Lanza on vinyl vs. Lanza on CD

[Derek McGovern]

Recently I've been listening to a lot of homemade vinyl-to-digital transfers of Lanza's commercial recordings. All of these have been taken directly from original LPs, 45s and EPs that were released in the 1950s. 

I'd forgotten how satisfying these reproductions of Mario's voice could be! Somehow the best of them are simultaneously richer and more vibrant reproductions than what one hears on this CD or that. 

For example, I was amazed by how much better Lanza sounds on both of his 1950 Chenier arias ("Un di' all'azzurro spazio"---aka the Improvviso---and "Come un bel di' di maggio") compared with the reproductions on the 1999 Opera Arias and Duets CD. Some years ago, there were criticisms on the now-defunct grandi-tenori site of Lanza's vocal placement on the 1950 Improvviso, with complaints that his voice was a bit on the thin side here and lacking in resonance. They had a point too. On Opera Arias and Duets, Mario's voice does sound thin on both the Chenier arias---and, for that matter, on "M'appari'" as well. 

Not on LP, though! Hearing vinyl reproductions of all three arias was a revelation. Even my previous criticisms of the 1950 "Come un bel di' di maggio"---that Lanza's handling of the aria from "Sia! Strofe...ultima Dea!" onwards is a little disappointing vocally---seem largely unfounded after hearing a first-rate 45rpm reproduction of this recording.

Why did BMG's engineers strip Lanza's voice of so much of its natural resonance on the CD version? 

Equally startling was hearing a pristine copy of the British LP version of For the First Time. Unlike the very disappointing CD reproductions of this album (the 1991 Double Feature: That Midnight Kiss/For the First Time and the 2001 For the First Time/Caruso Favorites), the mono British album (see cover below) reproduces Lanza's voice exactly as it is heard in the film---and I don't mean the recent, rather tinny, DVD sound, but rather the much-superior VHS sound quality. The sound is glorious!

Has anybody else recently rediscovered how wonderful vinyl can be? 

         

[Vincent Di Placido]

Fascinating topic, Derek! :-)
I have to say having recently listened to the original vinyl as well I am amazed how much better Mario sounds, it is definitely the case on some tracks that Mario has been remastered to death on cd. Now this is from someone who bought into the cd technology, hook, line & sinker as it appeared when I was roughly 13 & I thought it was the be all & end all as regards audio quality. But the problem lies in the talent of the engineers who are remastering, if you don't do it properly & with care you are going to lose some of the vibrancy & warmth of the original material. I also think that good quality vinyl from the 1950's is sometimes going to be a better source as I suspect some of the masters can deteriorate over the years, this along with sloppy remastering will obviously give poor or dull results! I have been amazed to see mint or even still sealed vinyl still available for sale through some collectors. I find this fascinating as someone who suffered through my dads very badly worn record collection, I obviously added to it as I played them over & over & over. This obviously affected my view of vinyl vs cd as a teenager BUT with the right pressing in good condition, well there is no better way to enjoy Magic Mario! Now... Where's my credit card? :-)

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: When I first started buying CDs in 1985---and I remember that my first purchase was Bernstein's 1984 recording of West Side Story with Carreras and Te Kanawa---I was actually quite disappointed by what I felt was a cold "clinical" sound. Two years later, when the first Lanza CDs were finally issued (The Legendary Tenor and Christmas Hymns and Carols), I didn't find the sound quality appreciably better than on any LPs. And the next couple of releases (The Student Prince and The Desert Song and The Great Caruso/Caruso Favorites) were even less impressive soundwise! In fact, The Student Prince on CD, with its thin-sounding irritating fake stereo effect, wasn't a patch on my glorious mono LP. 

Ironically, the first Lanza CD to make me sit up and take notice was the budget Camden release of You Do Something to Me in 1989. Although not perfect---some annoying "flutter" mars the climactic moment on "Che gelida manina" and continues into "O tu che in seno agli angeli"---it contained the best reproduction I'd ever heard of the "Song of India," and "Some Day" and "Beloved" sounded great too. It was then that I fully appreciated how crucial the role of the remastering engineer was in determining optimum sound quality.

Things got better and more consistent for Lanza releases in the second half of the 1990s, with excellent sound on the Albert Hall reissue (Live from London), When Day Is Done and You'll Never Walk Alone, but there were major disappointments along the way---especially the Mario! Lanza At His Best CD in 1995. 

