Mario Lanza: Original Album Classics (5CD set)

[Derek McGovern]

I see from Ronald Sarbo's post on the Rense forum today that SonyBMG
is releasing a boxed set of Lanza's albums under its "Original Album
Classics" series on November 10. Interesting!

There'll be five Lanza albums, each on a separate CD. The titles
haven't been announced yet, but I'm praying that they've been chosen
wisely. I suppose it's inevitable that the wretched Lanza on Broadway
will be one of them, but at least as part of a boxed set it'll do less
damage than it would as a single CD release.

Assuming that the choices will all come from RCA albums of the 1950s
and 1960s, I'm hoping that A Kiss and Other Love Songs (by far the
best of the all-Coke albums, in my opinion) is one of them, along with
Mario Lanza Sings His Favorite Arias. The latter's a very patchy
album, ranging from the dreadful (Che Gelida Manina, Una Furtiva
Lagrima, etc) to the very good (Testa Adorata, Un Tal Gioco, etc), but
this may be our only chance of getting the Coke Cielo e Mar on a CD at
last. It would also be great to hear the Coke Come un Bel Di' di
Maggio in better sound than on its only CD release to date (the 1994
Reader's Digest set).

I also hope the original Student Prince album with its (mostly)
excellent Coke songs on the "B" side is included, as the mono sound on
that LP is superior to the fake stereo reprocessed sound used on the
1989 BMG CD. The Serenade soundtrack and For the First Time albums in
better sound would complete my wish list!

Amazon is advertising this set at $40 (US), but Barnes and Noble has
it listed at $33.

[AgeofCanada]

Hi Derek, yes very interesting indeed about this upcoming release.
Here is the link to the newly listed set on Amazon, an official Sony/
BMG release set for Nov. 10. <http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-
Class...eg_hu-wl_item-added>. Of course, tantalizingly incomplete
details (not even a Cover Picture yet!), but to look at other releases
in the series Original Album Classics, there are 5 albums that are,
presumably, newly transferred to CD. Some wonderful items in this
series, including Glenn Gould, Isaac Stern, Leontyne Price,etc.
definitely worth a browze, many are being released at the end of this
month. I despair seeing the Stereo "Lanza Sings Christmas Carols"
among the two Christmas releases, however.
http://www.amazon.com/Original-Album-Class...eg_hu-wl_item-added. We
all hope to hear more news about this set soon. Your wish list is
right on the mark, I think, Derek!

[zsazsa]

Hi Derek,

I`ve pre-ordered Mario`s `Original Album Classics` and like you I`m
very much eager to hear the details of the 5 CD`s and do hope that it
will be a gret collection with the best performances of Mario and
maybe some new ones, which has never been on CD`s before. I mean some
classics as `Earthbound` and maybe some real live wonderful
performances, like `Agnus Dei`, `Nessun Dorma` from the Hollywood
Bowl, the Rigoletto Duett and the great Toronto Concert, etc. it`d be
something!

Anyway I`m very glad to hear about this Original Album Classics Box
and although it takes a while we can hear it, but maybe the details
will be coming to light soon.

Best from Susan

[Shawn]

Sounds pretty good. I can't wait to hear the Student Prince, in
particular.

[Stefan Huber]

Hello Derek,

many thanks for the update. Although one may again argue about the
compilation of these albums, it's at least a great opportunity to get
some Mario material that hasn't been on CD before. Especially when one
considers that most of these "original album classics" are usually just
recycles of old BMG remasters...

Can you read from Mannering's post, that there will be a separate CD of
the 1959 "Student Prince" in the future as well? I guess this title is
most problematic as it would take three CDs to get things right;) 1. a
proper mono remaster of the original album (as has thankfully happened!)
2. a stereo re-mix from MGM's multi-track elements and 3. a release of
the living stereo album. I know that this is not Mario's best album, but
I still would like to see it on CD. In fact, I would have omitted the
"Seven Hills" LP for the 1959 LP and had included the missing "Hills"
tracks on one of the "funny compilations". I guess the choice would have
been between the original "Student Prince" and the re-recording, though.
So, the selection of the former has been the correct choice;)

I'm sorry to be so slow with my replies during the last weeks, but I'm
currently rushing from one exam to the next. Meanwhile I've made my way
through Armando's book and I'm really impressed by the love for detail
that went into it. I will reply to your earlier message on this board
asap - and maybe have impressions from the "Operatic Arias" and "Lanza
Songbook" CDs by then.

