"All the Things You Are": New Lanza CD from Sepia Records Coming in June 2019

[Derek McGovern]

I'm very happy to announce that Sepia Records will be releasing its seventh Lanza compilation (since 2015): All the Things You Are.  

Like its predecessors, the material for this CD was selected by Armando Cesari, Vince Di Placido, Lee Ann Cafferata, Carmel Parisi and me.

Here are the tracks, and I'll be posting more information soon on our News and Updates page at mariolanzatenor.com:

ALL THE THINGS YOU ARE

1   Bésame Mucho      Introduced by Lanza                                             

2   And Here You Are                                                                             

3   My Wild Irish Rose                                                                              

4   Love Is the Sweetest Thing                                                                       

5   Do You Wonder?                                                                                 

6   Love in a Home                                                                                     

7   Lover, Come Back to Me!                                                                    

8   Gypsy Love Song (Slumber On, My Little Gypsy Sweetheart)      

9   All the Things You Are                                                                        

10  Mamma Mia, Che Vò Sapé? (1948 recording with piano)                                                                

11  Lolita                                                                                                     

12  Ciribiribin   Introduced by Lanza                                                     

13  Vieni sul Mar                                                                                       

14  La Mia Canzone                                                                                                     

15  Musica Proibita                                                                                   

16  Fedora: Amor ti vieta                                                                          

17  Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba  Live from Massey Hall, Toronto             

18  La bohème: O soave fanciulla  Live from the Hollywood Bowl        

19  La gioconda: Cielo e mar!                                                                    

20  Andrea Chénier: Come un bel dì di maggio                                      

BONUS TRACKS

21  Ah, Moon of My Delight  Live radio performance                           

22  One Flower in Your Garden  Revelatory “raw” acetate                 

23  Wer einmal nur in München war                                                       

24  Pagliacci: Vesti la giubba  Rare version from Lanza’s archives      

25  Summertime in Heidelberg  With Ann Blyth (partial outtake)    

[Vincent Di Placido]

A 7th Sepia Lanza CD, amazing! There are some lovely gems on there, it’s a credit to the quality of Lanza’s recorded material that we could put out 7 solid high quality releases.
Great work Derek!

[Derek McGovern]

Cover art!

[Derek McGovern]

I've just posted full details about the new CD in the "News" section at mariolanzatenor.com:

https://www.mariolanzatenor.com/news/all-the-things-you-are-the-latest-lanza-cd-from-sepia-records

[Damien Quigley]

Fantastic!!!!

[Damien Quigley]

It's now listed on Amazon UK for pre-order.

[brandy]

Most of these were from his Famous Coca-Cola radio show.

[Derek McGovern]

Yes, but it'll probably be available a couple of weeks earlier from Sepia Records' own website. That may also be a slightly cheaper option.

I'll post an announcement here once the CD is available from Sepia. 

[michael boyce]

Will there also be a Mp3 download of this,too?

[Derek McGovern]

Yes, I'm sure it'll be available in MP3 format from the likes of Amazon. You'll also have the option of purchasing individual tracks rather than the whole CD.

[Derek McGovern]

I heard today from Sepia's Richard Tay that the new CD will be available as early as next week (more than a month before Amazon starts selling it)---directly from Sepia Records' London office. As soon as Sepia updates its website for orders (which should be happening this weekend), I'll post a link here. 

[Palmarola2012]

Derek, thank you and Armando and Vincent for this major accomplishment.  It would be helpful to explain (perhaps once again) to all those on this site, the difference in the quality of these works vs what has been available up to now.  Once again, thank you and best wishes, Emilio

[Derek McGovern]

I'm pleased to report that the CD All the Things You Are is now available from Sepia Records:

http://www.sepiarecords.com/sepia1341.html 

The price is £8.80, including postage, for those outside of Europe, and  £7.99, including postage, for those living in the UK. 

[Derek McGovern]

Ciao Emilio: Thanks for reminding me that not everyone who visits this forum will be familiar with the Sepia CDs.

