Lucine Amara Strikes Again!

[Derek McGovern]

I've just read that soprano Lucine Amara (who briefly appeared in the
Trovatore scene in The Great Caruso) has once again put the boot into
Lanza. This week in Englewood, New Jersey, she told an audience that
during the filming of The Great Caruso, Mario "arrogantly boasted"
that he was a better singer than Caruso.

What is it with this woman? In the January 2005 Opera News, for
example, she was quoted as saying that Lanza's voice was "brought
up" (in other words, enhanced) by the sound engineers working on The
Great Caruso, and that she felt that he would not have been able to
pace himself for the requirements of the opera stage. That same month,
she contradicted her enhancement story by telling the audience at the
Met Guild tribute to Lanza that "his was the quality voice that we
needed at the Met" and that his singing had given her "goosebumps".

It's a great shame that, of all the operatic singers who worked with
Lanza, she's the only one to have ever cast doubt on the size of his
voice -- and that she also had to be the sole Lanza colleague whom
Opera News chose to interview! If only it'd been Licia Albanese
instead. Ms. Amara's comments gave Opera News feature writer Ronald
Bowers all the ammunition he needed to conclude in his article that
(because of his supposed vocal shortcomings) an operatic career would
not have been viable for Lanza. Grrrr!

Perhaps all of this is simply a reflection of sour grapes on the part
of Amara that her appearance in The Great Caruso ended up being
shortened by the editor. How appropriate, then, that her surname in
Italian means "bitter"!

[Derek McGovern]

PS Here's the link to Amara's comments:

http://warrenboroson.blogspot.com/2008/06/lucine-amara.html

She doesn't have a kind word to say about Pavarotti or Tagliavini
either! (I wonder what further spiteful comments her daughter's
proposed biography of her will include?!)

[Savage]

Derek,

"Grrrr!" is the appropriate response. She seems to be a bitter
woman with little or no respect for other artists. One bad apple,
however, can't tarnish Lanza's reputation much. It is still
unfortunate and regrettable. Grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr!


David

[Armando]

I don’t doubt for a moment that Lanza would have gone around the MGM
set boasting that he was greater than Caruso, this was, after all, his
way of masquerading his increased sense of insecurity, the result of
having been catapulted into world notoriety before having conquered
the operatic stage.

Had Ms Amara spent more time with Lanza and looked a little deeper,
however , she might have reached the same conclusion as that of actor
Ludwig Donath who played Alfredo Brazzi in the film.

Donath stated “ He never once said to me that he thought he was equal
to Caruso or better , but he projected himself into the part, perhaps
secretly feeling, or at least yearning, to be the rightful successor
to his idol.”

I think Amara is indeed Amara about the fact that her part in the
film was relegated to virtual obscurity (no pun intended) in the
brief and dimly lit scene from Il Trovatore.

Whilst her misguided comments are rather unfortunate, they represent
only an isolated case among a multitude of opposing views.

[Sam]

Lucine Amara is Armenian by birth (as am I), so I am ashamed of her
for making inaccurate statements about Mario. I had no idea she was
doing this. I was at the Met Guild tribute and she had nothing but
positive remarks to make. Anna and I met her and spoke to her
privately for awhile and again she was upbeat and positive. What has
she to gain from being this way? I guess only her psychiatrist knows!

[Derek McGovern]

Sam: You can stop feeling ashamed of your Armenian heritage :-) Out of
curiosity, I e-mailed the fellow who posted Lucine Amara's latest
comments, asking if she'd said anything else about Lanza to the
Englewood audience. This was his reply: "She also praised him for
enunciating very clearly -- unlike many other singers. And [said] that
she loved his voice."

Well, that's more like it! While she obviously blows hot and cold on
Lanza -- I understand that she made negative remarks about Mario at
one of Bill Ronayne's New York Lanza Society gatherings & is no longer
on his guest list -- she's spot on about his diction. I just wish she
hadn't tarnished Lanza with her absurd comments to the influential
Opera News.

Incidentally, I'm also curious about the other person quoted in that
article -- Maxim Gershunoff, who had played trumpet on the [two, it
says incorrectly] Great Moments in Music programmes that Lanza
appeared on. Gershunoff claimed that Mario's "voice was enhanced by
the sound engineers and he concurred [with Amara] that an operatic
career did not seem viable".