Best regards,

Stefan
Derek McGovern schrieb:
> Well, I see that two of my choices have made it to this set:
>
> http://www.rense.com/excursions/lanza/fivegreat.htm
>
> I could happily live without The Touch of My Hand (which is easily the
> weakest of the many Coke compilations), but it's great to see The
> Student Prince in its original album glory being released at last. And
> while it's a real shame about For the First Time being passed over --
> especially since there's little of substance on the Seven Hills album,
> which was selected -- it's good news about ML Sings His Favorite Arias
> (despite its clunkers!).
>
>
>
>

[Derek McGovern]

(Re-post)

Well, I see that two of my choices have made it to this set:

http://www.rense.com/excursions/lanza/fivegreat.htm

Clearly revelling in his importance ("Sony and I"), Mannering must
have felt like a child being let into a candy store being able to
select whatever albums he pleased. I commend him for not choosing
Lanza on Broadway, even if I'm not thrilled about a couple of his
choices here.

I could happily live without The Touch of My Hand (which is easily the
weakest of the many Coke compilations), but it's great to see The
Student Prince in its original album glory being released at last. And

good news about ML Sings His Favorite Arias (despite its clunkers!).

Hi Stefan: No, I don't get the impression from Mannering's comments
that he has any intention of bringing out the 1959 Student Prince
album.

[Armando]

If anyone had hoped that the 50th anniversary of Lanza’s death would
see Sony BMG seize the opportunity to release some truly memorable
performances, those hopes have finally been dashed with the
announcement of the contents of the 5 CD Box Set to be released in
November.

Following the disappointing compilation on Mario Lanza Greatest Hits
and the equally inferior one on Serenade: A Mario Lanza Songbook,
released earlier this year, Sony BMG have now excelled themselves with
a box set that can only be aimed at the fans and the musically
incompetent, the latter, I regret to say, must no doubt include those
responsible for some of the abysmal choices.

Out of the 3 coke song compilations LPs which one did they choose? The
Touch of Your Hand, which just happens to be the worst of the 3!
Then we have the Seven Hills of Rome soundtrack, which represents
Lanza’s weakest singing on film.

According to Mannering the criteria for choosing the 5 CDs in the box
set was not to duplicate what is already available (never mind if some
of what is already available is far superior!) So forget A Kiss and
Other Love Songs or even The Magic Mario and instead let’s include the
vastly inferior The Touch of Your Hand, with only 5 tracks out of a
total of 14 which are well sung, simply because the selections on the
latter are not as widely available-well, unfortunately, now they will
be!

[AgeofCanada]

Yes, indeed some strange choices. Many of us, I suspect, would have
welcomed a newly remastered "Caruso Favorites" or "FTFT" sountrack,
and it is easy to find fault with some of the selections here. I am
particularly looking forward to "Sings his Favorite Arias" as I had
long ago given away the LP, much to my later chagrin! Question: Derek
M mentions in hisl promo that Mario had never recorded a specifically
all-operatic LP, yet what is "The Great Caruso" if not that? Well, we
have "Earthbound" and a properly engineered SP to look forward to!

[Shawn]

Good point, didn't "The Great Caruso" LP just have opera arias?

I was hoping we'd see a boxed set of his films on DVD this year, or at
LEAST a high quality (remastered?) release of "The Great Caruso" on
DVD. Guess that's too much to ask. =P

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Shawn: Yes, it's true that the RCA (American) version of The Great
Caruso album contained only opera. It was a collection of eight arias
recorded for RCA in May 1950, two months before pre-recordings began
at MGM for the actual film soundtrack. The HMV (British) version of
the album was actually better value for money, containing an
assortment of material (songs and arias, most of which were featured
in the film) including the 1949 Che Gelida Manina. There was also a
good-value RCA album a few years later with The Great Caruso (RCA
recordings, not soundtrack) on one side and the MGM Student Prince on
the other. It also had one of the best Lanza LP covers I"ve seen:

http://media.photobucket.com/image/the%20great%20caruso%20and%20The%20Student%20Prince/billysvinylemporium2/10201-10250/Picture38005.jpg

In the early 1950s, HMV in Britain also released an all-operatic LP
called Mario Lanza: Opera Recital, which included things like the 1950
Improvviso. In the 1970s there were two excellent volumes of Italian
arias put out by RCA Italiana; Volume 2 had the Otello Monologue
followed by the Otello Death Scene. And even RCA in America put out a
double LP (dubiously) entitled Mario Lanza Sings Opera's Greatest Hits
in the early 1970s.

How great it would have been if, "thinking outside the box", as they
say, Mannering had chosen those two Italian LPs of arias instead of
The Touch of Your Hand and Seven Hills of Rome for this 5-disc set.

[Derek McGovern]

A PS to the above: I see that Mannering, in response to a post from
Jeffrey (aka "Age of Canada"), has stated that he didn't want to
include either For the First Time or Caruso Favorites on this 5-CD set
because they're already available on *two* other CDs. Actually,
they're not. The 1989 BMG CD The Great Caruso/Caruso Favorites was
discontinued some time ago, as was the CD Double Feature: That
Midnight Kiss/For the First Time. Caruso Favorites and FTFT are only
available on a tacky-looking bargain basement "twofer" release on the
"Collectables" label, and I doubt the general public is even aware of
it. As for the arias that make up the RCA The Great Caruso album,
several of these (including the superb Recondita Armonia) are not even
available at present now that the 2-CD Encore! set has also been
discontinued. You can therefore see why I strongly feel that Lanza's
operatic legacy has been treated so poorly in recent years.

