Hello to all,
I am back after a long absence and it is so good to be back!! Thank you to all my Mario Lanza friends who truly cared, Derek McGovern, Armando, Derek Mannering, John Rice, Pam Latham and Ellen Coxon.
I am delighted to see the re-opening of this forum and I am also looking forward to the new Sepia release.
As some of you know I recently moved to another flat within the same city, Freiburg. It is in the district where my mother was born and grew up. A stone’s throw away there’s a church, the Lutheran Church (unfortunately desacralized about two years ago but still blessing us with ist wonderful peal of bells). Since it had been demolished in WW II it was re-erected in the early 1950s, and my mother and her friends would be the first to be confirmed there. This was on 22 March 1953. The very same year the German tenor Fritz Wunderlich who was studying at the Freiburg Academy of Music at that time, participated as a soloist in two choir concerts which took place on 28 June and around Christmas respectively.
A move implies a lot of changes and you get to know many new people. In our house there’s one neighbour and for some reason his face seemed familiar to me. A few weeks ago I asked him about his profession and he said he is a lawyer. I replied that consequently we knew each other from university days . We studied the law at the same time but we were not friendly. He didn't remember me but then again I looked quite different years back, about 20 years ago. Now we live in the same house! Well, the story goes on: The other day I asked him about his name and he said his name is MARIO!!! I told him that many of my friends would be delighted to hear this as I am a Mario Lanza fan to which he replied that his parents were, too! He is not sure if he was named after Mario Lanza, but his parents, like so many other Germany, were Italy fans in the 1950s. He was born in 1958. I told this story to another neighbour, and she mentioned that she remembers her mother very often listening to Mario Lanza on the radio.
The world is a little one, isn’t it? As you can see, my new flat ist he perfect (musical) match!
On another note, we can add two more musicians to the list of Mario Lanza inspired artists: The Spanish tenor Giacomo Aragall and the US-American songwriter Franke Previte.
Giacomo (Jaime) Aragall turned 80 on 6th June. I seem to remember that Plácido Domingo once commented that Aragall was one of the unfortunately underrated singers among tenors.
In a recent interview I found the following (translation from Spanish and Catalan to English) with the help of„google translate“):
https://www.plateamagazine.com/entrevistas/6853-jaume-aragall-soy-consciente-de-ser-una-leyenda
Estos recuerdos en común abren la caja de pandora y Jaume Aragall se sumerge en los inicios de su carrera. Unos inicios que merecerían una película al estilo El gran Caruso, protagonizada por Mario Lanza.
¡Ah, El gran Caruso! Creo que la vi como ochenta veces esa película. Era maravillosa. Y creo que muchos cantantes de mi generación empezaron a cantar por esa película.
All these memories open Pandora's box and Jaume Aragall delves into the beginnings of his career. These are beginnings that would be suited as a film in the style of The Great Caruso starring Mario Lanza.
Ah, The great Caruso! I think I saw this movie about eighty times. It was wonderful. And I think many singers of my generation started singing because of that movie.
There had already been mention of Mario Lanza in two interviews back in 2014:
https://www.nuvol.com/entrevistes/jaume-aragall-en-lestudi-de-la-veu-vaig-trobar-hi-diferencia/
Ens descriu escenaris de joventut en què l’estudi i el treball es creuaven sovint amb els somnis, amb emular els grans cantants de la lírica, amb convertir-se en un nou Caruso. «Caruso és una institució de l’òpera, és el cantant que més ha quedat a la Història com a tenor. Però també ho va ser la història del Caruso que va interpretar Mario Lanza l’any 1952. Va ser una revolució, perquè va portar l’afició per l’òpera a molta gent que la desconeixia. A mi m’agradava molt aquella pel·lícula, una miqueta a l’estil de Hollywood, però amb la veu impressionant del Mario Lanza. Allò va ser una cosa gran.»