But it's funny how people get used to the digital sound. I remember disagreeing with Lindsay Perigo about the remastering on the terribly uneven all-Coke Don't Forget Me CD, which came out in 1993. To my ears, the sound on this disc was hopelessly bright, stripping away all of Mario's resonance (to the point where even Amazon's own paid reviewer claimed on the product page that Lanza lacked a decent middle register!), but to Linz it was the perfect reproduction of "a fantasy voice."

We certainly all hear things differently....

Cheers,

Derek 

P.S. I think you're right about the masters of some Lanza recordings having deteriorated. Off the top of my head, there are now annoying dropouts on two classic Lanza recordings---the 1949 "Che gelida manina" and the 1950 "E lucevan le stelle"---that were never present on any vinyl reproductions.  

[Vincent Di Placido]

Hi Derek! Yes the "Don't Forget Me" disc was incredibly bright, I remember the "Non Ti Scordar Di Me" track being especially hard to listen to with ear piercing mandolins :-)
Oh! & the 1995 "Mario" cd broke my heart. I remember being up in Dublin for a day out & walking into HMV & being SO excited to see "Mario!" Finally on cd, my beloved "Mario!" I almost broke my neck rushing to the counter & even caught an earlier train home to listen to it... Well I was so disappointed with the sound especially that annoying & obvious switch to Mono at the end of quite a few tracks... Bizarre in the extreme! Thank god for the SACD version! We are so lucky that SACD Living Stereo series happened.

[leeann]

Thank you, Derek and Vince, for talking about vinyl vs CD.

I've wondered what I'm missing (or not) for along time as technologies change, particularly given a resurgence of interest in vinyl. In the States, at least, during 2013, vinyl records seem to be the only music sales that were on the upswing (up 33% against an 8.4% decline in overall music sales and a 14.5% drop in CD sales).

But it seems to me that what you're explaining is that it's a combination of technology and the expertise of the people who are working with old and new technologies and transfers between the two, as well as efforts at preservation. (And NOW I understand why the endings of some of the Mario! pre-SACD CDs seem a bit weird!).

It's helpful to have the best reproductions available highlighted under Discography at the website.

But there's a wistfulness as well, trying to imagine the impact of hearing this voice in person. What an experience that would've been.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: I'm not surprised that vinyl has made a comeback, especially among those who appreciate its warmer, more life-like sound. 

Here are a couple of vinyl gems that Vince has sent me recently. The first is the 1958 "I Love Thee," taken directly from a near-pristine copy of the British version of For the First Time. If you click here, it'll start playing immediately:    

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/i-love-thee.html

There is a little bit of distortion here, as I've had to change the file to a lesser quality MP3 to suit our website's specifications---but, even so, the reproduction of Lanza's voice on this recording is much better than on any CD pressing of this rendition. Gone is that slight hint of tiredness and the sandy harshness of the CD. This vinyl version reveals that Lanza was actually in very fine vocal shape on this recording.

I'm also attaching an MP3 of the 1950 "Questa o quella" that Vince transferred from a 1958 pressing of The Great Caruso. Again, it's superior to the various CD reproductions, with the "vault" (echo chamber) effect almost gone, and Lanza's voice more warmly reproduced. In fact. hearing it in this superior sound, even Lanza's singing of the aria sounds less (inappropriately) boisterous than usual. (More on that topic can be read here.) This is a suaver-sounding Duke! :)    

Here's to vinyl!

Cheers,

Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Here's one more of Vince's transfers, this time as a high-quality wav file:

http://www.4shared.com/music/heZAdkcxce/04_Come_Prima_-_New_Stylus_FTF.html

I've never heard "Come Prima" sound this good! 

P.S. If the file doesn't play for you, hitting "refresh" should do the trick. Alternatively, you can access the recording by clicking "download" and then "free download" (on the right).

[leeann]

These are just stunning--and I mean that as more than a sort of synonym for "fantastic" or "great" (although they're that, too). 

They just stun. 

Thank you, Derek and Vince.

And you got a wish, Derek, it seems, that you posted on the "I Love Thee" thread four years ago when you wrote, "Actually, I would dearly love to hear a *pristine* reproduction of the original British LP *mono* version of this recording, which featured even better sound (and a different audio mix) from the stereo album."

What Lanza does with this song amazes me. Grieg's melody, of course, is pretty well-known, but Anderson's nineteenth-century lyrics--read alone without the music--certainly are a stretch for modern romantic sensibilities! Somehow, though, despite all the old-fashioned markers, Lanza brings a timelessness to it. It's spel-binding.