I've written a summary here about the seven Sepia Records CDs that have been released since 2015:

https://www.mariolanzatenor.com/lps-and-cds.html#4

For full details about each of the seven CDs, people can simply click on the CD images that are featured at the above link.

Cheers,

Derek  

[Vincent Di Placido]

My copy arrived today (thank you so much Derek) listening to it now & loving it. Booklet notes, photos & overall presentation are excellent as always. So proud to be involved in these 7 volumes of prime Lanza cuts.

[Derek McGovern]

Emilio wrote:

Dear Vince and Derek. Again, congratulations and thank you. It would be useful to tell everyone that these works have not been "remastered". But as you note, carefully selected for their quality.  Best wishes. Emilio

 

Ciao Emilio: Actually, the recordings on all the Sepia discs are remastered. Robin Cherry, a long-time sound engineer with the BBC, remasters each track using the first-rate Cedar noise reduction system and a sophisticated equalizing/editing suite.

It’s just that, in the case of Mario’s commercial recordings, the sources used by Sepia are not the original RCA master tapes—since Sony/BMG owns those and would obviously never share them—but rather the best-available pre-1963 vinyl (LPs and 45rpms) and (occasionally) commercial reel-to-reel tapes. Vince and I have gone to extraordinary lengths and (non-reimbursed) expense in tracking down those optimum vinyl sources.

While I can only imagine how amazing Mario’s master tapes would sound—especially the often poorly reproduced 1957-59 Rome recordings—if Sepia ever had access to them (since Sepia genuinely cares about optimum sound reproduction), in many instances the ex-vinyl sound on its seven CDs has actually surpassed the sound quality on Sony/BMG’s own CDs. For example, on the very first Sepia CD that Vince, Armando and I worked on—Mario Lanza: Greatest Operatic Recordings—the two 1950 recordings of arias from Andrea Chénier and (especially) the 1955 “O Paradiso” sound the best I’ve ever heard them. The same goes for the reproductions from the Mario! album and Caruso Favorites, not to mention the For the First Time “O Sole Mio,” on Sepia’s Mario Lanza: My Italian Soul. Or “Nocturne” and “Love Me Tonight” on, respectively, the Sepia CDs Poetry and Passion and One Alone. There are many other examples.

In fact, only a handful of the commercial recordings on the Sepia CDs sound inferior to the Sony/BMG CDs, and they’re almost exclusively Coke Show recordings that were never released on record before 1962 (which is the cut-off year for recordings now in the public domain in the UK). They include recordings such as “Ciribiribin” on the present CD, or “Testa adorata” on Greatest Operatic Recordings Vol. 2, for which the original transcriptions had to be used.

But don’t forget that there are also many non-commercial recordings featured on the Sepia CDs, quite a few of which have never been released elsewhere, and the reproductions of these are often worth the price of the CDs alone. Take, for example, the breathtaking Hollywood Bowl Improvviso and super-rare Royal Variety Show performance of “E lucevan le stelle,” which are both featured on Greatest Operatic Recordings, Vol. 2, or the home recording of “Tell Me, Oh Blue Blue Sky” on the CD One Alone.

So, yes, while I agree 100% with you that it’s the superior selection choices on the seven Sepia CDs that are these discs’ raison d’être, the sound quality is almost always very good as well—and often even impressive. 

Cheers,
Derek

[Damien Quigley]

My CD arrived today from Sepia. As with all their previous releases, I'm blown away by the superior quality of sound and presentation. Well done to all involved.

[Derek McGovern]

That's great to hear, Damien! 

Being a long way from the UK, I haven't received my copy yet---in fact, you and Vince are the only two people I know who already have the CD. So it's a relief to know that at least two discerning Lanza admirers are happy with it!  

[Derek McGovern]

I finally received my copy of All the Things You Are today, and I'm thrilled with the sound quality!

