Things I wish Mario had recorded !

[JOE]

WE havent done this type of thread in a while, so I thought it might be fun to do it again. I will start it off with a few of my choices:

 

Climb Every Mountain

 

The American National Anthem ( The difficult Star Spangled Banner). Certainly he may have done this at some occasion but it was not recorded, sigh. Mario recorded very few "patriotic" songs.

 

"My Way"

 

Gethsamane from Jesus Christ Superstar!....Now, I know what you are thinking: a Rock and Roll song for Mario? Has Joe lost his marbles?? But, before you decide that, please listen to Michael Crawford do that number.

 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rQQIl2ss1os

[Savage]

I'll just toss in a list of three:
I Te Vurria Vasa
What kind of fool am I?
Chiove
********************

David

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Joe: Having heard Jerry Hadley's fine version of Gethsemane, I can understand why you'd like to have heard Lanza sing this piece. And Climb Ev'ry Mountain would have been even better.

 

Other English-language songs: Maria, Tonight, and Somewhere from West Side Story; You'll Never Walk Alone (one of the Coke versions is OK, but hardly definitive); Stranger in Paradise and Night of My Nights from Kismet...

 

Then there are the Neapolitan songs: Yes, definitely agree with David re I' Te Vurria Vasa' and Chiove (it's positively criminal he didn't record these two), plus at least a dozen more that I can think of; and an-all Tosti album of Italian songs would have been terrific.

 

But, more than anything, I wish Lanza had recorded a complete opera!!! (This is something that people I meet all the time can never get over.) Otello, of course, but I'd settle for any one of these as well: Pagliacci, Andrea Chenier, La Boheme, Tosca, La Fanciulla del West...oh, any great opera, really.

 

Cheers

Derek 

[Lou]

I'd like to add Peter Grimes to the operas Derek mentioned.

[Michael McAdam]

My three? Yes, I te Vurria Vasa' for sure. That would be 1958 Lanza on a follow-up album to Mario!

Speak Softly, Love (from The Godfather) with the later spinto voice also.

and, the younger Mario singing Johnny Mathis' A Certain Smile.

 

Mike

[Derek McGovern]

A message from Anita:

 

Congratulations Derek and Leeann. The appearance of this site is excellent and it's so easy to use.

 

Two songs I would love to hear Mario sing are : The anniversary waltz and Love is a many splendoured thing.

[Tony Partington]

I love this thread, and indeed we've not done this for a while so here goes!

 

Songs (English):

1. Stranger In Paradise from KISMET (perhaps the proper duet version with Doretta Morrow since she created the role of Marsinah)

2. We'll Gather Lilacs In The Spring (Novello)

3. Songs My Mother Taught Me (Dvorak) 

4. Ah, Love But A Day (Beach)

5. In The Silent Night (Rachmaninoff) (English translation used by Valletti in concert. I don't recall the author of the english verse.)

6. Violetta (Yes, the old Josef Locke song.)

7. The Island (Grieg) (English translation used by Valletti in concert. I don't recall the author of the english verse.)

8. Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind (Quilter)

9. Come Ready And See Me (Hundley)

10. Duna (?)

11. Smilin' Through (?)

12. A Woman In Love (Loesser)

13. Shenandoah (folk song)

14. Scarlet Ribbons (?)

15. Now Sleeps The Crimson Petal (Quilter)

16. Corals (Treharne)

17. Here In My Heart (Yes, the one he kindly gave away to Al Martino)

18. The Impossible Dream (from MAN OF LA MANCHA)

19. Johanna (from SWEENY TODD)

20. Bring Him Home (from LES MISERABLES)

 

Songs (Italian):

1. Donaudy: 36 Arie di Stile Antico (the entire cycle, all 36 songs)

2. Tosti: Just about everything really, but here are some specifically -

a) Non t'amo piu

b) Serenata

c) Aprile

d) Malia

e) Sogno

f) Vorrei Morire

3. Ti voglio tanto bene (de Curtis)

4. Tu scendi dalle stelle (Alfonso Maria de' Liguori)

5. Mama (Bixio)

6. Strada del bosco (Bixio)

7. Marenariello (Ottaviano)

8. Piscatore 'e Pusilleco (Murolo/Tagliaferri)

9. Non Dimenticar (Redi)

10. Mala Femmena (Toto)

 

Opera (arias):

1. Salut! demeure chaste et pure

2. In fernem land

3. Ah! leve-toi soleil

4. Pearl Fishers duet (Possibly with George London - when London was younger and still had a bit of lightness to his voice.  Let's say, the Bel Canto Trio days.  Or with Robert Merrill, Robert Weede.  Mario can pick)

5. Pearl Fishers tenor aria

6. 'Ch'ella mi creda libero e lontano'

7. Vainement, ma bien-aimee

8. Pourquoi me reveiller

9. Lonely House (Street Scene)

10. Lenski's Aria (Eugen Onegin)

11. En fermant les yeus (Manon)

13. I know that you all hate me (The Saint of Bleecker Street)

14. Dalla sua pace

15. Il mio tesoro

16. Quanto e bella (L'Elisir d'Amore)

17. De' miei bollenti spiriti

18. Com' e gentil (Don Pasquale)

19. Addio fiorito asil

20. Dies Bildnis ist bezaubernd schon (Die Zauberflote)

 

