Dispelling the Myths about Mario Lanza: the Artist (with Derek McGovern and Armando Cesari)
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- Опубліковано 3 лис 2024
- A totally riveting and entertaining discussion that deals with the top 6 myths used against Mario Lanza: the Artist.
As Armando Cesari observes in his introduction to Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy, few operatic singers have been subjected to as much sheer misinformation as Mario Lanza, with "Much of what has been written [either] incomplete, inaccurate, self-serving, sensational, or a combination of all four."
This video tackles some of the more enduring myths about Lanza's voice and artistry.
Each myth is beautifully and expertly dispelled by Lanza expert, Derek McGovern and Lanza biographer, Armando Cesari.
Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy by Armando Cesari. Baskerville Publishers, Inc.
Derek McGovern's Lanza website www.mariolanza...
I make no revenue from UA-cam but If you would like to help me be able to create more content, please consider becoming a patron by donating whatever you can to:
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👏👏👏 Merci beaucoup, Vincent!🌹🌹🌹 Il me semble que Mario Lanza est venu dans ce Monde pour montrer à quel point une voix peut être bell. Il a interprété tous les plus beaux airs d'opéra de telle manière que personne ne peut le surpasser jusqu ' à présent. Il est également excellent dans tous les autres genres! La voix unique!Toutes les déclarations critiques à propos de Mario témoignent de l'envie et du ressentiment qu'ils ne peuvent pas surpasser ce magnifique chanteur et répéter son succès. Bravo Mario!♥️
Уникальная душа Марио Ланца и уникальные вокаальные данные, и уникальный артистизм Богом ПОЦЕЛОВАННЫЙ очень добрый человек!!!
Thank you, for this video. I wasn’t born when Mario Lanza lived. I’m learning so much about Mario Lanza. He’s the greatest tenor of the 20th century🎶
Vincent, thank you so much for all your lovely videos on Mario Lanza. I particularly like this one where you along with others are dispelling the ugly rumors about the man and the artist. Like so many others, I discovered Mario Lanza when my mother shared the Great Caruso movie with me when I was a child in the early 70s.
I am enjoying revisiting, his movies and music through your channel. Please keep sharing his recordings and thank you for dispelling the ugly rumors that filled the tabloids. So disgraceful how many took advantage of him. And heartbreaking how his wife died so soon after his death and was unable to carry on to protect his image. Hollywood can chew people up and spit them out without regret, so very sad. Looking forward to viewing more Mario Lanza videos! ❤
He was an absolute genius, without counting his great talent in music. I love Lanza. I always will. I even study Italian, in order to understand the words he sings. His interpretation, alongside his magnificent voice, makes me enjoy Opera even more… Thank God we have some of his works recorded, for the enjoyment of future generations. Non ti dimenticheremo mai, Mario Lanza.
Vincent, in this video, you all share the best recordings of Mario’s. Can you put together a video and review the ones that are his best. I see a lot of collections of his music out there, and would like to narrow it down to his best recordings if possible! Thanks❤
Спасибо,Вам замечательные , не предвзятые исследователи творчества Величайшего тенора за Вашу титаническую работу по его реабилитации и очистке от того мусора и клеветы на его жизнь и честь...Низко кланяюсь Вам . Марио - Вечен ... и лучший из лучших на все Века !!!
Every time i think you have put out your best, you give us better. Second only to you and your dad. Don’t ever stop Mr. D🙏
Thank you so much, Anthony!
Beaucoup de gens dans le monde de la musique essaient de ne pas penser à Mario Lanza, car ils ne peuvent pas s'élever à son niveau. Vincent fait beaucoup pour que les gens sachent ce qu'est une vraie voix.👍👍👍
I luv Mario Lanza voice. He's vouce was so amazing. I still listen to him. I actually think he has his own identity from Caruso. Mario could sing anything and it was always wonderful. My opinion.
I'm reading Cesari's biography of Lanza and it strikes me that there is a fundamental problem with how Lanza is viewed, as a 'failed' opera aspirant. A full-time career as an opera singer is vastly different from another type of singing career. Lanza could sing the highlights of the operatic repertoire -- in addition to Italian song and American popular song -- but except for a brief stint as Pinkerton in Butterfly and Fenton in Merry Wives he wasn't a pure opera actor/singer. No -- he was a magnificent tenor who could bring operatic repertoire and other song to life, to the masses, as a bona fide star. So I believe he didn't fail at anything -- in fact, he was a tremendous success with one of the most magnificent voices ever -- the most magnificent tenor I have ever heard for sure -- and he will long be remembered. Finally, his ability to sing English in his style is simply unrivaled.