As for the sound quality on the existing release of Caruso Favorites
and FTFT, I completely disagree with Mannering's assertion that it is
"pristine". There's a lot that can be done to improve the often-harsh
sandy quality on these recordings -- and I don't mean through sonic
trickery (as he seems to be suggesting). The Encore! set revealed a
considerable improvement, soundwise, on the five Caruso Favorites
selections it included, as well as on some of the arias. (Strangely,
Mannering has never had much to say about this set or the Serenade/
Cavalcade CD, neither of which was instigated by him.) Besides, if the
sound quality on the numerous Coke recordings that Mannering's brought
out can be improved so dramatically (as he's pointed out is the case
on the release that's coming out this month), then why not the later
recordings as well?

The Serenade soundtrack should definitely have been included on this 5-
CD set for several reasons: it's only available in the States as a
very expensive (US$23) import; it was truncated for its sole release
on CD (the Act III Otello had to be shortened to a mere few minutes in
order to accommodate the Cavalcade album); it's practically an
operatic concept album and features some of Lanza's most under-
released and superb recordings; and it wasn't properly remastered (by
BMG UK's own admission) for its 2004 release.

[AgeofCanada]

Very good points made here, Derek. So many other choices could have
been made for this release, Cavalcade and Serenade (properly
remastered, although even listening to the LP, I notice the distortion
esp. in the orchestra climaxes. Perhaps the master tapes have less of
this). This is, to my ears, not present in the VHS of the movie. By
the way, this would be my prime recommendation for Turner to release
this on DVD, in their "From the Vault" series, after The Great Caruso.
I have that Double Feature CD, and, as you say, the sandiness, and
distortion is there in FTFT, not so much in the RCA TMK selections.
Once again, we should listen to the film, to hear what the opera
excerpts in particular, should sound like on CD!

[Michele]

Dear Derek,
Have just been re-reading your post about D. Mannering's selection for
the new 5 disc C.D. and you mentioned that the Tosca Recondita Armonia
is not available and he could have included it. I hope I'm not
telling you something you already
know but that aria is on the 2nd Vol. of the Naxos 3 C.D.'s released
in 2003, "The Great Lanza". I have 2 of the 3 the other one is the
Christmas Carols Vol. 3. Am I right in assuming that this recording
of the aria is the only one Mario ever did. I remember having a 12
inch 78 of it with E lucevan le stelle on the other side.

Great news about the BBC radio programme. The time you quoted to
listen in at 8.30am would that be W.A. time as well, or will I have to
get up early on that day so I can listen at 6.30am West. Aust. time?
Regards, Michele

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Michele: Thanks. I should have made it clear that I meant
mainstream SonyBMG CDs sourced from the RCA master tapes. The Naxos
Lanza CDs aren't "legit" releases in the sense that they're not taken
from the original tapes; their source is instead the original LP, 45,
or 78rpm release, so the sound quality isn't usually as good. Also,
they're not available in the US, where all of Mario's commercial
recordings are still protected by copyright. Only SonyBMG and its
subsidiaries can release CDs of these recordings in the United States.

Sorry: I forgot you were living in Western Australia! I was thinking
of Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania. Yes, unfortunately, it'll
be 6.30am on Tuesday for you when Andrew's doco starts. But remember
that you'll be able to access it later on in the Radio 2 archive.

> > BMG UK's own admission) for its 2004 release.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Michele]

Hi Derek,
Thanks for your quick response. I remember now that the Naxos discs
are not available in the U.S. I remember you saying that the sound on
the Naxos discs you had is not so good. The 2 I have are a lot better
then some of Mario's other discs, Caruso Favourites for instance. I've
listened to the recording which I've had for a hundred years and sadly
it sounds much the same. Wouldn't it be good if somewhere, somehow ,
some one, BMG would do the right thing by Mario. Just today I had a
look at the A.B.C.'s Limelight magazine in the silly hope that they
may have been doing something around the 7th October. They have an
article about what they referred to as classical musicals, going as
far back as 'The Great Waltz, but no mention of 'The Great Caruso'. A
friend in Sydney has told me about an hour that a radio station 2CH is
featuring Mario on the 7th Oct. in memory of his passing, which I
intend to listen to from the Internet. Will let you know what it was
like, if it's worth reporting that is.

