Lanza's 1949 version of Che Gelida Manina

[Derek McGovern]

It's not often that critics and fans alike share the same reaction to
one of Lanza's recordings, but his RCA version of Che Gelida Manina
seems to have been one occasion when they did. This was the recording
that apparently won the National Record Critics Association Award for
Operatic Recording of the year in 1949.

I say "apparently" because I've never actually seen any verification
of this award, although I certainly have no difficulty believing that
Mario could have won it. After all, at that point in his career --
with his superstardom still to come -- it wasn't yet fashionable among
critics to sneer at him. (In September 1949, Douglas Watt, then music
critic of the New York Daily News, described Lanza's first RCA
recordings -- which included the Che Gelida -- as "splendid".)
Callinicos also claimed in an interview in the early 1980s that an
international poll of critics had ranked this recording ahead of
Bjoerling's rendition. Again, though, I'd like verification of this.
When, for example, was this "poll" taken? Was he referring to the
National Record Critics or some other group? And which Bjoerling
rendition was he talking about? A 1949 recording -- if indeed one
exists -- or his rendition from his 1956 set with Beecham, De Los
Angeles & co?

But critics' approval or not, Lanza's rendition surely ranks as one of
his towering achievements. This "miracle of sound", as it's been
described, is all the more remarkable when one considers that, if
Callinicos is to be believed, Lanza never even rehearsed the aria with
his conductor before recording it -- and yet his interpretation is
completely convincing. He's the perfect Rodolfo here, and it bothers
me not a jot that he doesn't begin the aria perhaps quite as softly as
he should, or that he takes a breath in the final line immediately
before "dir". (Actually, the only time he doesn't break the line here
on his other recordings is, surprisingly, on the disastrous
"galloping" Coke rendition.)

Favourite moments? The magical ring on "luna" ("e qui la luna") at the
beginning (another great example of his vocal painting), the wry
amusement on "E come vivo? Vivo!", the extraordinary ease with which
he sings the killer lines "Talor dal mio forziere", the perfect high C
on "speranza"...I could go on and on.

Sadly, finding a reproduction of this recording that does Lanza
justice is no easy matter. Even the otherwise brilliantly remastered
Encore! double CD set features an overly bright, tinny-sounding
reproduction of this version, robbing Lanza's voice of much of its
resonance. But if one goes back to the 1959 Double Feature LP, as I
always do, the sound is warmer, smoother, and probably as good as
we're ever going to hear it (apart from the inevitable scratches from
such an old disc). Tell me if you agree!

http://www.4shared.com/file/43150195/478eef36/Che_Gelida_Manina__Lanza_1949_.html

I'd love to read others' thoughts on Lanza's singing here too. Does
anyone feel that it's *not* one of his great recordings? And what of
Mario's other versions: the 1947 rendition with Previn on the piano,
the partial Great Caruso take, and the Coke version? (There's also a
badly distorted 1952 home rendition floating around.)




Che gelida manina
Se la lasci riscaldar.
Cercar che giova?
Al buio non si trova.
Ma per fortuna
è una notte di luna,
e qui la luna
l'abbiamo vicina.

Aspetti, signorina,
le dirò con due parole
chi son, e che faccio,
come vivo. Vuole?

Chi son?
Sono un poeta.
Che cosa faccio? Scrivo.
E come vivo? Vivo!
In povertà mia lieta
scialo da gran signore
rime ed inni d'amore.
Per sogni e per chimere
e per castelli in aria,
l'anima ho milionaria.
Talor dal mio forziere
ruban tutti i gioelli
due ladri, gli occhi belli.
V'entrar con voi pur ora,
ed i miei sogni usati
e i bei sogni miei,
tosto si dileguar!
Ma il furto non m'accora,
poiché, v'ha preso stanza
la dolce speranza!

Or che mi conoscete,
parlate voi, deh! Parlate.
Chi siete? Vi piaccia dir!

What a little frozen hand,
let me warm it here in mine.
What's the use in searching?
It's far too dark to find it.
But by our good fortune,
it's a night lit by the moon,
and up here the moon
is our closest of neighbours.

One moment, mademoiselle,
let me tell you in just two words,
who I am, what I do,
and how I live. Shall I?

Who am I?
I am a poet.
What do I do here? I Write.
And how do I live? I live
in my contented poverty,
as if a grand lord, I squander
odes and hymns of love.
In my dreams and reveries,
I build castles in the air,
where in spirit I am a millionaire.
Yet sometimes from my safe,
all my gems are stolen
by two thieves, a pair of lovely eyes!
They entered with you just now!
Now all past dreams have disappeared.
Beautiful dreams I'd cherished,
immediately vanished without a trace!
But the theft does not wound me deeply,
because, in their room they have
been replaced by sweet hope!

Now you know all about me.
Will you tell me who you are?
Will you say? Please do tell!