I agree with one objection… i think he also was a good actor, with charisma . And also i think he was a complete tenor…not only a spinto…his voice was really rich, squilo and beautifull…
You did it again Vincent, bravo bravisimo.
I never tire of listening to Mario Lanza.
This is just magical.
Thank you thank you very much. 👏👏👏
Thank you Vincent , Ive been following you for some years but only just subscribed..Mario was My mothers favourite and also mine from a five year upon hearing Vesti la giubba. I didnt understand his languge but couldnt stop the tears running down my face.My point is with Lanza you dont need to be an expert to be aware of his greatness.. My mother heard and saw him at The Royal Albert Hall in 1958 she said he was Magnificant .Thank you so much for all that you in the name of The Great LANZA
Thanks Wendy! If you’re lucky enough to really get Mario it’s a great gift! Such beauty and passion. It’s lovely that you share that love of Mario with your mother.
@@DiPlacido71 I listen to him every day. It dosent stop there.My 7 year old Grandaugher and six year old Grandson love him . Last week in the they were singing in the car word for word together Vesti la giubba. I cant tell you how it feels that they at such an early age get him too. Thanks again Vincent
That’s beautiful! My 6 year old daughter, Sofia, hasn’t got him just yet but I’m hopeful…
@@DiPlacido71 Im sure that one day it will just click . She will feel it from you ,your warmth and respect for Lanza shines through to us all ..
I have only come across this yesterday. I have listened to Myths of the man. I am now in the process of the artist. Recently I saw Kiri te Kanawas 20 favourite singers. Lanza was one of them. But she opened by Wondering was his voice big enough for an Opera House. If that were the case then Koussevitsky and Rosati were idiots wasting their time. Derek gave examples of houses with poor acoustics. How about The Kings Hall in Belfast. I was there in that awful place on the last Saturday night in March 1958 for his concert. It was originally scheduled for the Ulster Hall which was the official concert hall. But 10,000 tickets were sold so the only venue that could accomodate it was the Kings. It was a massive building with concrete walls and iron girders overhead. It was used for big boxing promotions. The ring was in the centre and this was his stage.That was the only piece of wood in this place. The general concensus was that the people in the farthest recesses heard him easily. He was in great voice, and sang unamplified although very fat and unhealthy looking.. I considered the voice to be a lyric spinto. A night unforgettable.
Great post! Thanks so much, Paddy, for your memories from 1958, my father heard him in March 1958 in Edinburgh’s Usher Hall.
ua-cam.com/video/KUuPoSYomQM/v-deo.html
I loved this, it is what I knew but couldn't express so well in words. Looking forward to the next chapter.
Thanks Simon, it’s great to hear you enjoyed it. 👍🏻☺️
I very much enjoy these discussions. Having been a Lanza fan since my parents bought the Student Prince album in the 1950s, I've found myself in similar discussions as those you recount with people who pretend to be knowledgeable but actually reveal their ignorance by repeating something they heard somewhere. They are intellectual wildebeest, running with the pack, motivated by fear of reproach from shallow snobs. It's so wonderful to hear many younger people today, born long after Lanza died, who are not burdened by the prejudices of his time. They state the obvious. Lanza's was the greatest voice any of us will ever hear. As Lanza understood it, a gift from God. I take great comfort that his gift will give pleasure to countless millions - as long as there are human beings to hear it - giving Lanza immortality at the same time his often jealous critics recede into well-deserved anonymity.
Beautifully said, Brad! I’m glad you enjoyed the video. Mario deserved much better treatment and more respect! I think there is much more appreciation for his art over the last 30 years.
Vous avez tout à fait raison!👍👍👍
@@DiPlacido71😅
Absolutely fantastic - about time the myths were dispelled. Thank you very much for this, your work and dedication is so much appreciated!
Thanks Ellen!
Lanza sognava l'Opéra e sarebbe stato un grande interprete perché aveva tutto per esserlo, presenza scenica, fisico affascinante e una gran voce. Debbo dire però che Mario è entrato nel cuore di tutti con le innumerevoli canzoni che ha inciso nei dieci anni più intensi della sua carriera e che ancora vengono proposte al pubblico dei suoi ammiratori.Sono queste che hanno fatto Lanza così grande ed unico.
Marios performance at the show Sunday Night at The London Palladium, the microphone was a great distance away from him he sang amazingly when he appeared there in the 1950's.