Regards Michele

[Mike McAdam]

I’m here looking at my five Lanza LP’s taken entirely from Coke Show
broadcasts. Mr. Mannering mentioned only four. He ommited the other
Coke Show release, 1964's “I’ll See You In My Dreams” (LM2720). As he
so bafflingly bypassed the "A Kiss & OLS" collection, this one might
have been more of a contender for disc #2 rather than “The Touch Of
Your Hand”. In my opinion there are far more clunkers on tTOYH by far
than on the “Dreams” LP.

But….be thankful, Sony’s trusty compiler was correct in stating that
“Serenade” and “A Cavalcade Of Love Songs” had been recently released
on CD and he admitted that he would be pilloried if he suggested the
“Broadway” album for this box set. He also indicated there was an
absence of a Christmas Carols LP so "I'll Walk With God" was chosen
(may have been his way of saying he didn’t want to mention the awful
1959 “Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Carols”? Maybe we’re getting through
to him).

All in all, the five choices are not too bad as the flip side of “The
Seven Hills Of Rome” has some nice stuff on it; long overdue for
digital transfer. As I’ve been disappointed in the past by first
RCA’s, then BMG’s digital remastering of Lanza’s analog studio tapes
I’ll be a cad here and wait for someone else to listen to the set
first and give us their verdict! :-)
Cheers, Mike

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: I agree that The Touch of Your Hand was a peculiar choice
given the better Coke compilations available. That album actually
contains some of Mario's worst Coke performances: The Desert Song, for
example, and Strange Music. Then there's the unfortunate Oh Nights of
Splendor (making its second appearance this year!), and the title
song, not to mention the sloppy You Are Love...(sigh)

I got the impression from Mannering's comments that he selected the
album mainly because it includes Day In, Day Out, which he says is one
of his favourite Lanza recordings. While that's very nice for him, the
much more consistent A Kiss and Other Love Songs album would have been
a vastly superior choice in terms of honouring Lanza's legacy. Who
cares that most of the tracks (with the notable exception of that
beautiful My Romance) are already on CD? (Besides, repetition of
material hasn't stopped him from choosing the I'll Walk With God LP.)
It's so seldom we get to hear such an abundance of fine performances
on the one disc -- and that album also featured more tracks than most
of the other RCA Lanza LPs.

I agree that I'll See You in My Dreams has fewer "clunkers" on it than
The Touch of Your Hand; that wouldn't be hard!

But to end on a positive note, I'm certain looking forward to hearing
a decent mono pressing of the Student Prince album at last, not to
mention Cielo e Mar and Come un Bel Di' di Maggio. I'll be happy to
give you a full report on the sound quality of these recordings in
about five weeks' time, Mike!

> > be!- Hide quoted text -

[Vince Di Placido]

I just got an email from Amazon, there seems to be a delay in shipping
the "5 album classics"...

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: Amazon.com sent me an e-mail a few days ago saying that
they'd shipped my copy. Perhaps the delay you're experiencing is just
with their UK division? You'll probably still get yours earlier, as
the mail is so slow to New Zealand that I sometimes suspect they've
employed my grandmother to row it over from the US :-)

On Nov 13, 1:15 am, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Stefan Huber]

I've received the same message as Vince from amazon's German division.
So, I'm honestly a bit worried if they will deliver at all...

To be honest, I was somehow surprised that there isn't an European
pressing of this set to begin with. Maybe they thought that there
wouldn't be too much market for three Lanza releases at the same time.

Best regards,

Stefan
Derek McGovern schrieb:

[Stefan Huber]

Obviously miracles happen from time to time;) I've seen on my account
that my amazon parcel is being prepared to be dispatched - I can't wait...

It should be here on Monday or Tuesday. I'll let you know about my first
impressions then...

Best regards,

Stefan
Stefan Huber schrieb:

[Vince Di Placido]

Luck you, Stefan! Amazon are estimating 16/17 December for my cds... :-
(

[Stefan Huber]

I'm sorry to hear that, Vince! I've received a message from amazon on
Tuesday in which they announced that I should expect delivery of the set
between December 3 and 17. So, maybe your order will be processed
earlier as well. I assume that there may be additional delays due to the
walkouts of British mail employees...

Best regards,

Stefan
Vince Di Placido schrieb:

[Vince Di Placido]

Amazon emailed me this morning & my 5cd box has been despatched... Woo-
Hoo!!!

[BobD]

I received my 5CD compilation today, Monday 23rd November in UK. I am
listening to it tomorrow.