He describes scenes of his youth in which study and work often crossed with dreams, with emulating the great lyrical singers, with becoming a new Caruso. «Caruso is an institution of opera, he is the singer who has most remained in history as a tenor. But it was also the story of Caruso played by Mario Lanza in 1952. It was a revolution because he brought the hobby/interest of/in opera to many people who were not familiar with it. I really liked that movie, somewhat in the Hollywood style, but with the awesome voice of Mario Lanza. That was a big thing. "
http://www.gbopera.it/2014/06/intervista-al-tenore-giacomo-aragall/
Mi racconti come ti sei
avvicinato al canto?
Undicenne, quando andavo a scuola, un sacerdote
musicista mi volle come cantore nel coro della chiesa e vi rimasi fino a
quindici anni. A diciotto la voglia di diventare un cantante era forte,
soprattutto dopo aver visto un film con Mario Lanza. Da quel momento desiderai
anche cantare per gli altri.
Can you tell me how you approached singing?
At the age of eleven, when I went to school, a musician priest wanted me as a singer in the church choir and I stayed there until I was fifteen. At eighteen the desire to become a singer was strong, especially after seeing a film with Mario Lanza. From that moment I also wished to sing for others.
„Oscar Winning Songwriter Franke Previte Reflects on His Years in the Music Business (Including His Iconic Music for “Dirty Dancing”) and Looks Ahead to a Busy 2019“
Vents Magazine: Getting the ball rolling Franke, would it be safe to say that a career for you in music was a foregone conclusion? I note that your father was an opera singer.
Franke Previte: Yes he was…My mom and dad met taking voice lessons from the same vocal coach and so I guess I’m their duet! That was actually my speech at the Academy Awards: “I want to thank my mom and dad for the best duet of all.”When I was four years old I remember my dad rehearsing all of the time in the house because he would sing with these different operas. So my mom brought me down to Convention Hall down in Asbury Park (New Jersey) and I remember sitting on her lap and my dad getting ready to hit the big high note. I stood up on her lap and I belted the note out before my father could hit it and the place went crazy! Of course my father stops the show and he looks at the audience and he goes, “Ladies and gentleman, my son.” So I really consider that my first gig.
Vents Magazine: Growing up, who were some of your musical influences?
Franke Previte: It’s interesting because, again, in my family there were all of these Italian notes because of the opera thing. So I was hearing my father listen to Caruso and Mario Lanza and these songs like Be My Love…I was ten or eleven years old and I was trying to find the blue notes, I’m trying to find the notes that weren’t these long Italian notes. So I put my own group together, me and four black guys, and then we started a group called Franke Luv and the Intruders.
On a last note regarding Mario Lanza I want to call the attention of our German speaking Mario Lanza fans to a new DVD release of „Der Sänger von Capri/Serenade einer großen Liebe,“ on 21st June 2019 by „Filmjuwelen.“ Filmjuwelen“ is specialised in publishing classic movies and it is nice to see that Mario’s last film is now included into their extensive collection.
On a very last note for now, you may already have heard that there’s a new album of mezzo soprano Elina Garanca titled „Sol y vida.“ I understand it is her first non classical album.
„… the famous mezzo soprano presents popular Neapolitan songs as well as soulful jewels from the Latin American repertoire.“
Among the songs are quite a few from Mario Lanza’s repertoire: „Granada,“ „Core n’grato,“ „Torna a Surriento,“ „Non ti scordar di me,“ „Musica proibita,“ „Voce 'e notte,“ „Marechiare“ and „T’estimo“ (I Love Thee).
It is unusual to have songs that rather belong to the male repertoire interpreted by a female singer, and I have to admit it takes a little getting used to it.
Steff
Hi Derek,
I only ordered the 2019 DVD release of „Der Sänger von Capri“/“Serenade einer großen Liebe“ and I was mentioning the new release in my post from 17th June 2019 on this thread. I think the film is in a good quality, but as far as I can judge I don’t see any improvement. There’s no indication of any remastering regarding sound or picture quality. Nevertheless, I noticed that the film must have been edited at some point. Think of the last scene of the film, a scene that is almost a prediction of what would happen one year later. Mario as Radames, in the „Aida“ triumphal march scene, turns around. He faces away from the audience – as if he was making his farewell. Then the curtain closes. This, to me, retrospectively, appears kind of scary knowing that Mario passed away only one year later. Well, to make a long story short, this grand final of the film is cut out on the DVD! The DVD ends with the close up of Mario – before he turns around. I don’t know if this has to do with time limitations, but it is strange and kind of absurd.