It was more than wonderful to hear your three voices speaking positively of Mario's ability. Thank You so!! Superlative! Absolutely!
It's such a pleasure to hear three informed and gracious people discuss matters of art with such a wide embrace ... I loved Caruso so much that I purchased the last acoustic victrola (and the biggest, the orthophonic victrola) made by RCA so I could hear Caruso's voice in its greatest scope. I feel as if Lanza has almost 'channeled' that glorious voice, perhaps with even greater glory.
Thank you.
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed this video. It was a pleasure to chat with Derek and Armando about our great musical love. A labour of love to put together.
@@DiPlacido71 The world would be a far better place for discussions like these about music and art. I feel as if I am discovering Lanza for the first time!
This is great. These myths turn up in every FB opera forum. Its good to have them dispelled by experts with evidence.
Absolute bliss! Exceptionally well done all three of you.
Thanks, Linz! 👍🏻 I hope all is good with you.
Este es, sin duda, un programa para coleccionar, y un acto de justicia al talento infinito de un artista unico. Gracias Vincent, Derek y Armando!!
👍👍👍👏
There was nothing fake about Mario Lanza. He felt each note as it left his body which prompted the next note. The fullness of his voice made his voice quite rare, of which, many have tried to imitate. The sheer texture of his vocalizations added to the mystique of his voice. I have listened to tenors all of my 70 years of life and no one has achieved the quality Mario is known for. The harmonics of his voice still gives me goose bumps and somebody, I think my mother, once told me he could break glass with his voice. Some said the same about Caruso, regardless, Lanza by intention and determination desired to exceed his idol, Caruso. It is said that his inspiration was Caruso as a child who went to some of his performances, which were to Lanza master classes. He was indeed a very passionate man about his music and performances. He is the standard by which I grade other tenor voices, knowing his voice so well. Of the famous three tenors, I felt Placido Domingo came the closest though they all were great but none exceeded Mario's. A new tenor on the horizon that I am closely watching is from England with the first name being Jonathan, I forgot his last name. He is a young powerhouse that I feel Mario would like and he is very humble. You may know who I am talking about. He does not seem to be copying anyone in particular but he seems to be quite unique and natural. He is very passionate about what he sings and is leaving some deep footprints behind him. I think you would agree with me. He has already reached star status at an early age and in about four years from his initial jaw dropping showing. He is around 21yrs. Old. It appears that he is a prodigy. I wished I could remember his last name. If you haven't heard about him, you will. He has sung at many famous venues and even for Placido himself, who has nothing but great and encouraging remarks to say about him. He is going through the gauntlet of famous tenors, passing through as if tgere was no tomorrow. Be on the watch for Jonathan Antoine, now I remember his last name. He posts on UA-cam under his name. Well, it was nice to chat at you and I pray blessings for you and your loved ones. Thank you for the things you do on behalf of Mario Lanza !
In 70 years of hearing all the great Tenors, Lanza was the greatest of them all.....
Thank you for this presentation. It's deserving of such a great voice. Please do another on his personal persona and also comparing his voice and repertoire to the great Enrico Caruso. I want to hear more about Lanza's individual voice and the start of the constant comparison of him and Caruso. As well as ways they were vocally similar and different. Also do you think Lanza could have sung the dramatic and heldon tenor roles?
Thanks for that lovely comment, Christopher.
Stay tuned for more with Derek and Armando, aren’t they great?
I would like to do something that goes deeper into exactly what it is about Mario’s voice that is so exceptionally beautiful and striking, tough thing to define, like trying to quantify the grains of sand on a beach, it’s more about sensation and feelings, but I’ll give it a try.
@@DiPlacido71 You all were great. I loved the conversation. I will say though Lanza doesn't strike me as a lyric spinto. To my ears he sounds like a true, full weighted spinto tenor. I think his brighter timbre and lyrical vocal ability do throw people off from thinking he was a full spinto istrument. Just a shame we couldn't hear what the voice could have matured into. Possibly graduating to complete dramatic tenor status or what it would have sounded like in old age. It's a voice truly missed and unfortunate to end so soon. Also unfortunate he didn't have the blossoming career as a film actor and opera stage divo.