These comments make no sense whatsoever. How can a voice be enhanced
on live radio? By standing closer to the mike?!

I wonder if Gershunoff's still around? I'd like to ask him a few
penetrating questions...:-)

[Maria Luísa]

Is this lady Lucine, crazy or something? Is it possible that a person,
even worse a colleague, having she been side by side to Mario Lanza
and so being able to truly "hear" live and very closely his
extraordinary powerful voice, as in fact any one can have that very
proof just by listening to his home recording sessions doing scales,
for example, which he did with no special intention other than to
practice his enormous voice which there and then it is exemplified
without a shadow of a doubt, say such a tremendous lie? What is behind
it? Unbelievable really. Thanks Derek for telling about those
incredible news.

[Mike McAdam]

I'm smiling to myself while our faithful 'Rupert Brooke' (my favourite
poet by the way, Derek) becomes incensed once again by stupid,
brainless remarks made by a loser about someone she was obviously in
awe of (also likely jealous of and maybe...in love with?) who treated
her as just another wannabe Met diva? I know it annoys us all that,
being one of the few survivors of the early-fifties MGM era, her
comments are given immediate import by stuffy, but well-regarded Opera
periodicals.

There are many yobbos out there, my closest friend being among them.
When he told me (upon hearing 'Sylvia' and 'I'll See You Again'),
"...see, that guy has no depth, no overtones in his voice...it's
harsh!" He''s lucky he didn't get a smack about the ears as well as
running the risk of losing my friendship! I'm still working on the
wally but he thinks Andy Williams and Wayne Newton are great singers.
Lost cause, I'm afraid. His wife, smart lady, told him he was full of
crap and that Lanza's voice was "rich and dreamy".

Lucine, do us a favour....go retire somewhere, listen to some Anna
Moffo or Renata Scotto and...dream on!!
M.

> > Italian means "bitter"!- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Armando]

Very well put, (in your own inimitable way) Mike.

[Derek McGovern]

I'm reviving this 2008 thread as I understand that our old friend
Lucine Amara has *yet again* made disparaging remarks about Lanza to
Opera News. If anybody has a copy of the (just-issued) July 2010
edition, I'd be very interested in knowing what the aptly-named Ms.
Amara has been saying.

On a much more positive note, I also understand that Amara's comments
are part of a decent-sized article by Eric Meyers entitled "Mass
Appeal: How M-G-M's powerhouse hit The Great Caruso gave opera a boost
and established Mario Lanza's screen immortality." Back in September
1999, Mr. Meyers wrote a wonderful article on Lanza for Opera News,
describing him as "simply and indisputably one of the [20th] century's
greatest vocal phenomena." Great to see him back again!

[Armando]

What I find amazing is not what Amara did or did not say but that so
much is being made about whether Lanza could sustain an entire opera
on a weekly basis.

Now, even someone with a modicum of knowledge about operatic singing
and voice production will tell you that the secret of being able to
sing without tiring lies in proper diaphragmatic breathing and
support. Without it a singer will tire after 10/15 minutes, with it
one can sing for hours.

Another thing to bear in mind is that in an opera you do not sing
uninterruptedly for 2 hours. For example, has anyone ever bothered to
check out the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca? The tenor singing consists
of a total of approximately 20 minutes. Yes, it’s a demanding part but
no more so than Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

As far as I am concerned the fact that the likes of George London and
Dorothy Kirsten (who was quite categorical that Lanza had no problem
in sustaining- and in fact could sing for hours without tiring) had no
doubt that Lanza could have had a successful operatic career plus the
opinion of voice experts such as De Sabata, Vitale, Bonynge and many
more is enough proof that vocal size was not an issue.

Yes, the voice was brought forward in both the Great Caruso Lucia
sextet and in the Aida ensemble in For the First Time, but as the
executive from the Rome Opera who was present at the FTFT recording
session and whose name escapes me at present told me, and I quote,”
It’s customary in films to enhance the voice of the main protagonists
and it had nothing to do with the size of Mario Lanza’s voice which
was not huge but certainly far from small.”

[Derek McGovern]

Here's a link to the new Eric Myers article in Opera News:

http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/7/Features/Mass_Appeal.html

It's very good!! Ms. Amara's comments are nothing to get upset about
(though what a gossipy old thing she is!!), and the general tone of
the article is excellent. Loved the quote from Ann Blyth about how
much she enjoyed working with Lanza!