[Jana]

Hi Derek,

This is a great coincidence, as we've just come back from the Met live
transmission of La Bohéme. Nevertheless, as for the Mario's rendition
of Che Gelida, in my humble opinion, it is the best version I've ever
heard. As I've been trying to remain objective, I've listened to a few
Che Gelidas on YouTube. In Björling's, no matter how I love his Nessun
Dorma, I feel no emotion at all, just like in Pavarotti's. Di Stefano
and Carreras come close, so I tried Armando's trick on my mother: I
played several versions to her, the last being Mario's, not telling
her whose rendition it was. "Do you think it is as good as di
Stefano's?" "Well, I think it's even better," she replied. "And do you
know who it is? It's Mario!" "Oh, that's why it sounds so
beautiful!" :-)

The TGC partial rendition is, I think, pretty much in the same
category, but, aren't there two of them? As for the Coke version, I
guess vocally, it is OK, isn't it? Of course, when you know how it
should sound, the merry tempo is very distracting and, as far as I can
remember, his diction is not as good as in the 1949 one, either. I
wouldn't call it "disastrous", though, remember there's the Coke Addio
alla Madre ;-). I can say nothing regarding the two other versions, as
I have never heard them... Please...?

So much for the greenhorn's opinion for starters, now I'm looking
forward to reading the comments of you all :-)

> http://www.4shared.com/file/43150195/478eef36/Che_Gelida_Manina__Lanz...

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Jana: Thanks for your comments, and good on you for using Armando's
famous "Manuel Garcia" trick in fooling your mother! I've done it many
times, and it always works!

Yes, there are two takes of the Great Caruso Che Gelida Manina, but
the one in the film is definitely superior to the outtake, which
features an unusually strained high C by Lanza's standards. I think
I've only ever played it once. The audition version with Andre Previn
is just OK in my opinion; it's a bit stilted and definitely lacks both
the feeling and the irresistible lyricism of Mario's 1949 version. As
for the Coke version, we'll have to agree to disagree!! In fact, I
dread the day when BMG finally releases it -- and then it ends up
supplanting memories of Lanza's 1949 masterpiece!

But I don't consider the Coke Addio alla Madre "disastrous". While
vocally and stylistically it's certainly not as good as the 1950 RCA
version (especially the recitative), it's still exciting,
edge-of-the-seat stuff. There are far worse Coke renditions of arias
in my opinion! :-)

Cheers
Derek

PS As I've exceeded my uploading/downloading limit on my miserable
albeit expensive 3GB allowance this month, I'm not able to share
either the Previn or the Great Caruso outtake, I'm afraid. But perhaps
some kind soul reading this might upload them both to 4shared.com for
you!

[Derek McGovern]

Sorry, Jana: I've just re-read your post and realised that I didn't
fully answer your question about the Coke Che Gelida Manina.

To my ears, Mario sounds out of sorts from the very beginning. I find
him only so-so vocally here, but the real problem is the ridiculously
fast tempo (shaving at least a minute off the normal length of this
aria), which makes it impossible for him to sing with any kind of
lyricism. Consequently, he sounds harried and very uncomfortable. Poor
guy!

[Vince Di Placido]

Mario's 1949 Che gelida manina is just sublime & is my favourite
recording of this aria! Mario is just spot on for me in every
department & Yes, he is the perfect Rodolfo. Oh! To have heard him
sing the complete opera...
I think it is very impressive that Mario produced this level of
artistry at his first RCA recording session, when you think of the
pressure that would have surrounded the occassion, it says a lot for
Mario's focus that he actually produced on of his very best recordings
at his first "official" recording session.
I also love Mario's perfomance in The Great Caruso, what a great high
C & his few moments as Rodolfo are just magical & like so many other
instances in Mario's life we, as fans, are teased & left wanting
more...

> http://www.4shared.com/file/43150195/478eef36/Che_Gelida_Manina__Lanz...

[Jana]

Thank you very much for uploading it, Dan! Maybe Derek is right in
that it is inferior to the 1949 version, but, what is not? It's still
better than most. However, it has only 4 minutes, isn't it a bit
rushed, too?

Every time I hear Mario sing Che Gelida, I remember this story: My
favourite Czech actor played Don Quijote in Man of La Mancha. When
another actor, a friend of his, was to play it in another theatre, the
former gave him this advice: "When you sing 'To dream the impossible
dream', sing it from the bottom of your heart, because such theatre
has a meaning." Mario certainly did sing from the bottom of his heart,
that's why his singing has a meaning. And that's why his Che Gelida is
so magic: when he sings "I build castles in the air, where in spirit I
am a millionaire," I know he means it. You can have the beautiful
Puccini's music, you can have a fine voice with a magnificent high C,
but the most important thing is the feeling.

Now, I really should put aside the wine and go to bed... :-)

> > Will you say? Please do tell!- Skrýt citovaný text -
>
> - Zobrazit citovaný text -

[Derek McGovern]

I revisited Lanza's 1949 version of “Che Gelida Manina” today and fell in love with it all over again. This “miracle of sound” (as a demanding opera lover I know once put it) is one of his greatest recordings. And like all the best Lanza performances, from the very first phrase it's immediately obvious that we're in for something special.