Operas (complete recordings):

1. Andrea Chenier (with Tebaldi)

2. Tosca (with Tebaldi, Moffo, Callas or Milanov)

3. La Boheme (with Moffo)

4. Madama Butterfly (with Moffo)

5. Turandot (with Nilsson and Moffo)

6. Otello (with Moffo as Desdemona and Fischer-Dieskau as Iago)

7. L'Arlesiana

8. Il Trovatore

9. Werther (with Frederica von Stade-dream casting)

10. Fedora (with Moffo or Tebaldi)

11. La Fanciulla del West (with Tebaldi)

12. La Gioconda

13. L'Africana

14. I Pagliacci

15. Cavellaria Rusticana

More to follow...

 

GREAT THREAD!!!!!!

 

[Nick]

Hey Tony,

 

Mario recorded De' miei bollenti spiriti when he was 19, very young.

The recording is on youtube http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o5n-_XDJbUI

 

 

[Savage]

Great thread! Two more I wish Mario had recorded:

L'anima ho stanca

No puede ser

David

[Tony Partington]

Here are a couple I forgot:

 

- Anema e core

- I' te vurria vasa'

- If I Ruled The World

- A Man Without Love (not the Engelbert Humperdinck song, but the one composed by Cyril Ornadel and recorded by David Whitfield and Keneth MacKellar).

- Cara Mia

- If You Were The Only Girl In The World 

[Tony Partington]

David -

 

"Non puede ser" fantastic choice!!!  What a piece.  I think Domingo sings the hell out of it in the first 3 Tenors Concert.

 

Ciao - Tony

[Savage]

Tony,
There was something Lanza-esque about Domingo's performance. I could hear Mario's influence and while listening it was easy to conjure up the sound of a Lanza rendition.

David

[leeann]

What great lists.  I think I'd like to add any or all of a group of Sicilian songs Giuseppe di Stefano recorded and sang at different points in his life, although I've got them on the Torna a Surriento 2CD album (Decca):   A la barcillunisa, Nota di li lavannari, Al la Vallelunghisa, Metteti di lu paliu, cantu a timuni and the taranella "abballati."  The Di Stefano arrangements are haunting; I would have a hard time picking a favorite.  Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi David and Tony: Yes, Domingo's performance was certainly Lanza-esque on this occasion! Another great version of No Puede Ser is this live Carreras performance from around 1986 (which Vince kindly uploaded from one of my old videos):
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5TYY8K41mgM
 
And here's Domingo in another Lanza-esque performance -- this time of Zarzuela composer Federico Moreno Torroba's Amor, Vida de Mi Vida:
 
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SmtqTxiGJrE
 
Oh, I'd love to have heard Lanza sing this!

[leeann]

I've just had the opportunity to listen to various recordings of No pueda ser!  A thousand yesses in agreement with the what a marvelous vehicle this would've been for Lanza's voice--and what an incredible interpretation we could've expected.  The argument, "It cannot be so!" The plea, "Take pity on me." There's not problem at all transposing the Lanza voice into this piece. With the clear knowledge that the reality would surpass the imagination. 

In case anyone else wasn't familiar with this zarzuela, here are lyrics and translations from zarzuela.net which also includes a synopsis of La taberna del puerto. No puede ser is billed as a show-stopping number--about the most sung and singable piece in the repertoire.  I can see why!

Leandro. ¡No puede ser! Esa mujer es buena.
¡No puede ser una mujer malvada!
En su mirar como una luz singular
he visto que esa mujer es una desventurada.

No puede ser una vulgar sirena
que envenenó las horas de mi vida.
¡No puede ser! porque la ví rezar,
porque la ví querer,
porque la ví llorar.

Los ojos que lloran no saben mentir;
las malas mujeres no miran así.
Temblando en sus ojos dos lágrimas ví
y a mi me ilusiona que tiemblen por mí.

Viva luz de mi ilusión,
sé piadosa con mi amor,
porque no sé fingir,
porque no sé callar,
porque no sé vivir.

Leandro. It cannot be so! This woman is good.
She cannot be a bad woman!
In her look, like a strange light,
I've seen that this woman is unhappy.

She cannot be a cheap siren
who has poisoned every moment of my life.
It cannot be so! Because I've seen her pray,
because I've seen her love,
because I've seen her cry!

Those eyes that cry don't know how to lie.
Bad women do not look like that.
Glinting in her eyes I saw two tears,
and my hope is, they glint for me.

Vivid light of my hopes!
Take pity on my love!
Because I cannot pretend,
because I cannot be silent,
because I cannot live!

[Savage]

Leann,
Thank you for the powerful lyrics. Can you imagine this piece as an encore at one of Mario's live concerts? This would have brought down the house!


David

[Savage]

Derek,
Thank you for the links to the two wonderful performances. I'm not a big Domingo fan but these two renditions are first rate.

David