Nice to see a colour version of that classic Cielo e Mar pose from The
Great Caruso too. Warners really should capitalize on this article and
bring out a remastered version of the film on DVD/Blu Ray forthwith!!

[Derek McGovern]

A P.S. to the above: again it's obvious from reading Eric Myers
article that he too has consulted Armando's book. The Ludwig Donath
quote, for example, comes from page 118. I'm delighted that the book
is being regularly used as a source of reference for articles and
books on Lanza.

[Armando]

P.S. Further to my previous post, the name of the executive of the
Rome Opera I referred to was Angelo Carlucci. His actual title was
Chief of Staff. I have also just realised that I have not included
him in the acknowledgments in my book.

[zsazsa]

Hi Derek,

thank you so very much for the link of this really very good and long
article of the Opera News. It is very nice of you, sharing this great
article with the wonderful photos with all of us. Very true that
Mario`s ``TGC`` is the most influential opera movie ever, thank Mario,
whose charisma and inspiring voice made it the most influential ever.
I enjoyed to read Ann Blyth quotation as well as Dorothy Kirsten`s, it
shows what artists,, who herself is a singer said about Mario`s voice
and singing and musical ability, who have been singing with him live,
so it is just ridiculous when some people are talking about, if he
could make it in Opera, etc. who have never ever heard Mario live.
This woman, named Amara is a very funny one. When I went to the great
Met. Mario Tribut performance, in the Tully Hall in NY, I`ve already
heard about what Mrs. Amara said in the Opera News before, so I
decided that I`ll not give an applaus to her, and so it happened when
she came onto the stage. But the whole time, when all the great Ladies
were talking and praising Mario and his singing and personality, Amara
talked only nicely, in high praising about Mario, that his voice went
under the skin, etc. So at the end, I`ve applauded her also honestly
and I thought that maybe the journalist in the Magazine misunderstood
what she said, what happens really sometimes. But now again, with this
ridiculous statement, I just don`t understand what I shoul think of
this woman.
Of course TGC was nominated for three Academy Awards, winning one for
the Best Sound Recording, but really it should have been Mario,
getting the Award, as he was the one who has made this movie, the most
influential opera movie ever! I like also very much the part ...``but
most gratifying to him (Mario) was the fact that the film created
legions of new opera fans.`` And at the end:``TGC, with its generous
selection of fully staged Italian opera excerpts, gives us an idea of
what the world may have missed.``
Yes, once again dear Derek, thanks a lot for the link, it is really a
treasure for all of us, surely.

Cheers from Susan

On 17 Jun., 05:36, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> Here's a link to the new Eric Myers article in Opera News:
>

> http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/7/Features/Mass_App...

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Susan: Amara obviously blows hot and cold on Lanza, and also
tailors her comments to suit her audiences. Hence she tells a hall
full of Lanza admirers that his voice gave her "goosebumps" and that
he should have been singing at the Met, while telling Opera News that
the sound engineers enhanced his voice.

She also exaggerates the extent to which MGM cut her scene in The
Great Caruso. Although it's true that she and Mario recorded a longer
chunk of the Miserere from Il Trovatore for the film's second operatic
montage scene than was actually used, the total running time of the
unedited version (which I have on one of the Damon Lanza Productions
CDs) is just over a minute. So they cut a bit of it! Big deal!
(There's also little difference between the raw version and the
supposedly "enhanced" mix they used in the film.)

Maybe Amara's jealousy has something to do with the blunt comment that
conductor Peter Herman Adler made about her and the other Metropolitan
Opera singers who appeared in The Great Caruso: "In my opinion, I
think Mario made mincemeat out of them." Ouch!

I'm inclined to believe that Amara's telling the truth about Lanza's
assessment of his singing ('Well, Caruso never sounded that good!').
But would she have preferred false modesty on his part? As Vincent
Price said in 1956, "[Mario Lanza] is a man who happens to own one of
the greatest voices of our time. For him to pretend he is unaware of
this would be foolish and unbelievable. There's a big difference
between being aware of your talent and being an egotist, believe me!"
(from pg. 207 of Armando's book)

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Armando wrote:

> Another thing to bear in mind is that in an opera you do not sing
> uninterruptedly for 2 hours. For example, has anyone ever bothered to
> check out the role of Cavaradossi in Tosca? The tenor singing consists
> of a total of approximately 20 minutes. Yes, it’s a demanding part but
> no more so than Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly.

