Rate These Recordings: Two Versions of "Amor Ti Vieta"

[Derek McGovern]

For the latest round of "Rate This Recording!", we're comparing the 1952 and 1955 versions of the aria "Amor Ti Vieta." I hope everyone will get into the spirit of things by listening to these recordings, rating them, and then coming back to discuss them on this thread.

Here's the direct link to the poll and sound files feature for these recordings:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/amor-ti-vieta.html

Happy rating!

Cheers
Derek

[Anita]

IThis is one of my favourite songs and I enjoy listening to both versions but when I listen to them one after the other, to my ears the 1955 version is far superior.  I don't think anyone could sing it any better.  I gave my first ever masterpiece rating to that and a 4/5 to the 1952.

[JOE]

I thought the '52 voice sounded "mettalic" in places plus I didnt care for the arrangement by Callincious, so gave my first so-so rating. By comparison, however, the '55 version was much more beautiful IMO, well conducted and showing off a very smoooooooth voice by Mario!

[JOE]

ooops, make that "metallic", sorry (fat finger typing)

[Savage]

Derek,

      I rated the first recording good and the second excellent.  The best part of the first recording can be found in the finale.  The first half was a bit choppy.  The second recording was a smooth and convincing operatic performance from beginning to end.

                                                                                                              David

                                                                                                                                                                                          

[Michael McAdam]

Hard to believe that the 1952 rendition has 'very good' and 'masterpiece' ratings from Forum listeners.

It has been described by Joe and David here as "choppy"? Very apt. Breaths in the wrong places (to me), pauses and non-pauses jumbled about. It sounds rushed and...this trained opera singer seems to know not whether to sing it falsetto in the shower or full out on the stage!

I couldn't give it better than a 2/5...so-so.

The 1955 version with Heindorf? Sung operatically and splendidly utilizing his previous training and a heartfelt and lyrically savvy approach from beginning to end. A definite 5/5....excellent.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Mike: I was equally amazed by the "masterpiece" rating for the 1952 version. Mind you, the Coke "One Alone" also received that evaluation! Makes me wonder if Derek Mannering has been voting on these polls :)   

Cheers

Derek

[Joseph Fagan]

LOL......I know what you are thinking, Derek and it was NOT me who gave One Alone a great or better rating....lol...Joe ( nevertheless, I still like it a lot)

[Tony Partington]

Hi Folks:  Well, now we can really get into it!  Derek, you given us something really challenging here - at least challenging for me.  I will start out my comments and ratings of Lanza's two recordings of "Amor ti vieta" (from Umberto Giordano's seldom performed opera FEDORA) by first stating that, overall, they are a dissapointment to me - each in their own ways.

 

A little background is perhaps in order after that statement.  I know a bit about this aria as I sang it regularly in my recital programs when I was performing.  I can tell you that, although it goes no higher than an 'A', it is a bear of an aria to sing and sing well.  The line in it demands the absolute best from the singer as far as good and true legato singing and, at least for me - for my voice does not lie nearly as high as Mario's did - the overall tessitura can be a throat-ripper with the repeated high 'G's.  You have to have the voice well warmed up and the passagio flexible and open.  I also found, at least for myself, that the only way to sing the aria well, was to know exactly where to start to cover the tone and not wait until I was at the top of the staff.  I'll not bore everyone on the forum with pointless vocal technicalities of singing one particular two-minute aria, but I will say one final thing and then move on to the recordings in question.  I coached "Amor ti vieta" with Maestro Constantine Callinicos and his help and guidance in both interpreting and performing this aria was of immense help.  I bring this point up to comment on an opinion, that being the opinion that seems quite pervasive in the posts I've seen up to now regarding Lanza's 1952 recording (conducted by Constantine Callinicos for THE MARIO LANZA SHOW hosted by Coca-Cola) that it was Callinicos who was responsible for the horribly fast tempo.  Now I readily admit that I was not there in 1952 and thus cannot say this with certainty, but I would wager money that it was the almight stopwatch that deciced that "Amor ti vieta" had to be brought in under 1 minute and 13 seconds (this was true with so many of the Coke Show aria recordings: "Che gelida manina," "Questa o quella," "Recondita armonia."  As for the posted comment about "not caring for the arrangement by Callinicos" there really is no "arrangement" when it comes to the operatic aria "Amor ti vieta," there is only the score (i.e.: the original arrangement). 