The three Cavalcade selections ("Lover, Come Back to Me"; "Gypsy Love Song"; and "All the Things You Are") have never sounded better, while the same is also true of the three Caruso Favorites tracks featured here ("Vieni sul Mar"; "Musica Proibita"; and the often-overlooked "La Mia Canzone"). I never thought I'd hear better reproductions of "Vieni sul Mar" and "Musica Proibita" than the ones featured on the Encore CD, but comparing the two discs just now there is no comparison. The Sepia CD reproductions are unquestionably superior! And to think that all six recordings were sourced from the original LPs---courtesy of Vince Di Placido---as opposed to the RCA master tapes. It just goes to show that sonic miracles can be achieved with the right vinyl reproductions, a great turntable (thanks, Vince!), and Sepia's resident sound engineering whizz, Robin Cherry.

There are numerous other surprises on the disc as well: e.g. a glorious "My Wild Irish Rose" that was sourced from a humble radio transcription, and yet manages to sound more vibrant than I've ever heard it; terrific reproductions of two concert performances from 1948 ("Vesti la giubba" and "O soave fanciulla"); an unrestrained but thrilling outtake of "Vesti" from a 1950 session; the "Hofbrauhaus Song" from For the First Time with its blazing high B-flat and a different (and better) vocal mix than the one heard on the commercial CD; a gorgeously vibrant reproduction of "Summertime in Heidelberg" with Ann Blyth (her part is different from the film soundtrack take); and startlingly good reproductions of two recordings from opposite ends of Mario's career: a live 1945 radio performance of "Ah, Moon of My Delight" (thank you for pushing for it, Lou!) and "One Flower in Your Garden" from September 1959.    

If you're interested in buying this CD, it's available directly from Sepia Records now at a lower price than anywhere else. Amazon and other online sellers will be releasing it on July 12.  

 

And here's the first page of my liner notes:

[Steff Walzinger]

Hi Derek,

Congratulations to the latest Sepia release! 

A wonderful choice of tracks (I love "Musica Proibita"!!), a very good mix of all musical genres. 

I cannot say much regarding the sound quality as my CD player is only a simple device not being able to produce the perfect ringing tones. 

However, this CD, once again, shows Mario's great musical versatility and his incredibly good diction.

The liner notes are impressive and so comprehensive - as always (I hadn't expected anything else from you, smile). 

A big praise to all who were involved in this project, and I hope that many Lanza fans will be delighted as I am.

Thank you for your generosity Derek! And thank you for your acknowledgement. It came as a total surprise and I am deeply touched.

On another note, since you are aware of my private researches of "Bertha" : She personally knew Chauncy Olcott ("My Wild Irish Rose"), Victor Herbert and Harry B. Smith ("Gypsy Love Song").

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Hi Steff!

So glad to hear you're enjoying the new Sepia CD---and, yes, I love "Musica Proibita" too. It's so nice to hear it cleanly and vibrantly reproduced on the new CD.

And thanks for the praise of my liner notes! Of course, you inspired me to include "Wer einmal nur in München war" on the CD, and I wouldn't have been able to write confidently about Mario's German pronunciation in the notes if you hadn't kindly assessed it for me :) 

I'd quite forgotten that your illustrious ancestor Bertha Waltzinger knew several of the people responsible for songs on this CD. Amazing!

Cheers,

Derek

[Steff Walzinger]

Derek,

Roberto Alagna "liked" it!!

Steff

[Steff Walzinger]

Roberto Alagna has just announced on his facebook site that his new album is being released this fall (Sony Classical). It will be a tribute to Enrico Caruso, the - as he said "plus grand ténor de tous les temps." 

I see one of the tracks will be "Because."

https://www.facebook.com/RobertoAlagna.Tenor/videos/2077271662382782/

Steff

[Derek McGovern]

Martino of the Jeff Rense Lanza forum has just posted this wonderful review of the new Sepia CD. I hope he won't mind my reproducing it in its entirety here, as it deserves to be read by the widest possible audience:

What a beautiful disk is Sepia's "All The Things You Are"! The sound is the best of any Lanza cd in existence and I don't mean just in eliminating pops and crackles or improvement of dynamic range, pitch correctness, etc. which of course it does all superbly. One exception for the last "Vesti", which is understandable considering the source. What I mean is in the remastering capturing the essence of the Lanza voice. Whoever did the remastering understood this voice completely, allowing the engineering to bring it to us in all its glory, natural and with nothing added or subtracted from the vocal quality itself.