Here's a link to my favourite reproduction of the recording, since the link offered in my first post no longer works. It's taken from the 1960 (?) LP “Double Feature,” and is slightly scratchy, but for purity of sound, it's still the best reproduction (of a not particularly well-recorded rendition) that I've heard: 

http://www.4shared.com/audio/26RkXRC2/Che_Gelida_Manina__Mario_Lanza.html

[David W Wallington]

This recording is quite possibly the best I've heard Lanza sing. He
gets the ardent poet that is Rodolfo to a T without scaring the
horses, and I hear what you mean about purity of sound Derek. Thank
you.

David W.

> http://www.4shared.com/audio/26RkXRC2/Che_Gelida_Manina__Mario_Lanza....

[Derek McGovern]

Hi David: If you haven't already done so, do take a few minutes to listen to Mario's recording of M'apparì. It's right up there with his 1949 Che Gelida Manina (and quite a few other operatic recordings I could name!). Truly sublime:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oo9O7A0LZ2M

There's also a very interesting thread devoted to this recording:

http://groups.google.com/group/mariolanza/browse_thread/thread/006af9069d137318#

The thread is long closed, but I'd be happy to reopen it if anyone wants to make a comment.

Cheers
Derek

[Vince Di Placido]

Mario´s 1949 "Che Gelida Manina" is a recording that moves me SO much!
I just love Puccini & especially "La Boheme" so I am already sold once
the first notes of the orchestra start but oh! how beautifully &
perfectly Mario sang Rodolfo´s outpouring of dreams & romance that day
in May...
Everytime I listen to this recording I am blown away, definitely a
desert island disc...
I will post more once I am back home, I am on holiday in Lanzarote at
the moment, the word Lanza is everywhere :-) beautiful place.

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Vince: Now don't tell me the name of that island didn't influence
your choice of holiday! (To be honest, I'd never heard of "Lanzarote"
until your post, and had to look it up.)

The sad thing about this rendition -- which is surely one of Mario's
dozen best recordings in any genre -- is how it's so often been
neglected by RCA and BMG. It was never included on any "Best of..."
LP, nor was it even included on the double LP "Mario Lanza Sings
Opera's Greatest Hits"!

Incredibly, in fact, it hasn't appeared on any mainstream BMG CD in
the US since the poorly reproduced & long-discontinued Double Feature
CD in 1991, and that includes the only all-operatic Lanza CD, the 1999
Opera Arias and Duets. (To his credit, though, Derek Mannering did
choose it for his 2004 BMG UK release The Definitive Collection.) For
some bizarre reason, BMG has decided to relegate one of Lanza's
masterpieces (and one of their own "Hall of Fame" recordings to boot)
to its budget and subsidiary labels, with the upshot being that few
non-aficionados are likely to stumble upon it.

Unbelievable!








On Oct 23, 4:31 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Tonytenor]

Wonderful, wonderful thread and posts. I have long loved the De Los
Angeles, Bjoerling LA BOHEME as my favorite complete recording of the
opera and none have really come close. The recording with Nicolai
Gedda is a very good one and I enjoy it and the one with Bergonzi has
its moments. But let's talk arias for a moment - as all of you have
been doing for some while.

I really do not know how many recordings of "Che gelida manina" I
have, over 100 I would guess, but nothing has ever and I daresay will
ever move me to the extent and in the way that Mario Lanza's 1949
recording does. I still remember the first time I heard it. After
the first playing I could hardly breathe and tears were streaming down
my face. I played it again so as to make sure that what I heard was
actually what I HEARD. It was! I ran and got my mother, the avid
opera lover in the family and the one who opened the wolrd of opera
and, unknowingly, the voice of Mario Lanza to me. "You must hear
this, you must. I've never heard anything like it!" I told her - or
some such such youthful enthusiastic exclamation. She came into my
room and sat down. I started the player and put the stylus down on
the record. I said nothing. When the recording was finished, it was
my mother who now had tears in her eyes. She had me play it again for
her. After a second hearing, my mother told me she felt so foolish,
she felt she was guilty of a great injustice. She and my father had
worked in the theatre, on Broadway, through the fifties and when I
came along I lived with them, in my early years, in their small
apartment on west 44th street in New York. My mother would regularly
go to the Met, even if it was just standing room. She adored Renata
Tebaldi. She told me that she had no idea that Mario Lanza had a
voice like this. She said so much was said and written, especially in
the New York opera circles, that his voice was too small, it was
manufactured by sound technicians - oh we've all of us heard all of
this a thousand times over. It doesn't matter. That day, when she
heard him sing Rodolfo's beautiful aria, was when everything changed.
From then on if my mother heard a tenor sing a known or unknown aria
she would always ask me if Mario had recorded it and could we listen
to him sing it.

It's so interersting really how we find and learn things - things that
may even become passions. I know I never imagined that on that
Saturday afternoon so long ago that, thanks to a technical problem of
some sort, I would hear a voice like no other I could have imagined
sing the "Serenade" from THE STUDENT PRINCE and it would change my
life forever.