 

THE RECORDINGS

 

"Amor ti vieta" (1952): This is the voice that is right for the role of Loris.  At this stage, Lanza still had the bloom of youth in his voice and this would have served him well indeed in this role.  There is no question that he starts off quite weak vocally.  It the "They Didn't Believe Me" Lanza voice we hear at first and it is all wrong for this piece and the very idiom Mario is singing in.  He soon realizes it though and begins supporting the tone and then we hear the magnificent tenor voice so well suited for this beutifully romantic piece.  Overall, Lanza's phrasing is good.  He ties ",,,di non amar, La man tua lieve,..." whereas in his 1956 recording he breaks between amar and La for a breath - as do most tenors.  I suppose with the ever so brisk tempo, it was none to hard to join the two phrases.  Mario finishes very well with the high 'A' sounding quite good and him even ending with a short but effective diminuendo.  Let's face it though, the tempo is what has essentially ruined this recording.  So, to that end, I did a little experiment today.  I slowed down the tempo - not the pitch - so the the time of the recording is now 89 seconds.  Now this is somewhat crude, but I think it gives the idea of just what this recording should have been and should sound like at the proper tempo. http://www.4shared.com/mp3/B9Tkzbnh/Mario_Lanza_-_Amor_Ti_Vieta__1.html

My score: 3/5

 

"Amor ti vieta" (1956): Here is the recording of this wonderful aria that everyone seems to find so stellar.  I love it too.  But the Lanza voice does not have the lyrico-spinto youthfulness it did in 1952 and to my ear this makes a difference.  At least in this piece.  Mario's phrasing is top notch, his breath control is very good but there are one or two places where the voice widens a bit too much and that laser beam focus that he was capable of evades him.  It's a strong performance but not a great one.  My score: 3/5

 

Ciao ~ Tony

[Shawn]

4/5 for the 1952 and 5/5 for the 1955.

Some of you would obviously say I rate the coke show version too highly and it's shortcomings have already been well elucidated; I agree that stylistically it is perhaps too 'crooning' in delivery for an operatic aria but if I am to tell the truth and 'shame the devil' ;) the result is so attractive to my ear that I love the rendition just as a showcase of a beautiful voice.

However as Anita says, listening to them back to back the superiority of the serenade soundtrack version as a piece of musical drama is quite clear and the tempo and orchestration obviously are an improvement as well.

Oddly enough I know of quite a number of opera fans, demanding ones even, (both from speaking to them in person and from youtube) who seem to think quite highly of the 1952- some even preferring it to the later one.

[leeann]

I heard Lanza's "Amor Ti Vieta" for the first time on the Opera Arias and Duets CD--which was also the second Lanza CD I'd purchased. (My Song, My Love:A Classic Collection--possibly among the worst liner notes ever--was the first, because it seemed to demonstrate Lanza's variety and versatility.  I wanted the most I could get for my CD dollar, and frankly, I figured my infatuation with the Lanza voice was probably just another passing phase. How wrong that turned out to be! )

Anyway. I remember that my first response to the opening line was a mental question mark, I think because it seemed closer to popera than anything, but as Lanza moved towards the finale, the ultimate "..se il labbro dice: 'Non t'amero!" it seemed that the emotion built and its interpretation became firmer, more pronounced, less "croony," and the voice itself and expression compelling, even if not Lanza's best.  It was among the anomalies on the same CD that had the Otello Monologue--no question.

I'll shame the devil with Shawn, and admit to liking it, although as an easy-listening piece--not as an exemplification of the operatic glory of the 1955 Serenade. I can picture an audience caught in a moment of breathless silence had Lanza sung this in a full performance of Fedora. How beautifully he elucidates the contradictions, and to my ear, anyway, he manages to convey the sense of the situation linked to universal complications of emotions--all within the discipline of the aria.  All that in a minute and a half.

It's interesting how many different, substantiated perspectives there are on Lanza's work on this aria, and that it seems so thought-provoking, we haven't yet brought up the work of other artists! Thank you, Tony, for the comparative extended version. Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Goodness, what a variety of opinions on the Coke version of "Amor Ti Vieta"! No other recording in these polls has provoked such extreme ratings, with currently 58% of voters rating it either "poor" or "so-so," while others have rated it "good" or "very good" (33.5%) or "excellent" or "a masterpiece" (8.5%).