As for the layout I have to say that I was surprised how much they cared. The DVD comes in a sleeve and is also accompanied by a several pages long booklet. It starts with „the making of,“ then comes the plot and finally the full cast and crew (even the costume designer couple Bücken!) is listed giving some information about their works (in which other productions they worked in). The booklet is very pleasing, especially thanks to several big sized pictures (it is noticeable that the German actress Johanna von Koczian got more credit here than Zsa Zsa Gabor!).
The„Filmjuwelen“/„Fernsehjuwelen“-company’s aim is to preserve old film classics, national and international, but with the focus on German productions. On their website they explicitly mention that they own the rights for the releases, which makes it absolutely clear that these are no bootlegs:
„Die Fernsehjuwelen GmbH hält Verwertungsrechte an mehreren tausend Titeln der Film- und Fernsehgeschichte (darunter Spielfilme, Mehrteiler, Dokus und TV-Serien) aus dem Bestand der ehemaligen Kirch-Gruppe, mit exklusivem Zugang zu einer der größten Filmbibliotheken der Welt.“ (The Fernsehjuwelen GmbH (limited) holds he exploitation rights of several titles from movie and TV history (films, series, documentaries and TV series) originating from the stock (right term?) of the former Kirch Media Group, with an exclusive access to one of the largest film libraries in the world.)
Steff
Emilio
Hi Irina: Even as a kid, the claim that Maria had been born in 1905 made no sense to me, since it would have made it impossible for her to be legally married prior to Mario's birth. I'm also pretty sure the legal age of consent was at least 16 in the state of Pennsylvania in the 1920s (in fact, it was 18 in that state for much of the 20th century).
I don't know if Maria herself ever claimed in later years that she had been born as late as 1905---or that she was 16 at the time of his birth (which of course would have implied that she was born in 1904)---but certainly when she died in July 1970 it was incorrectly reported by the New York Times and other papers that she was 65 years old. But she definitely lied about her age. In a 1965 interview with Noreen Nash (later to become James Whitmore's third wife), Maria claimed that she'd married at 16, and that Mario had been born "little over a year later." That definitely wasn't true! But it doesn't explain, of course, how her grave could show the wrong birth year.
Perhaps the fact that her birth was registered in Italy, coupled with the fact that Maria (like Mario!) had a habit of lying about her age, made it possible for the mix-up to happen on her gravestone.
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Citing this Record
"Italia, Pescara, Stato Civile (Archivio di Stato), 1809-1929," database with images, FamilySearch (https://familysearch.org/ark:/61903/1:1:QV9N-66L1 : 15 March 2018), Maria Elisena Di Giulio in entry for Maria Cristina Lanza, 01 Jun 1902; citing Birth, Tocco da Casauria, Pescara, Italy, certificate , Archivio di Stato di Pescara (Pescara State Archives), Italy.
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Hello to All,
As one of the managers of this forum may I kindly ask you not to create new threads for every Lanza or not-Lanza related question or comment, but instead use the existing threads, which we have in abundance here on this forum and which cover almost every topic.
If you are searching a topic, please use the search box on top of the forum. Alternatively, for topics which do not fit in any category, or for general questions or comments (such as „Did Mario meet Mr./Mrs. XY?“ or „Did Mario sing this or that song?“), which, based on experience, do not launch extended discussion, please use the
„Miscellaneous Lanza-related posts (2019-2020)“ thread
https://www.mariolanzatenor.com/forum.html?place=msg%2Fmariolanza%2Fr3k-HEkVeOE%2Fv_OukdNCFQAJ
or
the „Off-topic chat thread (2019-2020) respectively (for non-Lanza posts):
https://www.mariolanzatenor.com/forum.html?place=msg%2Fmariolanza%2FOF5XhRd-540%2FPbNQZwpDFQAJ
Please help to keep the forum overseeable.
Thank you for your understanding, and please continue to keep the forum going!