Derek, I do so agree with you about the warmth on the original LP
pressing being lost in the subsequent CD offerings of this musical
marvel. So, to that end, I very humbly offer the following: I found
in my library of Lanza CDs, what I consider to be the least offensive
transfer of "Che gelida manina" and have remasterd it according to
what I am told anyway, is as close as one might get to the EQ spectrum
of RCA in 1949. I realize this is a rather scatter gun approach but I
offer it nonetheless. See what you think. I shall brace myself for
what may be in store. Also, for those folks who have perhaps not had
the jolly experience of hearing Mario's Coke show "Che gelida manina"
I'm including a link to that as well. Again, what wonderful posts and
how thrilling to see how all of us were and are touched not just by
Mario, but by a single magnificent recording as well.

Ciao, Tony

http://www.4shared.com/audio/shQY-oKP/Lanza_-_Che_gelida_manina__194.html
http://www.4shared.com/audio/ti3FTJq1/Lanza-Che_gelida_manina_CC_.html

> > the moment, the word Lanza is everywhere :-) beautiful place.- Hide quoted text -
>
> - Show quoted text -

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Tony: Lovely post, and thanks for supplying us with that link to
your remastered Che Gelida Manina.

I like the sound! There's no dropout/splice before "scrivo," as there
is on some CD versions, and the recording doesn't suffer from that all-
too-common brightness that spoils quite a few versions I've heard
(especially the one on the CD Double Feature, Vol. 1). The high C
sounds glorious too. There's none of that annoying "flutter" that mars
the otherwise-excellent You Do Something to Me CD version.

But I still prefer the LP version :) There's less distortion, for one
thing -- and that's the main problem with every one of the CD versions
I've heard.

The Coke version is a travesty!! Horribly fast to the point where it
wrecks any possibility of poetry -- and very sloppily sung -- it's
truly the worst operatic recording that Mario ever made! To my ears,
it represents everything that people who don't like Lanza could
legitimately use against his operatic singing. And just as we know
that we're in for something special with the 1949 version from Mario's
first few phrases, the tacky orchestral opening to the Coke version
immediately signals the opposite :)

If anyone thinks I'm exaggerating, I recommend playing the Coke
version immediately after listening to the 1949 recording. The
difference is staggering, and you'll need to return to the 1949
version just to get the sound of the Coke rendition out of your head!

Cheers
Derek

> http://www.4shared.com/audio/shQY-oKP/Lanza_-_Che_gelida_manina__194....http://www.4shared.com/audio/ti3FTJq1/Lanza-Che_gelida_manina_CC_.html

[Tonytenor]

Hi Derek,

Well, thought I'd try anyhow. As for the Coke show version, I
couldn't agree more with you. How interesting that you point out
that, those who would want to trash Lanza, especially as a legitimate
operatic artist, need only point to this recording.

You know Derek, I have to wonder about some of the Coke recordings,
the arias I mean. There are some that are very good but others (ie:
"Che gelida..") that are horrid. I wonder actually a number of
things. Now setting aside the time constraints of packing so much
material into 30 minutes (not even, there were commercials too), did
Mario have a say in how a piece was going to be recorded. I say
recorded because I have to wonder how often they ever got to the stage
of actual interpretation of a piece. In the case of "Che gelida
manina" for example, Mario knew full well what the right tempo was,
he'd already recorded the beautiful 1949 version and he'd sung it in
THE GREAT CARUSO as well. So the question is, did he speak up and
say, "Listen folks, this aria can't be sung this fast. It's all
wrong. Let's shave some time off the show by having me sing a shorter
song as my other selection." This is all speculation I realise, but I
have to wonder if there was anyone there at the time who might have
spoken up and said something. I am thinking back over all the Coke
show arias and I would say that none of them are recorded at a free
and leisurley pace but there are some that are completely acceptable
as far as tempi goes, at least to my mind. I'm sure maestro Toscanini
would agree. Hell, who knows, he might have liked the Coke "Che
gelida..." with his penchant for fast tempos goes. Only kidding!

But back to the question of artistry vs time. Was there not at least
one person, in a management position, who was aware that there were
people who knew music, knew opera listening each week to the show.
It's hard for me to believe that the general consensus was that the
listeners were musically ignorant enough to the point that they
wouldn't notice something like "Che gelida manina" sung at a tempo
totally wrong for it and causing our star tenor to literally gulp air
when and where he could. Perhaps I am covering old ground, but I
would love to hear what you, Armando and the others on the forum have
to say to this. Also, while we're at it, how about thinking and
naming your three favorite Coke show arias. I'm listening and picking
my three right now.

Ciao, Tony

> > > - Show quoted text -- Hide quoted text -

[Armando]

Hi Tony: It’s not only a problem of tempi. To me the Coke performances
represent Lanza at his most erratic and provide more than ample
ammunition for his detractors.

His entire output on these Radio shows is very much touch and go. We
have the brilliantly sung Some Day and the equally ghastly Diane, just
to cite two examples. What in fact had happened is that rather than
growing as an artist Lanza had regressed. By 1951/52 (the time of the
Coke recordings) the perfectly placed voice, steady and focused like a
laser beam, EG: the 1948 Agnus Dei, Nessun Dorma, etc. had given way
to some sloppy singing with the voice almost constantly in and out of
position. This was simply a matter of rushed, insufficiently prepared
and rehearsed material as well as working with conductors that were
either incapable or unwilling to do more than waving the baton.

