Wasn't it nice that Jinx Falconberg actually asked Lanza what operatic
roles he knew? After all, it was always so ridiculously rare for any
of his interviewers to ask him something related to music! It's
curious, though, that he neglected to mention that he had already sung
the role of Pinkerton. That makes me wonder if he simply forgot to
mention Canio as well.
Cheers
Derek
http://www.rense.com/excursions/lanza/celluloid.html
It's hard not to feel sad, though, while reading it. This is the Lanza
of 1949: a man with everything possible going for him and determined
-- more than anything else -- to become a great opera singer.
Incidentally, in my opinion, a lot of singers ruin the final "la
vita!" by overdoing the melodramatics. (Mario himself goes grandly
over the top here on his Shower of Stars performance.) That's yet
another one of the unique qualities of his 1950 version: he gets the
despair exactly right without even a hint of hamminess.