On Nov 23, 11:31 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Vince Di Placido]

Yey!!! My 5 albums arrived today! just finishing listening to "Seven
Hills of Rome" album, this film was recorded so badly, it seems
pointless putting it on cd But "Never Till Now" sounded lovely, best
I've heard it & that crazy reverb at the end wasn't as bad as before,
don't get me wrong it was still crazy but not as crazy :-)

[Vince Di Placido]

Student Prince album is beautiful, so warm! This really is one of
Mario's shining moments, a great collection, not a bad note! The edits
on "Beloved" & "Deep In My Heart, Dear" are very noticeable in the
increased clarity of the remastering. But Mario sounds glorious!!! The
Coke songs sound great, I played the line "I'll find you in the
morning sun & when the night is new" over & over, thrilling stuff!!! I
love how Mario sings "sun" :-)

[Vince Di Placido]

Oops! The "Favourite Arias" album seems to be remasterd from the
"electronically reprocessed stereo" master tape! It doesn't seem to
have the honest mono sound I just heard on the Coke selections on the
"Student Prince" album. I have this original mono LP & it didn't have
this sound. Mario sounds good though! I just always thought electronic
stereo made good mono sound messy... If this is my ears playing tricks
on me then please someone correct me...

[Vince Di Placido]

There are some glorious moments in Mario's Coke "Un dì all'azzuro
spazio" I hadn't listened to it quite a while... What a gloriously
expressive voice, it never fails to move me!

[Vince Di Placido]

The last 2 albums are a bit of a mix as regards remastering quality,
the version of "I'll walk with god" on the "Songs of Devotion & Love"
is nowhere near as good as on "Student Prince" which I find bizarre...
On the "Touch of Your Hand" album the remastering is good & even shows
up Bill Baldwin's voice finishing of the last word as it fades up the
orchestra intro, something I had never noticed before...
"Oh! Holy Night" sounds very well & Mario doesn't sound as sharp on
that last note, or are my ears playing tricks on me again...
On the other hand on "Guardian Angels" there is something not quite
right it almost sounds slightly flat for want of a better word...
"You Are Love" & "I'm Falling In Love With Someone" sounded the best I
have heard them.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: I'm very glad to hear that The Student Prince has been
beautifully reproduced in true mono. But how frustrating that the mono
version of the Favorite Arias album wasn't used! (I wonder if Derek
Mannering alerted BMG to the fact that there were two versions of the
album -- and that the so-called stereo pressing was to be avoided?) I
was so looking forward to hearing Cielo e Mar and a few of the other
arias in great sound; in fact, that was the main reason I ordered the
set! "Stereo effect" was one of RCA's worst ideas :-)

Still, it'll be good to hear the Coke Improvviso again when my order
*finally* arrives. I haven't played that version for a very long time,
and it'll be interesting to listen to it with fresh ears.

I'm also looking forward to hearing Never Till Now in better sound.
This is a recording that's really grown on me in recent years.

On Nov 25, 12:40 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Stefan Huber]

"The Student Prince" sounds really nice on the re-issue, although it's
still apparent that it is a mix-down from a multi-channel recording.
"Seven Hills Of Rome" left me less impressed. At times I even had the
suspicion that it was a vinyl transfer. It's also strange how the sound
quality changes from one track to the next. The source must be many
generations away from the master tape.

It's sad that the electronically enhanced master has been used for the
"Arias" album. Could it be that an overeager archivist at RCA dumped the
mono tape ages ago? I've heard, for example, that United Artists dumped
some of their mono tapes in favor of the stereo album master, because
they considered the latter one the superior. Of course, nobody took the
time to check if a specific title was a true stereo recording -- and I
don't know if they would have cared if they knew. Interestingly, the
"Celeste Aida" has an introduction on this disk that is not present on
the "Opera Arias & Duets" CD.

I've yet to check, but I think we know have all of Mario's Christmas
recordings without that dreadful tube-like stereo effect. This alone
makes this box set worth the purchase...

Best regards,

Stefan
Derek McGovern schrieb:

[Derek McGovern]

Well, I finally received my Original Album Classics set from Amazon
today; it only took three weeks to arrive!

But the wait was worth it for The Student Prince, which, as Vince
reported earlier, now sounds the way many of us first heard it on its
original mono release. It's terrific! Not only that, but the original
Side 'B' Coke material sounds better for the most part than on other
CDs (If I loved You, in particular). Wonderfully warm and resonant.
There's none of the annoying hiss on the superb I'll Be Seeing You
that we hear on other CDs either. Bliss!

My only criticism of The Student Prince material is that some
interference (like static, almost) mars the beginning of I'll Walk
with God (could be just my copy) and that this track, in any event,
still sounds better on the BMG CD You'll Never Walk Alone. Beloved
also sounds *slightly* better on the 3-CD Mario Lanza Collection,
which came out in the early 1990s. But Serenade, Golden Days, Drink!
Drink! Drink!, and others have never sounded more satisfying on CD
(for my money). It's certainly worth buying for these masterpieces
alone.

A few random thoughts about the sound on the other discs:

I agree with Vince that Never Till Now is the best we've heard it, and
the echo at the end no longer mars things. I barely noticed it. I was
also very taken with the glorious bloom in Lanza's voice on Love in a
Home. On the same disc, the Seven Hills soundtrack material (except
for Arrivederci, Roma) sounds dreadfully tinny and distorted.