Should Mario have spoken up, refused to sing at too fast a tempo? Yes,
he certainly should have. Not only in the case of the Coke recordings
but also in many of the studio ones. The tempi in the Forza aria, The
Flower Song, Parmi veder le lagrime and Niun mi tema are all too fast.
Did he rely too much on the conductor and producer to set the tempi
and guide him? It would seem so, but I am simply amazed that someone
with the experience of Richard Mohr did not intervene, or maybe he did
and Mario wouldn’t have a bar of it. I have always been puzzled by
this.

The mere fact that when he really set his mind to the task, and worked
on it assiduously he could produce a magnificent series of recordings
such as the 1952 Student Prince says it all. Most of the operatic
singing in Serenade, which he had worked on for months with Giacomo
Spadoni, is magnificent and in one or two cases superlative.
Furthermore the 1958 Vesti la Giubba is another example (unlike the
Otello finale) of the right tempi with the best conducting of an
operatic aria that I have heard from Callinicos.

In summing up I feel that Lanza’s uneven recording output was a
combination of inexperience on Mario’s part, rushed working
conditions, totally wrong artistic environment, and lack of guidance
and /or incompetence on the part of both conductors and producers.

> ...
>
> read more »

[Tonytenor]

Hi Armando: Thanks much for your detailed and insightful post. I'm
pondering all that you said and I find myself agreeing with you
wholeheartedly. I find your comment about Richard Mohr particularly
interesting. Surely Mario knew the status and ability of Mohr and
would have had the good sense to yield to his input and suggestions.
Lanza himself, being the opera lover he was, should have clearly know
good from bad and right from wrong in these pieces. As for the Coke
show recordings, I realise they were never intended for commercial
release thus the idea that they would have really only one hearing.

I think too it is a keen observation on your part to identify an issue
that would become, I think, a very real problem for Mario as time
progressed and that is the vocal regression. To use your words,
"...the voice almost constantly in and out of position." This I
think, coupled with the undisciplined lifestyle Mario was enjoying at
the time contributed to, as you say, touch and go recordings. He was
thirty at this point, not overly young for a singer but still young
enough that the technique and repertoire need to be stabilized - IMO.
I would think it is safe to say that at this stage in his career,
Mario was getting the converse from the forces around him.

After considering all of this Armando, I cannot help but feel as
though one is left with the fact that the single greatest thing that
buoyed Lanza's career through all of this; the poor artistic standards
and the inferior material he was forced to work with, especially
latter on (ie: SEVEN HILLS OF ROME), the one light that shown through
all of this was the sheer brilliance of the voice. I was listening to
the Coke show arias album the other morning (Lanza Sings His Favorite
Arias) and as dreadful as most of the recordings are, Mario's voice
and his complete conviction to what he is singing is fully evident.
That to me is a marvel. I listen to some of the current opera stars,
the great voices of today and for me there is something so lacking, so
absent. Yes, they produce the sound properly and even emote here and
there but I just don't believe them. I don't believe the story they
are trying to tell me. Mario was a story teller. Even when not at
his best vocally, he was still engaged totally in the story line of
the song. I rarely, if ever, hear that today.

I'm sorry, I know I'm darting all around with my thoughts but your
post put me in mind of so many things, both good and bad about Mario,
that I found myself in a free-fall. Forgive me. Thanks again for
your most revealing post it has given me much to think about.

All the best, Tony

> ...
>
> read more »- Hide quoted text -

[Armando]

No question about it, Tony. In terms of vocal endowment Lanza was
blessed with a voice without limitations or, as George London so aptly
stated. “The greatest singing instrument ever bestowed on a human
being.”

Add to this his fantastic powers of communication, way with the lyrics
and total involvement with whatever he sang and you have the total
package-and they don’t come around that often!

The tragedy is that it was not put to better use. The mistaken notion
that he chose Hollywood over the operatic stage is pure nonsense. Who
else would have refused the sort of sums he was being paid- my guess
is no-one. $750 per week in 1947,or what MGM offered him for his first
film is the equivalent of more $7000 today. On top of it he was paid
S10.000 just for signing the contract, that’s almost $ 100.000 today.
No-one, least of all Mario, anticipated the overnight stardom that
ensued which combined with the magnitude of the impact that followed
on worldwide audiences effectively put an end to his operatic
aspirations.

All that Lanza needed were 4/5 years on the operatic stage and
Hollywood would not have affected him the way it did. He would have
been secure in what he had already achieved and films would have been
merely the icing on the cake.

When di Stefano first came to the States in 1948 he was asked, “How
about Hollywood?” To which he replied “Here I am!” Hollywood wasn’t
interested but had they been, it would not have had the effect that it
did on Lanza. Di Stefano had already been singing in major theatres
for the previous two years, including a sensational debut at La Scala-
precisely what Mario needed. Lanza was more than aware of his great
gift and as a consequence of the path his career had taken was to
struggle for the rest of his life with the guilt for not having
achieved his ultimate goal.

