Lanza's Three Recordings of "Granada"

[Derek McGovern]

Since we've been discussing "Granada" recently, I thought it be fun to revive our "Rate This Recording" feature on our main site to focus on Lanza's three renditions of this classic song. Simply click here to listen to the three recordings (RCA 1949, Coke 1951. MGM 1951), rate them on the polls provided, and then return here to discuss what you liked/didn't like about them. The more members who join in on the discussion, the better!

[Derek McGovern]

Goodness! What an overwhelming response! :)

I've just been listening to a ton of Granadas by Calleja, Carreras, Domingo et al. It's interesting how many of them use a "hoist" to get to "dar" at the end of the introduction (on the line "que hoy te vengo a dar"), and yet the note they sing is nowhere near as high as the one on Lanza's versions. They tend to sing it as "vengo a-ah dar" :)   

I also listened to Lanza's three versions a couple of times each. What I found interesting is that his Because You're Mine rendition is the only time he pronounces "virgen" correctly ("que le dieron marco a la Virgen Morena"). On his other recordings, he pronounces the "g" in this word as if it were Italian, i.e. like the "gen" in "gentle." In fact, as far as I can tell, his Spanish pronunciation is faultless on this version. (Perhaps one of our Spanish native speakers might like to confirm? I'm simply going on the basis of what I learned from studying the language at university.) Of course, Mario is using non-Castilian pronunciation here, meaning that a word like "fragancia" is pronounced "fragranSEE-a" and not "fragranTHEE-a," as it would be most in most parts of Spain. (But that's a perfectly valid choice; after all, Lara was Mexican---and that's how they pronounce "ci" in Central and South America.)

The Because You're Mine version is also the only time Lanza doesn't take a breath in the middle of "ensangretada" on the line "Granada tierra ensangrentada en tardes de toros" (immediately after the introduction), and the sole recording on which he sings the final line---"de sangre y de sol"---without sneaking in a breath before that killer high C on "de".

Cheers

Derek     

[Joseph Fagan]

Hi Derek, the version from BYM is still my favorite of the three. I want to also say a word about Calleja who is very popular now with the forum. Up to now I have not posted anything about his voice because I did not want to appear negative in the face of this popularity....but try as I might, his vibrato does distract me. Unfortunately, I suffer from that strange disease "Lanzaism" (Lee Ann will like that one), in which my ears always compare any song/aria to that of Mario's. I just cant help myself! Yes, Calleja is a great singer and I believe his voice IS becoming more smooth. Lanza is a very high standard even when we compare his works to hid own versions, as you have done here.

 

Cheers, Joe

[leeann]

Hi, Derek, the thing is, Lanza's "Granada" is a bit overwhelming! Thank you for a new episode of "Rate this Recording."

I think Lanza's "Granada" was among the first of his songs I heard, although I'm not certain whether it was the 1949 or the soundtrack version. The absolutely spectacular and effortless power and seamless movement throughout the song, the incredible and extended "...te vengo a dar" and  "de sangre y de sol" (among other high points)  were and are totally hypnotic. I think for those reasons, I do prefer the 1949 version. I just don't want it to end.

I noticed, as I tried to play those two simultaneously (it almost worked) that there seems to be marked difference in the tempi--the movie version is more rapid--besides not including the reprise of "de rosas de suave frangancia..."

Lanza almost turns  this Lara song into an anthem for Granada--and perhaps Ramon Vargas does too in this different, but impassioned arrangement. (Vargas seems to do quite a bit of the Lara repertoire, actually.)

I didn't (and don't) know much about Lara, but what an interesting, nationally-beloved, womanizing (reportedly married seven times), bohemian reprobate he was--actor, composer, musician, singer. Here he is singing one of his own songs, "Solamente una Vez" which, I think was widely recorded by others in English and Spanish.  I wonder if he ever recorded "Granada." Certainly that would have been vocally quite different from the operatic versions!  Best, Lee Ann

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Lee Ann: I had no idea old Lara was such a colorful character! It sounds as though he and Lanza would have hit it off, and I would love to know what the composer thought of the latter's interpretations of Granada. (I vaguely recall reading that Lara had met Lanza in Hollywood, but I think it was the same source that invented conflicting tales of a Lanza-Presley meeting :))

Lara's "Solamente una Vez" has indeed been recorded widely---Carreras, incidentally, sang it in both Spanish and English (as "You Belong to My Heart")---but, to be honest, the song always makes me sleepy! For my money, "Granada" is in a completely different league.