Steff
Last night I watched a German documentary (2018) on ARTE TV about Zsa Zsa Gabor, titled „Zsa Zsa Gabor, Königin des roten Teppichs“ (Zsa Zsa Gabor, Queen of the Red Carpet) – Lona media for rbb & SWR.
Actually, I did not expect any mention of Mario Lanza, so I was surprised all the more that they showed a movie poster and excerpts from the film „For the First Time“ (“Serenade einer großen Liebe“ – the sequences in excellent picture quality!).
Not many film clippings were shown in this 53 minutes documentary - as far as I remember, apart from „FTFT,“ only scenes from „Moulin Rouge“ and Lili.“
I clipped the part of the documentary which is about „For the First Time“ and tried to attach it to my post which unfortunately failed (it says "server denied") I hope I can add it at a later time.
For those of you who have access to ARTE (Germany, France), here’s the link to the documentary (it is available until 11 July):
https://www.arte.tv/de/videos/077370-000-A/zsa-zsa-gabor-koenigin-des-roten-teppichs/
Steff
Hi to all,
Ever heard of Joseph Terranova?
No? Well, I didn't either, until a friend of mine asked me, if I knew that Mario's first musical teacher was a man named Joseph Terranova.
Actually, I thought he was kidding me, but he promised me to have proof and then sent me a photo, which he had come across of on the internet.
It is a photo signed by Mario, who wrote: „To Mr. Joseph Terranova – My very first music teacher and a truly wonderful person, may I wish you the very best of everything in life always from Mario Lanza.“
Well, I admit that I was still skeptical, until I saw the photo. The writing looks authentic, our experts here might agree (Mario signed using the green ink as he used to do).
I did some research, and did indeed find a man named Joseph "Joe" Terranova, who was a piano teacher and coach, accompanist and pianist from Philadelphia. His wife Marie was also a pianist.
He was born in Italy about 1890 (I suppose his original name was Giuseppe Terranova).
That is about all I could find out. There’s not much mention about him in the newspapers, and whenever I found his name, it was around the 1930s/1940s. It appears that he mainly worked in the Pennsylvania area. I can only speculate, that Terranova „coached“ Mario very early, maybe some time in the (late?) 1930s - the „pre-Irene-Williams era.“ Terranova must at least have lived until 1968, that’s the last time I saw his name mentioned in a newspaper.
The signed photo is attached.
Steff
Erica Miner: How would you describe your journey to the opera stage?
Richard Stilwell: Unlikely, considering my young years. I loved singing from a very early age, in church and high school. I had never been exposed to the world of opera, nor classical music, before late high school years. I grew up with Pop, Rock n' Roll, Gospel and Country Music- everything but classical. My first taste of opera was hearing Mario Lanza on an LP from the soundtrack of the movie The Great Caruso in a record shop in St. Louis when I was about 17. I stood enthralled for a long time before asking the salesman what kind of music that was. I'd never heard anything like it. He said, "Italian opera," and explained a little about it. I bought the LP, played it over and over, totally mesmerized by the power and passion of Lanza's voice singing those arias. The door to opera had been opened and would never close again.
Hello Steff,
We will never tire of hearing stories of the influence Mario's voice had on young singers. I am sure the love of hearing this voice stayed with these folks, as it does with us, for the rest of their lives.
Stay safe,
Jim Thompson
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The company confirmed the closure in a statement emailed Saturday to CAMI artists.
by BWW News Desk Aug.30, 2020
The company confirmed the closure in a statement emailed Saturday to CAMI artists. It will officially close its doors on Monday.
"Columbia Artists" has engaged with a fiduciary to enter into an assignment for the benefit of creditors, a form of insolvency proceeding where assets are liquidated and claims addressed in an orderly manner," the statement said. "We are working tirelessly to provide each of you concrete guidance on your specific situation in the coming days. In addition, we're working together with the fiduciary to see a safe place to land for your Columbia Artists relationship."
Read more on ABC.
Based in New York City, Columbia Artists was formed in 1930 as Columbia Concerts Corporation by Arthur Judson and William S. Paley.