> ...
>
> read more »

[Derek McGovern]

Lots of fascinating things in these latest posts. I love the fact that
we can discuss Lanza candidly here without being accused of being
"Mario-diminishers" when we acknowledge some of his shortcomings.

With regard to the bad habits that had crept into Mario's operatic
singing (in particular) by the time of the Coke Shows, I couldn't
agree more with Tony and Armando.

Listen to the Coke Amor Ti Vieta, for example. The voice is beautiful,
as always, but stylistically Mario can't seem to make up his mind
whether he's an opera singer or Bing Crosby here, as he alternates
between some pretty breathy virtual-crooning (something that a stage
performance would have rendered impossible) and a full-voiced
approach. Mario's even disappointing *vocally* here, with an almost-
barked high A and a muffed final line:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=449xTTdX1NM

Now compare that with the one just three years later for Serenade:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8hWo5V6t-d0

This is superb singing, and it frustrates me no end that it's buried,
so to speak, on a little-known British "twofer" disc, while the Coke
version is the one that was chosen for mainstream CD release on "Opera
Arias & Duets." It's even more obscure, as far as the general music
lover is concerned, than Lanza's 1949 Che Gelida Manina.

But it's not the simplistic matter (as some would have it) of
preferring the Serenade voice to the earlier voice; it's about the
*singing*. And let's face it: at any point in his post-Rosati career,
Lanza was capable of singing magnificently, so long as he was properly
rehearsed & vocally on form (and not hindered by bad conducting or
inferior orchestras). Sometimes I prefer the early versions to the
later ones (the Hollywood Bowl O Soave Fanciulla, Butterfly Duet and
Nessun Dorma, for example); at other times, the later versions win
hands down.

I've often wondered how Mario's father, Antonio, felt when he listened
to the roughest of the Coke broadcasts (especially those of operatic
arias and Neapolitan songs). A true opera buff, he was quite candid in
his criticism of some of his son's operatic recordings when he spoke
to Armando in 1972. He was even reported as saying after attending a
screening of Serenade that, "Now, for the first time, my son is really
singing!"

Tony: You were asking for our favourite three Coke renditions of
arias. Mine would have to be:

1/ Testa Adorata
2/ Come un Bel Di' di Maggio
3/ A toss-up between Cielo e Mar and Un Tal Gioco

Cheers
Derek

[Mike McAdam]

Now, I'm willing to bet that much of our membership is fascinated and
also intimidated by these last few posts on the subject of Lanza's
operatic output. I say intimidated because two of you are bona-fide
singers and the other the next-best thing (never heard you sing,
Kiwi ;-))
I'm going to jump in just to say that it is this kind of discussion of
both Lanza's bad habits as well as his good ones that puts this Forum
light years ahead of the others.
That being said I would like to state to all here that, had I not run
into Messrs McGovern and Cesari some years back, I never would have
been able to convince my opera-lover father that Lanza really was (or
could be) a serious opera artist. A few years back, when I played the
1958 Vesti for him plus the Butterfly Duet with Frances Yeend (the
latter from the "....An American Tragedy" disc) he was flabbergasted
and actually asked to hear them over again! Until then I had forced
him to listen to inferior mainstream recordings which didn't impress
him at all. He did have praise for the 1949 Che Gelida Manina except
the penultimate high C which he felt Mario "slid" into rather than
attack like other tenors (or as Mario did in The Great Caruso). He did
remark that Lanza's emotion-filled voice reminded him of Gigli but
without the irritating sobbing (his words).
BTW, my mother loved almost everything our lad sang, except when he
shouted. I cringed a lot in the early days too and only through my
associations here on this Forum did I start to sort out the wheat from
the chaff, so to speak.

When I bought the "....Sings His Favourite Arias" LP, I too shook my
head and wondered WHY and HOW he could betray one of his easily
masterpieces so blatantly when an audience of millions was listening?
Did he think that his adoring masses would forgive a rushed or "off-
day" as they would never hear it again?
I'm still amazed that Mario, to my ears, sang so consistently well on
the MGM soundstage during the pre-recordings for each of his first
five films. He sounded, like Armando has stated, perfectly focused,
disciplined and in control of his instrument. None of the slid notes,
yelps, gulps and bellowed passages which marred many of his Coke
recordings and more than a few of his RCA studio sessions. Would that
more of these MGM recordings could find their way out of the vaults.

I've just played the "Mario!" CD and the "Favourite Arias" LP once
more in order to compare. No wonder his father told his son "...now,
THAT'S singing!" after he heard the results of that great 1958
session.