Dear Christopher, Lanza did have a great beautiful voice. We can start by comparing Lanza's repertoire with Caruso. Caruso sang over 900 operatic performances and many encores at the Met alone to mostly rave reviews. Lanza sang 2 performances of Butterfly and 1 Merry Wives of Windsor when he was 27 or 28 years old. Had Lanza lived into his forty's, it's quite possible that Lanza could have sung at least some of the spinto dramatic roles. Lanza's and Caruso's voice were completely different
Lanza war besser als Caruso @@sugarbist
@@tommyhoffer5836Viellieicht gefalt ihnen Lanza mehr als Caruso. Aber das macht Lanza nicht besser. You may enjoy Lanza more than Caruso, but it doesn't make Lanza better.
Always so exciting to see a new video from you! Hands down the best channel of mario lanza stuff!
Aw! Thanks Anthony!
I really enjoyed the video Vince, well done. so good to hear the myths debunked
When I first heard Mario on the radio, back in the fifties, I new instantly it was an outstanding voice. Lots of things, good and bad has been said about Mario, I don’t need to be told either, I can tell for myself by just listening. Mario Lanza was the best Tenor And any one who disagree just don’t know voices. John
Gentlemen: I have not yet entered a state of Bliss, but may well do so with a second playing... This is an excellent discussion, very effectively confronting and burying a great deal of the nonsense that has surrounded ML for so many decades, and does so in an agreeably light hearted manner. Congratulations, Vincent, on some very adroit and professional editing both in terms of the still and film inserts. One thing I regret is the absence of discussion about Lanza`s work, as we now know, in his very early 20`s with Rodolpho Pili`s Philadelphia Opera Company - further rebuttal to such uninformed comments I`ve seen elsewhere as "... this faker never appeared on an opera stage in his life..." - but that`s a small point. Great stuff, thanks to all! (^_^)
Thank you so much, I’m so glad you enjoyed it! We had a ball filming it even though the different time zones are a pain. 😜
It feels good to have this out there, hopefully it will do some good.
Thank you, Vincent, from Zimbabwe.
È meraviglioso vedere il vostro impegno nel difendere la più bella voce del XX secolo ma credo che la vostra ammirazione per questo GRANDE ARTISTA non farà che alimentare L invidia di coloro che non ammetteranno mai la sua GRANDEZZA! Dobbiamo lasciar lavorare la STORIA e solo lei riuscirà ad innalzare all Olimpo quelli che lo meritano! Noi dobbiamo solo continuare a godere del dono che ci ha lasciato è forse
👍👍👍👏
How spiteful these people who say Mario had a small voice They must have been green with envy his voice was beautiful in strength passion like a bell high in the mountains ringing so proudly making spines tingle
Thanks Vincent. Was about time that rubbish to be debunked.
Very interesting video Vince All this gossip about Mario Lanza voice is jealousy that said Placido Domingo
And Placido also said he had a voice full of power and beauty
I Love His Voice he said.
Domingo never heard Lanza live
@@sugarbist No that's true but people like Domingo who are in the business hear that Mario had an excellent voice.
Joan Sutherland ,Renata Tebaldi,Nicolai Gedda, Grace Bumbry etc.. heard Lanza live and all said Mario had a unique powerful fantastic voice.
@@31.01 Yes John, but I was not in the business and could also hear that Lanza had an excellent voice. In 1958 Richard Bonynge & wife Joan Sutherland attended one of Lanza's 2 recitals at Royal Albert Hall. ''After 18 years Bonynge stated that we were both surprised by the size of the voice. Frankly we expected it to be smaller. After all, one hears how film singer's voices are amplified. No doubt that Lanza could have had an excellent operatic career.'' You can also add Toscanini, Albanese and Richard Tucker to the list. It seemed that Lanza had unlimited potential.
I love your video. Honest insights!
Armando Cesari is absolutely right. Anyone who knows anything about opera singing recognises the majesty, (impressive beauty, power and scale) of Mario Lanza's voice. Armando wrote "Artistic temperament is not something that can be learned or acquired. It's not something that can be learned from a teacher. Nor can you go to a doctor and ask him to give it to you in the form of a pill or injection. Artistic temperament is something a singer is born with. It's the essence of a truly great singer." He is absolutely right and people like Rudolf Bing and Boris Goldovsky cannot be around Opera Singers with an "Artistic temperament" because they want to be the Prima Donna. I was a student of Licia Albanese and was a close friend of hers for 40 years. She often talked to me about Mario Lanza and also told me about Rudolf Bing. There is a reason that in the early1950's there were 100 world class tenors and at the end of Bing' Reign hardly any left.
Lanza did NOT possess a SMALL voice.
When I worked onboard the QE2 a lady passenger Mentioned to me that
On visiting a dentist who was Mario Lanza’s uncle she could hear him and the windows rattled with the sound he made.