I think that's an excellent point, Armando. Lanza's detractors (and
even a couple of his biographers) always harp on about the fact that
his professional operatic debut was in "a soprano's opera", as if that
should somehow negate the value of those two Pinkertons that he sang.
(Of course, they never actually think to consider the difficulty of
Pinkerton's music.) But I find it ironic that if Lanza had instead
made his debut as Cavaradossi, then we wouldn't be hearing those same
criticisms. And yet the two roles, as you point out, are equally
demanding. As Domingo has written -- and I quote from your book -- "If
you are not very careful, you can have more trouble [vocally] with
Pinkerton than you could with either Cavaradossi or Rodolfo.

> Yes, the voice was brought forward in both the Great Caruso Lucia
> sextet and in the Aida ensemble in For the First Time, but as the
> executive from the Rome Opera who was present at the FTFT recording

> session [Angelo Carlucci] told me, and I quote,

> "It’s customary in films to enhance the voice of the main protagonists
> and it had nothing to do with the size of Mario Lanza’s voice which
> was not huge but certainly far from small.”

Yes, it's standard practice in musical films when a scene cuts from a
medium or long shot in a group 'number' to a close-up of an individual
singer (as happens with Mario in both the Sextet scene in The Great
Caruso and the Aida ensemble in For the First Time) for the volume to
be correspondingly raised. This is sometimes referred to as cinematic
"logic". It does make sense, especially when the close-up is on the
star performer.

Besides, in Pavarotti's film Yes, Giorgio, there was plenty of
enhancement going on in the Turandot scene -- and I don't recall Ms.
Amara ever complaining about that!! :-)

[zsazsa]

Hi Armando, and All,
that is the point what you emphasised about the tenor roles and in
general about singers role in the Operas. They are singing not the
whole time, but sometimes during an opera performances. And also there
are a lot of other things which helps, for example the other singers,
the chor, the orchester music, the costums, the whole stage
decoration, the whole scene, the story and the different colouring of
lights and the whole stage presence, etc.
As Callinicos wrote about Mario`s Kiel (Germany) concert. There was
only one man alone with the piano and its player and this all took
place in a sportarena and the voice, one singer`s voice alone needed
to fill this huge stadium and take the attention of the big mass of
people, that was really something. And Mario did it. As Callinicos
wrote:
``He seemed, that night in the mammoth indor stadium in Kiel, to be at
the peak of his power as a singer. His voice ``darker`` and richer
than I had heard it in years, thrilled me. Its volume and substance
rivaled any male voice I had ever heard in my life!`
So, what some attacer says, as the Amara lady, is absolutelly
ridiculous and that is very true what I`ve read a few weeks ago,
talking about Mario and his tormentor: ``If Mario would walking over
the wather, some so called critics would criticized him, because his
feet became wet!``
Thank you so much Armando for your enlightened post.
Have a great day you all and Ciao from Susan

[leeann]

Susan, I love the wet feet quote. :-)

I agree that there's much to like about the Eric Myers article! Pretty
fantastic job of putting the film in the context of the film-making of
its time, and definitely many intimations of relying on An American
Tragedy for research. Armando also points out in his book that "one
take Thorpe" completed the film in an amazing eight weeks and that it
incorporates 23 musical numbers and 16 solos!

I thought Myers balanced article did a great job of foreseeing and
short circuiting "usual suspect" list of criticisms of Lanza's
abilities and temperament, and Amara's gotten much more attention than
she warrants.

Opinions about whether Lanza could or couldn't act seem to come up
frequently, but when the background of his films is explained--
information about the films themselves, about the actor factory
system, about who directed them, and about how Hollywood churned out
productions in those days--that definitely seems like a question that
shouldn't be judged by today's standards. I love Lanza's comedic
timing, among other things. And Armando also points out "he
undoubtedly possessed the feeling and temperament that would have made
him a convincing actor on the operatic stage." And then, as Myers
says, "The film is by-the-numbers hack work — typical Pasternak-unit
product, redeemed by its lavish, well-sung operatic sequences and the
galvanizing performance of its star. " That seems about right. Best,
Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

A couple of years back on this thread, I vented my frustration about a 2005 Opera News article in which two interviewees cast doubt on the size of Lanza's voice. In the article, soprano Lucine Amara was quoted as saying that Lanza's voice was "brought up" in The Great Caruso, while former trumpeter Max Gershunoff claimed that on the Great Moments in Music live radio broadcasts in 1945-6 (on which he played), Mario's voice was "enhanced." Because of these comments, the writer then suggested that Lanza could not have sustained an operatic career. Just the kind of thing that his detractors love to read!

