the indelibility of fenesta che lucive
Joseph Fagan
song by Mario. It makes me very sad ( no surprise there) but then I
cannot shake the mood or the melody for sometimes the entire day! I
try not to dwell on it, but like an insect drawn to a flame.......I
continue to hear Mario in my head. Can there ever be any doubt as to
who was the most expressive tenor of our lifetime?
The only way I seem to be able to neutralize the mood is by playing
something less heartbreaking by Mario ...e.g. "one alone", one of my
favs. I was wondering if any of the other members have a reaction like
this?
zsazsa
fantastic Mario interpretation! Yes, I just can not help, but beeing
so down, that I just can not describe! Yes, it is so very true, that
Mario was the most expressive tenor of our lifetime, or any lifetime
past and future! Listening to Mario in this and some other of his
fabulous very sad performance, I must really weeping, I just can not
help.
But when I hear something cheerful from Mario`s incomparably happy
mood, like Oi Vita, oi Vita mia, or La Spagnola or so very many most
wonderful and cheerful performances of Mario, I do feel the whole day
happy `without cause`, `without pose`, as he so magnificently sings in
I`m falling in Love`. Oh, yes he was really a Vocal poet and Vocal
painter, who could tell the story that you really live it with him.
Yes, he was just unique, uncomparable!
Have a nice day dear Joseph. Cheers from Susan
Derek McGovern
to Mario's Nocturne or Song of India. Like you, he's a very sensitive
soul (although what Lanza admirer isn't sensitive?!).
It's ironic to me that you turn to Mario's One Alone to "neutralize"
your mood, as I find that recording, if anything, even more
heartbreaking than his 1958 Fenesta che Lucive! (I'm assuming, of
course, that you're referring to the 1959 recording, and not the Coke
version.) I always play the magnificent "raw" version of One Alone
(ie, without the overlaid chorus):
http://www.4shared.com/file/176096730/ac92f09b/One_Alone.html
The burnished quality of Lanza's voice here is incredible, as is the
pathos of his delivery. It's a beautifully recorded rendition too; if
only RCA had applied the same care to all Mario's 1959 sessions!
Amazing to think that the man had less than two months to live when he
recorded this.
Anita
listen to it once. I always repeat it a couple of times. Then the
words and tune keep playing over in my head too. It's the same for me
with None but the lonely heart and Vesti la guibba. Just magic.
Derek McGovern
of the same title, so I'm putting it here to keep things tidy.)
"Well. I am glad I am not alone! ( say hi to Dad for me). Yes, it WAS
the 1959 recording that I had in mind, however, I must also confess
that the Coke version, while less polished, has some exciting raw
electricity which I DO like. I change my mood in steps Derek, I may go
from Fenesta, to One Alone and then to When you are in love, for
example, to get back to "normal". His voice can just "mold" my mood .
Few singers could ever do that to me; Lanza is just so special in ways
much beyond the power and beauty of his voice. While I am on this
subject, two other songs he recorded also have the same effect on me:
"The Thrill is Gone" and "Hills of Home" ( I know you do not care for
the latter, but it makes me homesick every time I hear it.)"
And my reply:
Hi Joe: I don't actually dislike Mario's rendition of The Hills of
Home, though I do prefer the unreleased broadcast version to the
alternate take that's been released on LP ("The Touch of Your Hand")
and CD ("You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Original Album Classics"). For
one thing, the ending is better on the broadcast version. But I have
to say that the song itself doesn't do a lot for me melodically, and
it never really "peaks".
Derek McGovern
version of The Hills of Home being superior to the rendition that RCA/
BMG brought out on LP/CD! I've just compared the two, and actually the
ending on the unreleased version is the *only* part of that recording
that I prefer to the released take.
In fact (the ending aside), some of the things that bother me about
the commercial version are, if anything, accentuated on the broadcast
version. RCA *did* release the better take in this instance.
Incidentally, the released version sounds the best I've heard it on
the new Original Album Classic release (on "The Touch of Your Hand"
disc). Check it out, Joe: you'll be very happy!
Joseph Fagan
Cesare Siepi. Check it out on Youtube!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qhozLVGJQnA&feature=related
Derek McGovern
announcer refers to Siepi as a "bass-baritone".)
Siepi has a great voice, but the song still doesn't do much for me. Sorry, Joe!
Derek McGovern
bit confusing having two current threads with Fenesta che Lucive in
the title!)
If you'd like to post a comment on this thread, please click on
"reply" to **this** post, rather than the earlier ones; otherwise the
thread will automatically revert to its original title.
Lou
Manrico's heart-wrenching farewell to the unseen Leonora in Il
Trovatore, but the experience was short-lived. It was a week of
bright, sunny days but in my head, it was cold and dark as Lanza
dolefully implored "Non ti scordar, non ti scordar di me... Leonora,
addio, Leonora, addio, addio!" over and over again. I rather enjoyed
the "haunting", though, and did nothing to get rid of it.
A year or so later, I learned that having a song or tune stuck in
one's head is a phenomenon that afflicts 99% of the people at one time
or other. It even has several names. Psychoanalyst and author Theodor
Reik, who was haunted by the chorale in Mahler's Resurrection
symphony, calls it "haunting melody." Some researchers refer to it as
"stuck song syndrome," "repetunitis," "audio virus," and a variety of
other terms, but it is best known (somewhat creepily so) as an
"earworm," so called because the song seems to "crawl in" through
one's ears and burrow in one's brain. Some people are reportedly able
to rid themselves of earworms by singing or listening to "eraser
tunes," songs or tunes that have a seemingly magical ability to get
other songs out of one's head. The catch is that the eraser tune can
become the next earworm.
Want to know more about the song-stuck-in-your-head phenomenon? Here's
a link for starters:
http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/2006/jun/22/popandrock
leeann
than about a thousand other "oldies but goodies" or children's songs
I'm afraid to name for fear they resurface.
Recently, my haunting song is Senza Nisciuno, particularly the
repeated
Che malasciorte, ahimé!
Sulo,
senza nisciuno...
e tu...
tu morta si' pe' me...
tu morta si' pe' me...
No particular reason; its an extraordinarily profound, yet restrained
cry, with beautiful phrasing and it just sticks. Best, Lee Ann