My choices for Mario's top three Coke arias (and at least one is
flawed) are:

1. Cielo e Mar
2. Testa Adorata, and
3. Un Di All'azzurro Spazio (Improvviso)

Cheers, Mike

[Tonytenor]

Gosh, what a delightful and diverse group of posts. It's tough with
Mario's Coke show arias, to choose a top three because to me so many
of them fall into the good or mediocre catagory - certainly with some
exceptions. I keep thinking about what Armando said about Mario's
vocal condition at the time of the Coke show recordings. Mario was a
strong man, I mean physically strong. I've often wondered if his
sheer physical strength got him through on many occasions. You know
the oft said phrase, "chords of steel." Well, I would say Mario had
'em. So often I 've thought of his singing almost like lifting
weights. My old voice teacher Wayne Conner would kill me if he heard
me make this analogy, but Mario had a very muscular voice. You could
hear the strength in it. I might be all wet about this but it seem to
me that much of what I hear in the Coke recordings is a heft that
isn't there in a lot of the studio recordings. I have to wonder if
Mario was running on sheer stamina and physical strength during some
of the Coke show recordings. But enough of this fodder. Here are my
three favs from his radio recordings of arias:

1. Un tal gioco
2. Testa adorata
3.Come un bel di di maggio

Great fun pulling out our favorites. All the best. Tony

> > Derek- Hide quoted text -

[Vince Di Placido]

My favourite Coke arias are...

Cielo e Mar
Un Tal Gioco
Testa Adorata!

Great posts, really enjoyed reading them & catching up... I always
felt that Mario would have benefited greatly from a strong, fair &
understanding producer (& conductor in an ideal world) who knew how to
handle Mario & suggest retakes & possibly a different approach when
needed...
Tony, as regards Mario's fitness & muscular singing I know what you
are talking about, even though stylistically he was a bit wayward
during 1951/52 his youth & health along with that glorious free
flowing voice got him through some tough schedules & dodgy sessions,
it's a shame that though well & truly settled stylistically speaking
by 1959 his health (not voice) let him down at times... You have to be
well physically to sing well, Mario's body not voice were letting him
down in 1959... If only he had had that youthful health, fitness &
exhuberance matched with his greatly developed sense of style for
those last sessions. It is astounding that he produced those few
magical moments over those last few albums (excluding Xmas Carols of
course...)

Oh! & Derek we were in Lanzarote because Aoife's sister is getting
married there next September so it was a kind of fact finding mission,
I had heard of the island but didn't know much about it, I can tell
you that it is a fascinating & beautiful place & we ate & drank far
too much... :-)

[Vince Di Placido]

Here is a new video I have done for Mario's 1949 Che Gelida Manina...

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3CIC1ap-cfo

Really enjoying doing these, very time consuming but good fun... :-)

[Derek McGovern]

Another devilishly clever piece of editing, Vince. I loved how you
manipulated the Boheme scene from The Great Caruso (slowing the
footage down & other tricks) so that it matched Lanza's vocals. The
high C was especially effective, as was "occhi belli." Another
highlight was the first "Chi son?" (Who am I?), which you matched with
Mario's mischievous Duke from the La Donna e' Mobile scene. That made
me smile! Great stuff, and very classily presented with those opening
& closing announcements.

This is yet another Di Placido gem that I'll be linking to from our
new site!

Cheers
Derek



On Dec 5, 9:12 am, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Thelma]

It is a beautiful rendition with your pictures it makes it even
better. Thanks, Vince

On Dec 4, 7:12 pm, Vince Di Placido <vincent.diplac...@gmail.com>
wrote:

[Derek McGovern]

I've just been thrilling to the magnificence of the 1949 "Che Gelida Manina"---this "miracle of sound," as one admirer has called it---while marvelling yet again at Vince's stunning juxtaposition of photos and film footage on his YouTube offering of this recording: 

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XOPvS5mYX70

Vince: The way you matched and manipulated the Great Caruso footage to the final part of the recording is terribly moving, especially that final (long) shot of the film's Metropolitan Opera stage.

Bravo! You really should have edited all of Mario's films :)

[Vincent Di Placido]

Aw! Thank you Derek! I just followed your link & enjoyed a few beautiful moments with Mario again, what a great performance, I loved putting that together, must try something new now that things are getting back to normal a bit, you really need time to put those little edits together. Oh! How I wish we had footage of Mario at his recording sessions, they would be so fascinating to watch, I'd say they would be very intense, I'd love it anyway...

[Derek McGovern]

I'm just bumping this thread back to the top again after watching Vince's superb YouTube presentation of the great 1949 "Che Gelida Manina." I hadn't played the recording in a while, and it was these impressive comments from a visitor to our main site a few days ago that prompted me to listen to it:

Just wanted to drop a line thanking you and your contributors for this splendid site that I've just stumbled upon. I was raised on Gigli, Caruso, Schipa, Martinelli etc. As a young man my first exposure to Lanza came via an RCA Camden record containing the fabled Che Gelida Manina. It's passion and unrestrained power and lyricism electrified me and appealed to my own youthful ardor. I've been a fan ever since.

"Passion...power...lyricism": yes, that really sums up this wonderful recording.  