I'm firmly in the poor to so-so camp, and no, it's not just because of Callinicos' tempo. I simply feel that Mario---unable to make up his mind whether he's singing an aria or a crooner's ballad---ends up with a performance that is neither fish nor fowl. Vocally, it's all over the place. He begins and ends the aria in a breathy, close-miked way that would have rendered him inaudible if he'd been singing this from a stage, and when he does switch gears, vocally speaking, into operatic mode, he makes some sounds that (by his standards) are pretty ordinary. These include an ugly G on the second syllable of "della" on the line "della mia man," another poor G on "esprime" (middle syllable), and an-almost barked high A on the first syllable of "T'amo." And although, as Tony points out, Mario's voice is more lyric here than on the 1955 version, his approach is not particularly lyrical. The second line, for example---"di non amar"---is roughly handled, and for all the fact that (unusually) he doesn't take a breath between "di non amar" and "La man tua lieve," he inserts an unwritten rest between "T'amo" and "se il labbro dice" that breaks what should be a smooth progression.

It's simply not an operatic rendition---"popera," as Lee Ann aptly describes it---and as gorgeous as the voice is here, it's not enough to cover up the flaws in Mario's approach. 

Happily for us, though, and with the help of the excellent Spadoni, the 1955 version is a completely different kettle of fish (vocally, musically, and stylistically), representing an extraordinary rethink in approach on Mario's part. (And it's never sounded better than it does here.) It astounding to me that just three years separate the two recordings---and the difference in quality makes a mockery of RCA producer Richard Mohr's assertion that, "musically speaking, Mario only had one take." As Mike noted earlier, from start to finish, Lanza's singing is beautifully consistent: lyrical, touching...and operatic. The climactic high A may not be the most ringing that he ever produced, and some may quibble that "respinge" could have been more faithful to the score, but, heck, this is wonderful singing. Those opening lines alone (especially in comparison with the 1952 version) are tenderly and smoothly delivered without the need for any cheap crooning effects, and elsewhere the problematic Gs on the earlier version are not an issue. Definitely a 5/5 in my book, and among Mario's best operatic recordings.

Cheers
Derek

P.S. There's a very interesting article by Armando on vocal placement here that touches on this recording.

[Vincent Di Placido]

It's 1955 for me 5/5, I'm afraid 1952 is a bit sloppy, such a shame
because as Tony wrote the youthful bloom should have been perfect for
the piece but it took a few years for Mario to express & place the
voice perfectly for this lovely aria...

[norma]

For me the 1955 version is another of my favourites.Wheni heard it and saw Mario sing it  I thought it one of the most beautiful in the film Seranade.It is so operatic.

[Tony Partington]

I have enjoyed so very much this discussion regarding Mario's two recordings or "Amor ti vieta."  It's truly wonderful to be in the company of such terrific people, folks who love the VOICE, TALENT and GIFT of Mario Lanza and enjoy discussing them intelligently, with passion and an open mind to others opinions.  A true delight indeed!  Many thanks Derek for making this wonderful forum possible.  This, I consider your Chistmas gift to me each year.  What a gathering and colaberation we are all fortunate enought to share - each one bringing there own unique perspectives, gifts and intellects to the mix.  Bravi!!!

 

Happy Holidays to all and a very Happy New Year.

 

Ciao ~ Tony

 

PS:  A few favorite Mario pix of mine.  Hope you enjoy.

 

 

 

 

 

[Derek McGovern]

Many thanks for those thoughts, Tony. While I realize that our candid approach here---which from time to time includes some pretty pointed criticism of a few sacred cows---isn't for everybody, and that others find us too analytical, I really wouldn't want it any other way! I'm very grateful to everyone who contributes here.

We're now into our fifth year, and with the launch of our main site back in January and the return of several of our former stalwarts, I feel that we're on a roll. Long may informed and passionate discussion on Mario Lanza flourish here!

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

I've been listening to a succession of other tenors' versions of "Amor Ti Vieta" this evening, and I've yet to find a more impressive rendition than Lanza's 1955 recording. Those beautiful opening phrases slay me every time. It really is a very fine piece of singing indeed, and perilously close to a masterpiece. Don't believe me? Listen to Corelli's incredibly self-indulgent 1956 rendition and Kaufmann's recent studio recording. Then go to the reproduction of Lanza posted here. My God!

[Joseph Fagan]

Wow, Mario wins hands down!

 

I am going through a strange change by way of Youtube(such  a great new tool for us). I often use it to compare other singers to Mario in the hope that I can better develop more comprehensive love and appreciation of other singers. However, I frequently only carry away a very different message: Gee, these singers are not as good as I previously thought! This is not my intention, but THIS is what happens, While Mario does goof up some things, he also becomes a very rugged yardstick for other tenors, does he not?