We have many disks that show off Lanza's voice in terms of the characteristics we often talk about such as passion, enthusiasm, excitement, beauty of voice, diction, so on and so forth. But there is one adjective we often fail to include and that is "sweetness". No disk or album I own (and I think I have them all) shows off the element of Lanza's "sweetness" of voice as well and clearly as this one and I think that is why we don't talk very much about this wonderful Lanza characteristic. The disk brings out a more sweet, and along with it, a more youthful Lanza sound and there are many, many examples of this quality on this cd. "Gypsy Love Song" has always been a sugar coated song, wistful and melancholia in character but it never sounded so light and sweet as this. I attribute it to the clarity of sound that allows that maudlin sentiment to come through loud and clear. Even the little trill at the end is heard more clearly than ever before. I feel this is precisely how Lanza wanted this song to sound. 

All the high notes are clear and more thrilling than ever; the low notes have more resonance; the accompaniments and orchestras are crystal clear and enhance the singing rather than overwhelm the voice (check out the piano in "Mamma Mia" which is clearly heard but without harshness and at just the right loudness, unlike the soundtrack). It is as though these recordings were made today, not 70 years ago.

We can talk about the actual singing of these songs forever but that has been done a hundred times, it is the quality of transfers that is the news here as far as I am concerned. The selections from the "Caruso Favorites" Italian song album are better than ever. For the first time the songs show the dramatic quality of Lanza's "mature" voice but allows for the brilliance to shine forth. On the [original] album the studio engineers shamefully placed a veil over the voice with a dark hue that suppressed that brilliance. "Vieni Sul Mar" is a revelation and is as though I am hearing it for the first time. Listen to the ending of "La Mia Canzone". Have you ever heard a "mature and dramatic" voice sound more "sweet", for a lack of a better term? In Italian the musical term marking on the composer's compositions is marked "dolce" and it is this "dolce" quality of the Lanza voice that this disk captures better than any other I have heard. "O Soave Fanciulla" sounds like it should, from the throat of a very young man. In fact, Lanza makes it sound like some stupendous voice of a teenager! The disk brings this important, youthful quality of the duet out front and center.

Another quality of this transfer is the ability to hear how well Lanza emphasized his words. There are countless examples. One is "Love Is The Sweetest Thing". When he proclaims, "Love is the greatest thing" there is no mistake that that is exactly what he means, not love is a "nice" thing, not that it is a "good" thing or whatever - there is no doubt in anyone's mind that it IS the "Greatest" thing with a capital "G"! In "Do You Wonder" when Mario sings the word "Love" he means it, he does not mean like, nor compatible, not akin or anything of the sort - it is LOVE! and he makes sure you know it. Of course this kind of "clarity" also shows defects as well. For example, in "Love Is The Sweetest Thing", I noticed that Lanza messed up on a word or two that I missed in my previous hearings of this song because I did not notice the couplet was missing. In the phrase, "Whatever fate may send", Lanza inserts the word "bring" in place of "send". No big deal at all but the word used should rhyme (as all the others do with each verse) with the last word in the following verse which is "end". Without the rhyme it looses some of its effectiveness. The result is that it sounds a little funny because "bring" does not rhyme with "end" and throws the song's cadence off balance a tad at the couplet. But the few things like this we may notice because of the enhanced clarity are not even worth mentioning when looking at this disk as a whole.

The cd is a good, generous (25 tracks) compilation of some of Lanza's best singing and at a bargain price. No doubt we could spend days talking about this disk but I suggest you just go buy it. You will not regret it for a moment. Kudos to Sepia and everyone involved in bringing such a high quality product to fruition.