His Favorite Arias, unfortunately, is in that fake stereo effect, as
Vince suspected, but I can live with that. It was nice hearing the
Coke Improvviso in pristine sound (though I was more aware than ever
of its stylistic inferiority to the 1950 version!) and Cielo e Mar
sounds good. Actually, listening to the Coke Questa a Quella on this
disc, it struck me that RCA should have used *this* version, not the
far-too-familar 1950 take, on their Seven Hills soundtrack album, as
at least their trickery would not have been so apparent! (The Coke
version was unreleased at the time.) In many ways, the Coke rendition
is similar to the *real* Seven Hills take -- and that includes the
poor accompaniment!

The I'll Walk with God disc was disappointing soundwise, with many of
the tracks (eg, O Holy Night and The Lord's Prayer) sounding much
better on the Christmas with Mario Lanza CD and other discs.

In contrast, The Touch of Your Hand has good sound, but unfortunately
this only reinforces how bad much of the singing on this poorly
thought-out Coke compilation really is :-( Strange ("strained"?) Music
made for uncomfortable listening, and the less said about The Desert
Song, the better!!

The bottom line? Buy this set for the joy of hearing the original
Student Prince (and its Coke filler tracks) in wonderful sound. This
disc, at least, is close to perfection.

I liked the packaging, and, unlike one complainant (Fred Day) on the
Rense forum, I didn't need "a magnifying glass" to read the liner
notes!

[Jan Hodges]

Hi Derek So glad your Album arrived. Mine has too but I haven't had time to give it a thorough listening yet. I think I will start with the Student Prince Album. You wrote<I liked the packaging, and, unlike one complainant (Fred Day) on the

Rense forum, I didn't need "a magnifying glass" to read the liner

Notes!> Well Derek I'm with Fred here. Give it a decade or two and you may be of the same opinion.  :-) Regards Jan

[Derek McGovern]

I've just been listening to some of the tracks from this set again,
and I must say I really am very taken with Never Till Now. It's
strange: hearing it so beautifully reproduced, the slight intonation
problem in the first half seems almost gone now, and I just love the
warmth of Lanza's voice. Great phrasing too. It's a very touching
performance, and I'm not surprised its composer (Johnny Green) praised
it to Armando. What's more, the echo on the last note (reduced though
it is here) makes sense now: Mario would have been almost too "full-
on" without it.

I would love to hear Younger Than Springtime (from the same session)
in this same glorious quality. Considering that Mario also sang
Arrivederci Roma (in English) splendidly that day, he was certainly in
fine voice and interpretive mode for what was, essentially, his last
session of "pop" songs (November 7, 1957).


By the way, the spotty Seven Hills soundtrack actually sounds OK in
places (sonically speaking), particularly on the Imitations and
There's Gonna Be a Party Tonight. Lolita still sounds dreadful (very
tinny and distorted), but that's neither here nor there.

[Mike McAdam]

I was going to ask Derek et al here to refresh my memory as to the
other “Pop” selections on the Seven Hills CD? Then I remembered: I
have one of the best (if not *the* best) Lanza discographies one could
ever hope for….Armando’s book! Ich bin dull-headed this morning from
too much wine and singsong last night as we all hunkered down for our
first “Nor’easter” snowstorm of the long Canadian winter. Bah!
(I don’t know if the Coyotes in my “back forty” were yipping and
howling last night in protest to our off-key caterwauling, to my
regaling of the uninitiated with Mario’s ‘O Holy Night’ or in disgust
at the first snow matting their coats? ;-))

Back to Seven Hills: in addition to the “Raintree County” song I also
had a lot of time for ‘Do You Wonder’, Earthbound’ and ‘This Land’.
Their catalogue no. on pg 299 doesn’t indicate an LP location, Armando
and I can’t remember if they are also on this Seven Hills disc. If so,
how’s the sound here, gang?

From the careful scrutiny afforded this much-awaited 5-disc collection
by the more “fussy” ;-) members here I am still torn as to whether to
order it (for only $33 on Amazon.ca) or not. Your ongoing appraisals
have been much appreciated, by the way. I just re-checked my ‘Favorite
(sic) Arias’ LP and yes, it’s in “electronic stereo” as well. I can
vaguely remember asking if there was a straight mono version when I
bought this LP and the answer was negative; for Canadian shipments
anyway. So…I suspect, as others here do, that this doctored master is
the only one now in the vaults?