CAMI has represented a very large number of active classical artists worldwide, including singers Leontyne Price, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Renata Tebaldi, Mario Lanza, Jussi Björling, John McCormack, Richad Tucker, Paul Robeson, and Geoge London; pianists Vladimir Horowitz, Arturo Benedetti Michelangeli, and Van Cliburn; violinists Jascha Heifetz, Yehudi Menuhin, and Tossy Spivakovsky; and conductors Leonard Bernstein, Herbert von Karajan, and Otto Klemperer.
About Columbia Artists
(from https://columbia-artists.com)
A legendary organization in the performing arts industry, Columbia Artists is a worldwide leader in artist management. Our managers, producers, and agents serve an unsurpassed roster of top instrumentalists, conductors, opera singers and other vocalists, orchestras, theatrical and musical attractions, commercial symphonic events, and dance ensembles of all kinds. In close collaboration with our clientele, Columbia Artists shapes individual careers and develops national and international touring and performance strategies.
The history of Columbia Artists Management Inc. – Columbia Artists – is to a great extent the history of the modern concert business in America. Since its formation as the Columbia Concerts Corporation on December 12, 1930, our Managers have worked with many of the greatest artists ever to perform on the concert stage, including sopranos Leontyne Price, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Renata Tebaldi; mezzo–soprano Risë Stevens; contralto Marian Anderson; tenors Jussi Björling, Mario Lanza, John McCormack, Lauritz Melchior and Richard Tucker; bass–baritone George London; bass Paul Robeson; pianists Van Cliburn and Vladimir Horowitz; violinists Jascha Heifetz and Yehudi Menuhin; cellist Mstislav Rostropovich; conductors Herbert von Karajan, Eugene Ormandy, Antal Dorati and Otto Klemperer; composer–conductors Leonard Bernstein, Aaron Copland and Igor Stravinsky; and composer–conductor–pianists Sergei Prokofiev and Sergei Rachmaninoff.
Columbia Artists's founding and first decades are inextricably linked with the legendary figure of Arthur Judson, who played a seminal role in the development of classical music both as a modern business and as a major cultural presence in the electronic mass media of the 20th century. He was of particular influence in the fields of radio and recordings throughout the 1930's.
Trained as a concert violinist, Judson became a reporter for Musical America in 1907. His work led to a friendship with the new conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra, a young man named Leopold Stokowski. This in turn, resulted in Judson's becoming manager of the Philadelphia Orchestra in 1915, after Stokowski became its director. The position served as the cornerstone for Judson's career as a manager under the banner of Concert Management Arthur Judson.
By the mid 1920's, he was cited by The New York Times as "the leading American concert manager," managing the New York Philharmonic and the famed summertime concert series at the City College of New York's Lewisohn Stadium, as well as the Philadelphia Orchestra and a growing roster of talented individuals.
With the rise of radio in the '20s, he formed the Judson Radio Corporation in 1926, with a plan to supply classical performances to the new NBC radio network, formed that same year by RCA. When NBC opted to develop its own programming, Judson quickly organized a rival network, United Independent Broadcasters, in January 1927. Short on financing, the organization was renamed when the parent company of Columbia Records became a major partner. By September, the phonograph company sold its interest to William S. Paley, an ambitious young executive at a family-owned cigar company in Philadelphia. The fledgling network became known as the Columbia Broadcasting System, with Arthur Judson as its second largest stockholder.
As the musical needs of the growing network multiplied, Paley and Judson merged seven of the country's leading independent concert bureaus in 1930 as Columbia Concerts Corporation, pooling the musical knowledge, commercial acumen and booking facilities of key figures in the concert management business. The companies that were merged included Concert Management Arthur Judson, the Wolfsohn Musical Bureau (the oldest concert bureau in America), the Metropolitan Musical Bureau, Evans & Salter, Haensel & Jones, the American Opera Company and Community Concerts Service. The new firm served as a home base for managers whose rosters represented the most famous artists of the day and whose activities covered all of North America. The organization laid claim at the time to managing nearly two–thirds of the top concert artists in America.