These examples and your conversations raise all kinds of interesting questions (and answers) about how close a recorded voice gets to the actual sounds--and then, I suppose the quality of sound system on which the music is played adds (or subtracts) value as well.

[Armando]

On Thursday, July 24, 2014 12:23:45 PM UTC+10, Derek McGovern wrote:

 

I'm also attaching an MP3 of the 1950 "Questa o quella" that Vince transferred from a 1958 pressing of The Great Caruso. Again, it's superior to the various CD reproductions, with the "vault" (echo chamber) effect almost gone, and Lanza's voice more warmly reproduced. In fact. hearing it in this superior sound, even Lanza's singing of the aria sounds less (inappropriately) boisterous than usual. (More on that topic can be read here.) This is a suaver-sounding Duke! :)    

Hear,Hear! This is,indeed, a superior sounding Duke! The ridiculously fast tempo remains a problem, but Lanza’s singing is very, very, good.

[Derek McGovern]

Here (attached as an mp3) is another of Vince's vinyl gems that I much prefer to the rather cold CD reproduction of this recording.

Magnificent singing by a tenor in peak vocal form! 

I just wish this recording were better known. Would you believe it was last released on CD in the US in 1987?! Sadly, I suspect the embarrassingly bad Coke version, which has appeared on several CDs since 1991, including Mannering's The Definitive Collection, has now largely supplanted this 1955 recording. Not in my mind, though :)  

Enjoy the vinyl warmth!!

[Michele]

Hi Derek,
Just heard Mario doing his Torna Surriento from Serenade.  Had forgotten how terrific it was.  I always remember the part in the movie where he goes
to audition at the restaurant and the pianist begins the intro. to the song and the old boy who is supposed to be auditioning Mario is still fiddling with
his bills and Mario thumps the piano and asks him if he is looking for a book-keeper or a tenor.  It may have been the other way round but I thought
when I saw this section in the movie that Mario sounded just like he would have sounded had it actually happened to him.  Just loved it.

Thanks, Michele   

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Michele: Your memory is spot on, and yes, it's a great scene! (One of many memorable moments, actually, in what is my favourite Lanza movie.) 

Here's a pristine video of that scene---minus the dialogue about "looking for a bookkeeper or a tenor"---on our main site:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/serenade-an-underrated-treasure-page-2.html

Cheers,

Derek

[Michele]

Hi Derek,
Thanks for that scene.  Even listening again so soon was pure pleasure.  Mario's singing of this song IS STUNNING and I can't believe that it has
not been released on C.D. since 1987, what a pity, he does sound amazing.  I have to admit as far as Mario's singing is concerned it's my favourite as well.

Many thanks, Michele

On Sunday, August 3, 2014 5:26:42 PM UTC+8, Derek McGovern wrote:

Hi Michele: Your memory is spot on---and yes, it's a great scene! (One of many memorable moments, actually, in what is my favourite Lanza movie.) 

Here's a pristine video of that scene, minus the dialogue about looking for a bookkeeper or a tenor, on our main site:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/serenade-an-underrated-treasure-page-2.html

Cheers,

Derek

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Michele,

Yes, it is difficult to fathom why the Serenade "Torna a Surriento" has been neglected on CD. If ever there were a candidate for the numerous "Best of" compilations, this is one of them. Mind you, it's still fared better than four of Mario's finest operatic recordings from that same soundtrack---"Amor ti vieta," "O paradiso," "Di rigori armato," and the Lamento di Federico---none of which has been released on CD in the US! 

Cheers,

Derek 

[Vincent Di Placido]

If it's because it is only a piano accompaniment then I could understand (barely) the reason for it not being given the attention it deserves. Vocally it's brilliant & the beginning of Mario's renaissance as a Neapolitan master interpreter. Pre 1955 ("Mamma Mia, Che Vo Sape" aside) Mario's heart was in the right place as regards italian & Neapolitan song but after 1955 he is artistically in the right place to do justice with these gems.
Actually I wouldn't be too annoyed if this recording got (& I'm surprised it never did get) a bit of orchestral sweetening, now it would have to be expertly & sensitively done but it might have made this great recording a staple of every best of & definitive collection! For me it's perfect the way it is, one of my absolutely favourite Mario recordings! That final "Famme campa!" Is literally to die for!!! :-)

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: I doubt it's the piano accompaniment that's behind the neglect of this recording; I think it's simply the fact that it comes from Lanza's later period. After all, only thirteen of the 150-odd recordings that Mario made after 1952 have been selected for Sony/BMG compilations in the last twenty years.