There's no doubt greatness in some brings out smallness in others. You mention that some of the remarks that were circulated damaged Lanza's reputation. I would rather say that they damaged forever the credibility of the person who made the remarks. I can't watch Dorothy Kirsten perform on screen without thinking of the generalizations she made about Lanza's shortcomings, on the basis of short acquaintance and ignorance (as the video points out) of his accomplishments. The great performers who knew Lanza were fulsome in their praise, as the video demonstrates.
Dear Verna, have you heard the positive comments that Kirsten made about Lanza's beautiful voice and if and when he could '' let the horses go if he had to"?
@@sugarbist yes, fair enough, but it was the other that stuck in my memory.
@@vernaxxx8940 I understand, and I too use to get upset about derogatory remarks about Lanza, but they are not all inaccurate. Enjoy
This was in Philadelphia before he became famous.
Even now, every time I hear Mario, I weep! Every time. Small voice? What absolute rubbish!
Bravo gentlemen, that was great. Simply great. Thank you!
Joseph Calleja has a small tenor voice.
Nagyon jo hogy bemutatjak Mario Lanzat, de gondohatak volna azokra akik nem tudnak angolul.
20:57 the best comment on mario lanza!
Mario lanza é para mim a única voz que possa competir com o grande Plácido domingo !
Mario God's Gift to music..be it opera or ''pop'...
I heard he had no vocal lessons. Not true. His diction in singing is superb.
Not true at all! Here is a film I made about Mario’s vocal studies and the change it made to his vocal production.
ua-cam.com/video/3XAznMwyGGQ/v-deo.htmlsi=kngdZLNboF5NUhDy
Should we believe these 3 gentlemen discounting people who were close to Lanza like Terry Robinson, Callinicos and Dorothy Kirsten and others, because we hold Lanza in our hearts for the enjoyment he brought us through his beautiful voice and heart felt interpretations? La Scala has capacity seating for 2800 people, not about 2,000 as Cesari mentions here. How does Cesari know that Caruso had a tiny little voice? Lanza studied with Enrico Rosati for an extended period of time. 2 Butterfly's and 1 Merry Wives of Windsor do not make for an operatic career, but it does seem that Lanza did have endless potential, but if someone disagrees with McGovern, they are snobs. Where was the professional jealousy? Richard Tucker claimed that Lanza could have been the greatest of us all. Toscanini said that Lanza was the greatest voice of the 20th century. Licia Albanese also praised Lanza as well. Mc Govern is correct, Lanza was the whole package, looks, charisma, voice with no limitations, beautiful coloring, etc. I believe that Lanza was incapable of uttering a sour note. However, live operatic performances are much more demanding singing duets, terzettos, quartets and solos in full costume, as well as preparing for a live performance, by resting and not speaking the day before a performance, also remaining abstinent for a period of time before a performance. , Perhaps the assumption of these 3 gentlemen is that Lanza should be given credit for an operatic career which he did not achieve. Mc Govern is not accurate about MDM. Del Monaco also got rave reviews in many of his debuts in his 1946 Ballo, 46 Chenier, 1950 Otello in Brazil, 1951 DEBUT in Aida at the Met. All Caruso reviews at the old Met house, capacity just under 4,000 where Caruso got great reviews, none indicating that his voice was small as Cesari mentions which he is inaccurate by doing so. In addition Caruso encored many solo arias because of the chants of Bis from the audiences. Let's it keep real. By the way The New Orleans opera house has a capacity of 1600 and NOT 2800 as Cesari mentions.
sugarbist, before I get into anything could I ask what your real name is? Just so I’m clear about who I’m talking to…
Lanza. The best. His voice was by far the best ….
Beware of the green eye
SIMPLY PUT THERE WILL NEVER BE ANOTHER TENOR LIKE MARIO LANZA IN OUR LIFETIME AND LIKELY BEYOND THAT. CARUSO WAS NUMBER ONE IN HIS LIFETIME AND MARIO WAS NUMBER ONE IN HIS. AND REMEMBER WHAT CARUSO'S SON WROTE IN THE BIOGRAPHY HE WROTE ABOUT HIS FATHER (NOT AN EXACT QUOTE ON MY PART): "MARIO LANZA EVEN SURPASSED MY FATHER'S PRODIGIOUS TALENT". AND LET'S NOT FORGET THAT MARIO WAS ALSO AN EARLY CROSSOVER ARTIST. CARUSO COULD NEVER SING POP SONGS WITHOUT SOUNDING LIKE AN OPERA SINGER. SAME WITH PAVAROTTI. BUT NOW MARIO!!