William S. Paley became the first chairman of the board of Columbia Concerts Corporation with Judson as president. Other officers of the new corporation included Frederick C. Schang, Jr., a former journalist from the New York Tribune who later became president of Columbia Artists, and F.C. Coppicus, the founder of the Metropolitan Musical Bureau. Community Concerts, under the leadership of its founder, Ward French, continued to operate as a subsidiary serving to bring live classical music to smaller venues across the continent by means of prepaid subscription series. French later served as chairman of Columbia Artists.
In 1938, CBS acquired Columbia Records, its one–time parent company. By 1941, under pressure from government regulators, both CBS and NBC ended their longtime relationships with their respective talent management companies. The independent Columbia Concerts renamed itself as Columbia Artists Management Inc. in 1948.
Frederick Schang, president of Columbia Artists from 1948 until 1959, managed in his long career such performers as Enrico Caruso, Paul Robeson, Jussi Björling, Lily Pons, David Oistrakh and the Trapp Family Singers. Subsequent presidents of Columbia Artists have included Lawrence Evans, one of the founders, Kurt Weinhold, who started with the company as a salesman, and Ronald A. Wilford, who came to Columbia Artists to create its theatrical division in 1970 and went on to head the company as Chairman and CEO until his death in 2015.
The company was headquartered from 1959 until 2005 at 165 West 57th Street in Manhattan in a landmark building across from Carnegie Hall that was built as a dance studio in 1916. Columbia Artists' corporate headquarters are now located nearby at 1790 Broadway, in a 1912 building at the corner of 58th Street at Columbus Circle.
The principle of cooperation among independent managers, which first inspired the company's formation, has guided Columbia Artists for more than eight decades. Reflecting today's ever-changing performing arts landscape, the firm has formed a new internal structure that merges the iconic firm's founding principles of creativity, innovation, integrity, and passion for excellence with its new team–oriented and collaboration-first business practices. Organized in four business groups (Classical Music, Performing Arts Touring and Events, Opera Vocal, and Theatricals), Columbia Artists managers, producers, and agents continue to shape individual artist careers, develop national and international touring and live performance strategies, and further the organization as a global leader in arts management.
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Interesting that the ABC write up about CAMI closing did not mention Mario Lanza. I'm quite sure that he was, during his short career, one of the biggest artists CAMI had, and probably made a good many dollars for the organization..
BY: Robert Petrone
Flags In South Philadelphia's Mario Lanza Park Bearing Image of The Tenor Were Replaced with an Image of a Bird. Attorney Robert Petrone reports this week, the flags in South Philadelphia's Mario Lanza Park bearing the esteemed Philadelphia tenor's face were replaced with flags with a cartoon bird on it. Petrone wants to do something about it. "I propose the below letter be sent to Friends of Mario Lanza Park signed by whoever tells me to affix their name," he says. His email address is robert...@yahoo.com. Here is the text of his letter.
Dear Ms. Mell,
It has come to the attention of the Italian-American residents of Philadelphia that Mario Lanza's image has been removed from the flags adorning the park that is named in his honor. We the undersigned are appalled that this was done without consideration for the community, during a time when we are in great pain at the recent and repeated removal of the likenesses of Italian-American icons all over the city, including (1) the removal of the statue of the first and only Italian-American mayor of Philadelphia, Frank Rizzo, whose administration as Chief of Police integrated the police force by putting both African-American and Caucasian officers together in the same squad cars and promoting the first officers of color to administrative positions, (2) the boxing up of the statue of the first civil rights activist of the Americas, Christopher Columbus, at Marconi Plaza, and (3) the obliteration of the names of Columbus and many prominent Italian-Americans at the base of the Columbus monument at Penn's Landing.
Despite that misguided historical revisionists have slandered Mayor Rizzo and Christopher Columbus of late -- slander that has been debunked categorically of late -- no such slander has ever been levied against Mario Lanza. There can be no other reason for the continuation of this course of conduct than blatant Italophobia.
That Friends of Mario Lanza Park, entrusted as stewards of the park and its contents, would be so insensitive to the community in this regard, is unforgivable. Our community demands that Mario Lanza's likeness be restored immediately.
Sincerely
SOURCE: Primo Magazine