Thanks for the link to Vargas' version. What a curious interpretation! I only liked it in places, as I felt it was an awkward mesh of pop and operatic styles. Good ending, but I wish he'd performed it in a more traditional way (and operatically). But who knows? It may have been the sort of free-wheeling nterpretation that Lara himself enjoyed :)

Cheers
Derek

[Derek McGovern]

I'm amazed at how popular the Coke version of "Granada" is on our latest poll. A third of our respondents so far have rated it 5/5 ("excellent"). I gave it a mere 2/5 ("so-so")! Have Mr. Mannering's friends and family been voting furiously, perhaps? :) It was the Coke version, after all, that Mr. Mannering selected as an example of Lanza in (supposedly) "top vocal form" for his 2004 CD, Mario Lanza: The Definitive Collection.

But it's the 1949 version that's by far the most popular of Lanza's three versions at present, with a third of voters assigning it "masterpiece" status. I wouldn't go that far---to me, it's an excellent recording rather than an immortal one. I gave the same rating (5/5) to the Because You're Mine version, and I'll be happy to explain why after a few more people have chimed in :)

Cheers
Derek

[norma]

Hi Derek,
             I found it difficult to choose between the 1949 recording  and the M.G.M. one but having seen Mario sing it on film I find the M.G.M. more exciting,

 

                                                                                                                                   Norma

 

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Norma: I don't think it's a good idea to judge the MGM "Granada" on the basis of what Lanza does with it visually in the film. (In fact, that's why I offered it as an audio-only track on the Granada page.) Sure, it's exciting to watch, as Lanza pulls out all the stops with his hand gestures and charismatic presence, but we have to remember, of course, that he's lip-synching here. 

As a piece of singing, though, I do find it the most exciting of his three versions. It's a stunning rendition. The 1949 has the best introduction---in fact, a perfect opening (in comparison, Mario's a little weak to begin with on the MGM version, especially on the line ending "para ti")---but Ray Sinatra's sluggish tempo lets it down after that. It still rates a 5/5 in my book, though---as does the MGM version. Honestly, we're spoiled for choice on these two versions!

Cheers

Derek      

[Derek McGovern]

A P.S. to the above: It's annoying that neither the 1949 nor the MGM Granada is well recorded! I wonder if our Mike would ever consider tackling these two recordings in his remastering lab? :) 

[Derek McGovern]

Well, dear old Mike has answered my prayers in the post above and remastered the MGM "Granada" for us. It now sounds more exciting than ever, and I've just added it to our Granada page:

http://www.mariolanzatenor.com/granada.html

Do take a few moments to listen to it; it'll knock your socks off in its vibrancy! Thanks a million, Mike.

Speaking of "Granada," I've just been re-reading two pages from the screenplay of the proposed film of the same name. (These are reproduced in the Dolfi/Damon Lanza Time Passages---essentially a scrapbook of assorted Lanza memorabilia.) In May 1959, Lanza received the scenario for this film, and for a short while it seemed that this would be his next movie project afterFor the First Time. It was subsequently put on the back burner because of Laugh, Clown, Laugh, but it may well have ended up being the follow-up to that picture.     

The screenplay has an intriguing start: the location is the square in front of Alhambra in Granada, and a supposedly blind beggar (later revealed to be a conman named Tonio)---described as "matted-haired, bearded, dark-spectacled, [and] shabbily dressed"---sings "a sensuous lament" (seemingly, "the lament of all Spain") to a throng of tourists. Now that would have been something. I have no idea how this story develops, but it would have been fascinating to hear a fourth Lanza version of "Granada," a decade after the MGM version. In fact, at one point in 1959, Lanza was apparently planning to make a private recording of the song for a young fan in South Africa. (Sadly, this plan never progressed beyond a drafted letter to this fan.)     

Cheers,

Derek      

[Armando]

The remastered Granada sounds simply fantastic! Bravo, Mike, and thank you!

Armando

[Michael McAdam]

Thank you, gentlemen.

Then you will no doubt like my idea for a Lanza CD project this Winter?

Stay tuned.

 

M.

[leeann]

What a splendid, splendid remastering. Thank you, Mike!  Best, Lee Ann