they have yet to correct the problem. Go to the sepia records website to find the actual songs on the cd.