But while it's frustrating that this poorly sung 1951 rendition---which was never released until 1991---is now the one that non-aficionados are more likely to be familiar with, at least the truncated film version of the 1955 recording is available on YouTube, courtesy of a certain Signor Di Placido :)  

What I love about this recording is that Lanza combines sensational vocal form with just the right balance between passion and tenderness. I've been listening to many other great tenors' versions of this song today, and in my opinion none of them---not even Di Stefano on his three renditions (spanning 1944 to 1964) or Gigli or Carreras in their prime---quite matches this rendition artistically and vocally, let alone surpasses it. 

In fact, the version I enjoyed most after Lanza's was that of a lesser-known tenor (outside of Italy, that is): Francesco Albanese (1912-2005):      

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VlEu_u_vCrM

Vide 'o mare quant’è bello,
spira tantu sentimento,
Comme tu a chi tiene mente,
Ca scetato 'o faie sunnà.
Guarda gua' chistu ciardino;
Siente, siente sciure arance:
Nu profumo accussi fino
Dinto 'o core se ne va…
E tu dice: "I’ parto, addio!"
T’alluntane da stu core…
Da sta terra de l’ammore…
Tiene 'o core 'e nun turnà?
Ma nun me lassà,
Nun darme stu turmiento!
Torna a Surriento,
famme campà!

Look at the sea, how beautiful it is,
it inspires so many emotions,
like you do with the people you care about.
You make them dream while they are still awake.
Look at this garden
and the scent of these oranges,
such a fine perfume,
it goes straight into your heart,
And you say: "I am leaving, goodbye."
You go away from my heart,
away from this land of love,
And you say you're not coming back!
Do not go away,
do not give me this pain.
Come back to Surriento,
let me live!

[Derek McGovern]

Vince and I have recently been going back and forth by email listening to various LP pressings of, among other things, the 1958 re-release of the RCA album The Great Caruso. This is the record (first released in 1951) that in 1968 became the first operatic LP to sell a million copies. 

What's been fascinating about this particular album is how different each pressing sounds. So far we've compared German, British, and US versions---all of them in very good condition, and all from the same year. The best reproduction? Not the German version, as I had been expecting (since Germany has long been renowned for its expertise in sound quality), but the British version. While the German pressing was good, the British LP somehow managed to be both more vibrant and more richly reproduced. The least vibrant was the US pressing; as Vince put it, everything sounds curiously subdued. And that annoying echo chamber-like effect on "Questa o quella" is much more apparent on the US version than on the mellow British version.

Of course, the Brits also were responsible for the much-superior-sounding pressing of For the First Time mentioned a few posts back, so if you're looking for Lanza on vinyl, UK pressings may be the way to go!  

On a side note, while listening to the various pressings of The Great Caruso, I was reminded yet again of what a rip-off this album is. Just eight tracks, with a total running time of just over 26 minutes! What was RCA thinking? At the very least, they should have included an extra four tracks---ideally, songs and arias that were actually featured in the film (since half of the album's tracks were not). After all, as this interesting article reminds us, some of the non-US versions of the album were a little more generous with the number of selections.

I'm amazed that such a short album managed to sell so many copies! Ironically, Lanza's other million-selling LP, The Student Prince and Hit Songs from Other Musical Comedies, was very generously filled.

Incidentally, there's an interesting article in today's New York Times about a Brazilian businessman with an obsession for buying vinyl albums:

http://www.nytimes.com/2014/08/10/magazine/the-brazilian-bus-magnate-whos-buying-up-all-the-worlds-vinyl-records.html

[leeann]

There certainly are a number of videos and text-based explanations of how vinyl records are made--especially with the resurgence of vinyl today.

I got curious, especially given the research and precise listening Derek and Vince are sharing.

So, if you have 19 spare minutes--here's an historic documentary from 1942 of how records were created at Lanza's old recording home: RCA in Camden, New Jersey: Record Manufacturing "Command Performance" 1942 RCA Stamping Records Milton Cross. It certainly was a labor-intensive process (noting numbers of women on the assembly lines), and there was even a listening-test final step!

Then, fast-forwarding, this second documentary, The Sound and the Story (even longer at almost 25 minutes) is an RCA Victor update on the production process of hi-fi albums 1956.

So many human and technological variables at play. And what an evolution of human and technological intervention over time.

PS--Spoiler Alert. Close to the end, the 1956 film is unbashed RCA promotion, during which they feature musical genres and their vast cast of recording artists. A Lanza album is lower right-hand corner @19:53 where he is grouped with "symphonic and other classical masterpieces."