    

[Derek McGovern]

There's no doubt about it: if I were allowed only one Lanza recording of an operatic aria, it would have to be the 1949 "Che gelida manina." I just listened to it now, and it's a rendition that remains as fresh and ardent and poetic as the first time I heard it. In short, it's a treasure---and so is this thread :)  

[Derek McGovern]

Armando recently noted in passing on another thread that, musically speaking, the 1949 "Che gelida manina" is far from perfect. Anyone who's ever followed the recording with the score would surely agree. But for me, at least, the musical lapses in this instance don't detract from the overall impact of Lanza's rendition, which I find deeply moving and vocally extraordinary. There's never a moment when I don't believe his interpretation (which is more than I can say about some of the Coke arias, with their hammy elements or mannered approach). It's a similar story with the 1955 Lamento di Federico, which I love in spite of its (even more blatant!) disregard of the composer's wishes.    

Do I wish that Puccini's markings for Che Gelida, which include a much softer approach at the beginning and at the end, had been followed? Or that the orchestra wasn't so lifeless? Of course! I also believe beyond a shadow of a doubt that Lanza could have surpassed himself here and recorded a definitive rendition of the aria. 

But the bottom line for me? Regardless of its musical faults, this vocal gem is one of many similarly flawed masterpieces that I couldn't bear to be without.  

[Derek McGovern]

A P.S. to the above: 

I guess this raises an interesting question: which of Lanza's operatic recordings could reasonably be described as perfect on every front---musically, interpretively, and vocally?  

For me, his "M'appari'" comes perilously close to such perfection :) It would also be the recording I would choose if I were asked to provide just one Lanza rendition for a representative operatic compilation of great singers. 

[Barnabas Nemeth]

The perfection question generates a general issue: is there a perfect rendition at all? Should it be totally meet the original intention of composer? Or rather it should have effect on your feelings and notions? It should meet with a kind professional taste? May be all or up to none.  In my case the main point: are there goosebumps during listening to the rendition or not. According to this approach, both the Che gelida and Mappari, or Questa and some more are perfect.

Cheers, Barnabas

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Barnabas: Sorry, but goosebumps in themselves tell us nothing about the quality of a rendition other than that the listener obviously found it exciting. That's fine for that particular person, but what if he or she is musically deaf?! After all, there are thousands of Lanza fans who find the ghastly Lanza on Broadway album exciting. Do their goosebumps from listening to disasters such as "Falling in Love with Love" and "This Nearly Was Mine" mean that these renditions should be considered great? I hope not.

As for respecting the composer's wishes, yes, I do think it's important---especially in opera, where the score is "fixed," so to speak. In this respect, opera is different from songs, which can be arranged in a multitude of ways, and sung by a variety of voice types (tenor, crooner, etc).

In the case of Lanza's 1949 recording of "Che gelida manina," he is clearly not following all of Puccini's markings, so from a musical fidelity viewpoint the rendition is obviously far from perfect. But as someone once pointed out, it has its own glory. Lanza's in stunning vocal form here, and---equally importantly (since vocal quality alone is not enough)---he sings the aria beautifully, ardently, and persuasively. And who knows? Given such excitement and beauty, Puccini himself might have forgiven Lanza for straying from the score. (I doubt he would have forgiven Callinicos, though :))     

Is there such a thing as a "perfect" rendition of an aria? Not interpretively, since it's a subjective aspect---though I would happily explain why I agree 100% with critic Delcie Howard's view of Lanza's 1950 Improvviso as "a well-nigh model account" of the aria!---but musically, yes, absolutely.       

Cheers,

Derek  

[Barnabas Nemeth]

Hi Derek, Thanks this nice essay. Nevertheless, I know some so called perfect renditions meeting with the score of the composer, even though there is no effect on me, because I don't like the timbre or diction or other details of a singer or orchestra, etc.  This is the case for me in some fine Pavarotti's renditions, for example. I can imagine in certain cases that singer's reading may be better or more attractive than that of composer's original one. Or some singers, Callas or Moffo were far from their best shape of their voice, even though there renditions were far more likeable for me than a perfect Tebaldi's or Sutherland's one. (I did not like latter's timbre). 

It's really an evergreen and debatable topic.

Thanks, Barnabas

[Vincent Di Placido]

Derek, when you wrote that Mario's "Che Gelida Manina" is "a rendition that remains as fresh and ardent and poetic as the first time I heard it" I completely agree, I was out for a drive with Aoife a few days ago & it came on & as always something magical came over me as Mario's 1949 rendition of Rodolfo's poetic aria fell on my ears. It is beautiful & I know we have spoke of it's little flaws but to me it is practically perfect in every way as regards Mario, his voice & his conveying of Rodolfo's hopes & dreams...

When you upload a video to Youtube, you get emails everytime a comment is made, here are a few recent comments on "Che Gelida Manina"

 

 

"What a glorious voice! The only thing that saddens me is that he didn't sing more opera."

"Wonderful-he is the reason I started listening and singing opera in my early teens."

"You have to say that was terrific."

"The greatest tenor and God given voice to Mario Lanza! Beautiful passion, diction, phrasing and so naturally effortless! There will never be another Voice like Mario Lanza. Your voice and legacy lives forever!!"

"Puccini himself would have applauded"

   "Wow"

   "Unrivaled !!!"

   "My one and only tenor!"

 

   It makes me so happy to share Mario's music & read these comments & know that people all around the world are enjoying Mario again & again (well 73,326 times so far I just noticed...)