Speaking of masters, do the more discerning and analytical among us
feel that the original master tapes were truly dug out of the vaults
for this box set? We can pretty well tell that Rense’s first release
came from original sources but what about here? Vince and Stefan have
indicated that some of the selections on “I’ll Walk With God” sound as
if they are two or more generations away from the master tape?
Your honest answers here will likely determine whether I order this
set or not as I have all the selections in one form or another
already. Thanks.
Cheers, Mike

[Vince Di Placido]

Mike, you sound like you are in a winter wonderland, I'd love to
experience it, just for a short while! :-)
As regards the use of original master tapes being used for the 5 album
box? To my ears I think it is a bit of a mix, "Student Prince" &
"Touch of Your Hand" sound like the source was original master tapes
but "Songs of Devotion & Love" sounds like it was a generation or 2
away from a master tape.
Mike it is a lovely box set & if your budget allows it is definitely
one for the collection, but I'm a shopaholic so don't listen to
me... :-)

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: Do You Wonder and Earthbound *are* on the Seven Hills disc
included here, and they sound good. But it was Never Till Now that
really stood out soundwise, and I don't think I've ever heard Love in
a Home sound better either.

Hi Lee Ann: You wrote on another thread:

On one very benign note as we approach
Christmas. I am so pleased to have the version of O Holy Night
included in that set. It is the one that set the standard for this,
perhaps my favorite carol, all my life--I just didn't know it was
Lanza--live and learn :-)

In that case, please don't buy the set for that recording!
Unfortunately, it's not nearly as well reproduced as it is on the
Christmas with Mario Lanza CD. As Vince wrote above, the Songs of
Devotion disc doesn't sound like it was taken from the masters
(though, from memory, the original LP wasn't that great soundwise
either).

Fortunately, most of The Student Prince (except Beloved and I'll Walk
with God) is the best I've heard it on CD, along with the original
Side B Coke material. It's *great* to hear If I Loved You so warmly
reproduced. I love it! My only real regret is that SonyBMG didn't use
the mono LP source for the Favorite Arias disc, but reprocessed stereo
is better than nothing, I guess, if we want to hear clean versions of
the Coke Improvviso and Cielo e Mar.

Cheers
Derek

[BobD]

As far as I am concerned, the new 5CD album is a good cross section of
Mario "goodies." I agree that "A Kiss and other Love Songs would have
been a more consistently better sung choice than "The Touch of Your
Hand" but the operatic arias (even in suspect stereo) sound Sorry for
the rant great. I received a CD from a friend of the "Student Prince"
a couple of days ago, which was in good stereo, which has rather
spoilt my listening to it in mono. One of the new Jeff Rense CDs has
the "Serenade" in excellent stereo, but the "Beloved" and "I'll Walk
with God" sound more atmospheric in real stereo. I Just wish someone
could be persuaded to release the whole "Student Prince" soundtrack in
stereo and put an end to this "contractual" rubbish. It is nearly
sixty years old for God's sake; surely they have milked it for all
it's worth by now! Sorry for the rant, but an example of what I mean
follows:
I now have (on two CDs, in stereo) Howard Keel singing "Bless Yore
Beautiful Hide" from "Seven Brides" (1955).
One version is the released version, the other version contains the
"vamp till ready" music while he was doing other things in between
singing the song!
The SHOR tracks are as good without being outstanding, but the fill-up
tracks are a little softer volume-wise, but I have these on other CDs.
The "I'll Walk with God" LP was always one of my favourites, but was
very "trebley" on the LP. It sounds great here.
Hope you all enjoy your purchases.
Best to all....Happy studying, Derek.

.

[leeann]

Dear Derek, I do hear the difference between the Christmas with Mario
Lanza and the 5-CD set. Thanks for pointing that out. The Christmas
album seems to have a richer, deeper sound--an additional layer, as it
were, that seems a bit polished away, neutered on the other.

A question about remastering. Is quality dependent, then, on using
original master tapes ? How do sound experts decide at what point to
stop cleaning up in order to preserve intrinsic quality of the voice?
Is there a point where remastering becomes over-mastering?

So happy with this CD set still wending my way through (although
trying to come to terms a bit with The Touch of Your Hand), and quite
appreciative of the posts on sound quality and what to listen for.
Best, Leeann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: Yes, I would say that optimum quality in remastering
always involves going back to the original master tapes. In the case
of something like the CD I'll Walk with God on this 5-CD set, RCA
obviously used the *compilation* master tape for this 1962 LP, as
opposed to going back one generation further to the original tapes.

Remastering's a subjective exercise. For example, many raved over the
sound quality on the 1993 CD of Coke recordings Don't Forget Me. But I
found the sound far too thin and bright. The high notes were
thrilling, but to my ears we were robbed of the richness of Mario's
middle register on most of the tracks. The later Coke collection When
Day is Done had superior remastering, and You'll Never Walk Alone
(essentially a remastered version of the I'll Walk with God LP) had
even better sound. Then there's the Mario! Lanza At His Best CD, which
I think sounds much better on the 2006 SACD version than on the 1995
"standard" CD. In fact, the 1995 version doesn't even sound as though
it came from the master tapes! (It probably *did*, but, like the Don't
Forget Me CD, the sound is unrealistically bright -- almost to the
point of harshness, or "sandiness".)