Of course, the couldn't-sustain-an-opera warhorse was nonsense -- and, as we've discussed here, Amara's flip-flopping on Lanza (as she states one minute that his was "the voice we needed at the Met" and then disses him to the next interviewer) is a regular event. But it was very nice to read this week in the latest edition of Bill Ronayne's The Legacy of Mario Lanza newsletter an interview with the other 2005 Opera News interviewee, Max Gershunoff, in which, far from repeating his peculiar claim that Mario's voice had to be "enhanced" for radio, he actually piles on the praise for this "wunderkind"'s "big talent" and goes out of his way to point out that Lanza was a good musician (something we don't hear too often!).

All's well that ends well :) I'm very glad that Bill Ronayne tracked Mr. Gershunoff down, as I'd had no luck getting a response from the latter when I wrote to him a couple of years ago.

By the way, if anyone missed this thread the first time round, do check out the more recent article in Opera News (mentioned upthread) by Eric Myers. It's excellent:

http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/7/Features/Mass_Appeal.html 

Cheers
Derek

[Vicki]

Just a quite note to say how much I appreciated receiving the link to
the excellent article by Myers.
Regarding Amara, there is no proof to substantiate her claim. I think
she's just bitter because her part in the film was reduced to next to
nothing.

On Dec 23, 3:40 am, Derek McGovern <derek.mcgov...@gmail.com> wrote:
> A couple of years back on this thread, I vented my frustration about a 2005

> *Opera News* article in which two interviewees cast doubt on the size of

> Lanza's voice. In the article, soprano Lucine Amara was quoted as saying

> that Lanza's voice was "brought up" in *The* *Great Caruso, *while former
> trumpeter Max Gershunoff claimed that on the *Great Moments in Music* live

> radio broadcasts in 1945-6 (on which he played), Mario's voice was
> "enhanced." Because of these comments, the writer then suggested that Lanza
> could not have sustained an operatic career. Just the kind of thing that his
> detractors love to read!
>
> Of course, the couldn't-sustain-an-opera warhorse was nonsense -- and, as
> we've discussed here, Amara's flip-flopping on Lanza (as she states one
> minute that his was "the voice we needed at the Met" and then disses him to
> the next interviewer) is a regular event. But it was very nice to read this

> week in the latest edition of Bill Ronayne's *The Legacy of Mario Lanza *newsletter

> an interview with the other 2005 Opera News interviewee, Max Gershunoff, in
> which, far from repeating his peculiar claim that Mario's voice had to be
> "enhanced" for radio, he actually piles on the praise for this
> "wunderkind"'s "big talent" and goes out of his way to point out that Lanza
> was a good musician (something we don't hear too often!).
>
> All's well that ends well :) I'm very glad that Bill Ronayne tracked Mr.
> Gershunoff down, as I'd had no luck getting a response from the latter when
> I wrote to him a couple of years ago.
>
> By the way, if anyone missed this thread the first time round, do check out
> the more recent article in Opera News (mentioned upthread) by Eric Myers.
> It's excellent:
>

> http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/7/Features/Mass_App... 
>
> Cheers
> Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vicki: Amara's comments about Lanza's voice being "brought up" were
correct in the sense that, yes, in the film The Great Caruso, the
sound engineer increased his volume whenever he was shown on his own
in close-up (or medium close-up). As Armando has pointed out, that's
standard practice in films. It's part of what's sometimes called
cinematic aural logic. (I actually wrote about it in my PhD thesis.)
In musicals, a cut from a longer shot to a close-up of an individual
performer should be accompanied by a boost in volume for that singer
alone, especially if s/he's the star. Conversely -- and the Aida Grand
March scene in For the First time is a very good example of this --
when the editor cuts from a close-up of a performer to a longer shot,
that singer's voice is pushed further back.

But what the interviewer should have asked Amara when she made that
comment was: "Are you implying that Lanza's voice was too small for
the operatic stage?" After all, that's a completely different matter!!