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Just a PS to the above: I think it's safe to say, as Sammy Cahn once
pointed out, that no recording of Mario Lanza has ever quite captured
"the startling brilliance" of his voice. (A few remastered efforts in
recent years have probably come close, though.) Remember that this was
a voice that had not only an unusual baritonal warmth in the middle
and lower registers, but a unique colour and a brilliant top with
loads of squillo or "ping". And it was certainly not a small voice!!
It's very difficult to do sonic justice to all these qualities.

I've mentioned this before, but I think it's quite revealing that when
Licia Albanese heard Mario's recording of "Somebody Bigger Than You
and I" being played in the background at (I think) the 1995 Lanza
Ball, she made the observation that this "thin"-sounding voice didn't
represent the Lanza that she sang with.

> > Best, Leeann- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Mike McAdam]

'Morning folks! I must say that one of the unique delights of this
Forum is the unabashed candour of members, along with their obvious
joy, in describing the quality and comparative sound on each
successive Lanza CD release....great stuff! Really helpful here for me
as I had intimated to Derek a while ago when news of this 5-CD set
broke that I would await the appraisals of our membership before
ordering (my Scottish background must creep out now and then as
Amazon.ca is only charging 33 bucks for this release;-) I shall now
order it forthwith. As you likely guessed, my hesitation stemmed more
from successive disappointments in previous Lanza releases than
anything else. Thanks again.
Cheers, Mike

> > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[leeann]

Dear Mike McAdam--


this is just a quick, running-out-the-door email; however...


The Favorite Arias CD in this set has me focusing on Come un bel di
di maggio. A way earlier thread in this forum called Andrea Chenier
has been terrifically interesting and, as usual, full of helpful
information. It's good to know about the Coke version and how people
listen to it--even without personal access. I am really sorry your
combination of the Coke and RCA version is no longer available, and
did want to thank you for the audio work youve put up. It's clearly as
interesting for the novice ear (that would be mine) as it is for the
experts. Best, Lee Ann

[Mike McAdam]

Hi Lee Ann:
Further to your comment about my RCA/Coke "Un Bel Di..." being no
longer available I have uploaded it again for anyone (mainly new
members) who may wish to give a listen?

http://www.4shared.com/file/173251447/382616b2/ChenierRCACoke_Combo3.html

Enjoy,
Mike

[leeann]

Dear Mike, Oh my. That is so, so beautiful. It was awfully kind of
you to take the time to upload it again--especially since you've
mentioned your internet connection is a bit slow.

I didn't mean for that quick email to be quite the blatant hint it
turned out to be! Just a thank you which I'll repeat. Back at it
again, listening carefully.Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: Yes, I second Lee Ann's thanks for posting that link again.
And just to make things clearer for those who may be in the dark about
Mike's little experiment: what he's done here is blend Mario's 1950
and 1952 versions of Come un Bel Di' di Maggio. It begins with the
1950 version, and then the 1952 recording kicks in from "Sia! Strofe,
ultima dea!" (see English translation below) before returning to the
final orchestral chords of the 1950 version (nice touch, Mike; the
Coke version's orchestral ending is definitely a bit cheesy :-)).

This is just a fun experiment, of course, and I would **never**
advocate anyone releasing this kind of thing as a legitimate
recording. It was simply Mike's response to my opinion that the 1950
version is great up until "la fine della vita", whereas the Coke
version is superior from the next line onwards.

What really struck me today, though, having not listened to the 1950
version for some time, is the incredible beauty of Lanza's voice on
this version, coupled with some very sensitive phrasing. Thanks again,
Mike!

Cheers
Derek

Come un bel dì di maggio
che con bacio di vento
e carezza di raggio
si spegne in firmamento,
col bacio io d'una rima,
carezza di poesia,
salgo l'estrema cima
dell'esistenza mia.
La sfera che cammina
per ogni umana sorte
ecco già mi avvicina
all'ora della morte,
e forse pria che l'ultima
mia strofe sia finita,
m'annuncierà il carnefice
la fine della vita.

Sia! Strofe, ultima dea!
ancor dona al tuo poeta
la sfolgorante idea,
la fiamma consueta;
io, a te, mentre tu
vivida a me sgorghi dal cuore,
darò per rima il gelido spiro
d'un uom che muore.

Like a fine day in May
which fades away in the sky
with a kiss of the wind
and a sun ray's caress,
so do I, kissed by a rhyme,
caressed by poetry,
reach the pinnacle
of my existence.
The wheel that turns
for every human destiny
is now delivering me
to my hour of death,
and perhaps before I have finished
my last verse
the executioner will come and announce
the end of my life.

So be it! Poetry, ultimate goddess,
grant once more to your verse-smith
the blazing idea,
the usual fire;
and I will give you,
while you lustily pour forth from my heart,
for a rhyme the cold breath
of a dying man.