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Just came across a letter today from another of the Metropolitan Opera stars who appeared in The Great Caruso: mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom. It was tucked away in a tiny corner of the Dolfi/Damon Lanza/Mark Mueller "Be My Love: A Celebration of Mario Lanza."

In her letter, the highly regarded Thebom (1915-2010), who had a lot more on-screen time than Amara in the film, certainly debunks the ridiculous comments made in the last paragraph of this 2005 Opera News article:

"Mario's voice was of first class operatically speaking and of very large scale. [my italics] [...] My own personal memories [of making the film] are tinged with the deep and sincere regrets that Mario was never a colleague at the Met as his talent warranted."

What a pity Opera News went to Amara instead!

[Michael McAdam]

The Opera News link in vicki's post above is no longer serviceable. Too old? Page maybe taken down from their site after 30 days?

M. 

[Vincent Di Placido]

It's great to see Blanche Thebom was so positive, I always loved her performance in "The Great Caruso", she seemed to have great personality...

 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: Here's the correct link to Eric Myers's 2010 Opera News article:

http://www.operanews.com/Opera_News_Magazine/2010/7/Features/Mass_Appeal.html

I'd like to shake the good Mr. Myers's hand! As well as penning the fine article above, he had this to say about Lanza in the March 1999 edition of Opera News (no link available, sorry):

"When voice has become recognizable enough to be used on the soundtracks of Mercedes-Benz commercials [the recording was 'Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life'], it is truly consecrated.Mario Lanza reached that exalted status last summer. Fifty years after the fact, consumers are hip to what Lanza fans have known since his heyday in the '50s: the troubled but gifted Italian-American tenor was, simply and indisputably, one of the century's great vocal
phenomena."

And the concluding paragraphs:

"Lanza's voice is rich, ripe, unmistakable. A huge column of spinto sound, it mixes Italianate ardor with a very American brightness -- and perhaps this is one of the secrets of his enormous appeal. Lanza was a first-generation Italian-American, and he succeeded in blending and enhancing the attributes of the old world with the enthusiastic optimism of the new. There is a joy in his voice that radiates a pure love of singing, a heart held wide open to an audience. To hear Lanza's records is to fall willing prey to his power. His films -- such as Serenade, which shows what he could do in everything from L'Arlesiana to Otello -- make it clear that the world lost a fine singing actor when he died. There has never been another American tenor with such an astonishing concentration of gifts.

"Arturo Toscanini dubbed Lanza 'the greatest natural voice of the twentieth century.' Time has not done much to alter that assessment."

[Barnabas Nemeth]

As far as the the Alice Tully Hall tribute to Mario Lanza concert in 2005 is concerned it was really fantastic. I was fortunate to be there (see my  photos below with Ann Blyth, Damon, Amara, etc. )

 

http://picasaweb.google.com/barnabasnemeth1/MARIOLANZACONCERT2005#slideshow/5565824753254596082

 

Barnabas

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Barnabas: I've said it before, but Ann Blyth really does look extremely youthful in those 2005 photos of yours. The same for poor old Damon Lanza, who looks much better here than in photos that I've seen taken shortly before his death three and a half years later. 

As for Ms. Amara, well, at least we can now put a (recent) face to her:

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: Couldn't agree more about Blanche Thebom. She strikes me as a very vibrant character, so it's not surprising that she got on well with Lanza. As for her singing, I think she sounds brilliant (and looks absolutely beautiful) in the Aida entombment scene ("O Terra Addio") in The Great Caruso. A wonderfully rich warm mezzo sound.

Given how photogenic and vocally gifted Ms. Thebom was, I wonder if MGM ever considered auditioning her for Kirsten's role in the film? (Not forgetting, of course, that -- unlike Kirsten -- Thebom was a mezzo-soprano.) I've always been vaguely irritated by Kirsten's acting performance. 

Cheers

Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Incidentally, in the same (1999) letter I quoted from above, Blanche Thebom also mentions this curious little incident during the pre-recording sessions for The Great Caruso:  

"We (the Met singers involved) were so surprised at the one session when Mario came in and the voice from the control booth asked him if he had a b flat that morning. When he said he thought he did, they taped about six to eight of those attacks which they subsequently 'put in the bank'  to use in the future! We decided that this was a spectacular idea and lamented that we didn't have that option during live performances at the Met." 

I wonder if a couple of those B flats were subsequently used in the "too much flour in the throat" scene where Mario tests his voice? There's a definite splice in there!