@@SamuelSamuelian Nice try Sam, but you are attempting the convolution in the comparison of Lanza with Caruso. You are correct in stating that Caruso was the best or number 1 in his life time singing complete operas and Neapolitan songs, but during his life time, Caruso had peers and a lot of competition with Lauri Volpi, De Muro, young Gigli, Pertile, Crimi, Martinelli, Zenatello, Mc Cormack, Cortis, Slezak, Melchior, Taccani, Escalais, Antonio Paoli, and Bonci to name a few. Lanza had no competition appearing as a singing tenor in Hollywood movies in the 1950s and did about 180 concerts with only 2 Butterfly's to his credit with 1 Merry Wives of Windsor. I think Lanza's so called American songs are incomparable but may dim in comparison to Caruso's over 900 ''LIVE'' performances and many encores at the Met alone to mostly fine reviews.
@@sugarbist tiene usted razon, MARIO simplemente no canto las 900 en vivo de CARUSO, pero su voz como instrumento natural, no tiene parangon. y por supuesto es inobviable el talento de LANZA, aun muy por encima de supuestos grandes tenores.
@@roxalysmendez7941 Si` estoy de acuerdo. Yes, I agree.
😉 𝕡𝐫ｏ𝕄ｏ𝔰𝓶
What a load of cobblers !!!!!! To compare Lanza with tenors like Caruso is a sacrilege !!! Yes of course he had a good voice. Yes of course he filled theatres and concert halls . That, however does not qualify him to be on the same level as tenors who made a career singing FULL opera on stage. Lanza was a bit part player ,making a career in films with the benefit of recording arias as was convenient . If he had not been cast in 'The Great Caruso' we would not be having these debates about him. Can you actually imagine him singing Otello on stage ? Did you see him singing Celeste Aida for the film The Great Caruso. His chest was about to explode !!!! Many say he never sung a full Opera although it is rumoured he did do Madame Butterfly once in Philly I think. I personally like his timbre but I also believe we actually do him an injustice when we try to compare him with tenors like Caruso, Gigli , Lauri Volpi, Del Monaco,Corelli etc etc. Compared to these guys he really was an altar boy !!!!!! Just enjoy his voice, which I reiterate was not small, but was ideal for diverse arias albeit one at a time at a concert or a recording studio !!!!!! So if Hollywood had not happened he might well have had a career on stage but then probably we would not be having this debate as he would have been just another tenor. He just was never of the calibre of the great tenors some people try to compare him with !!!!!
Wow! Mario, you are fairly perpetuating the myths there. 😳🙄
You almost need and want to believe them, whatever gets you through the night I suppose. 👍🏻😉
I don’t think you actually watched this video in any detail, maybe if you do it might help you!
We’ve laid it all out in those 77 minutes or so.
Nobody is disputing the greatness and dedication to successful and long operatic careers, my comparison of Lanza and Caruso was on a purely vocal level and for me there is no comparison, Lanza’s voice is by far the more versatile, satisfying and beautiful! In fact I will go even further and say he was extremely flattered to have Mario Lanza portray him vocally for those millions who saw that 1951 blockbuster biopic (let alone visually which is by the by).
So essentially you are claiming that the many great singers who performed with Lanza----both on the stage and in the recording studio----or the great conductors who worked him and who have attested to his extraordinary talent were all wrong. I'm speaking of singers and conductors of the calibre of George London, Licia Albanese, Dorothy Kirsten, Franco Ferrara, and Serge Koussevitzky. You expect us to dismiss their firsthand evaluations and trust yours instead.
If you had actually watched this video, you would have discovered that Lanza was not "rumoured" to have sung Pinkerton in "Madama Butterfly"---he most certainly did sing it (though not in Philadelphia), and to ecstatic reviews. The same thing happened when he performed Fenton in "The Merry Wives of Windsor"---absolute rave reviews from the New York Times, Opera News, etc.
But no one in this video was comparing Lanza's operatic career with that of Caruso, Gigli et al. You missed the point entirely---if indeed you watched any of the discussion.
As for your claim that Lanza's "chest was about to explode" when he sang Celeste Aida in "The Great Caruso," you really need to learn how musical films are made. Lanza was miming to his own recording when he sang that aria in the film; he wasn't singing live. What's more, the videos that we do have of him singing opera in live performance show no evidence of exploding chests!
“Mario Lanza excelled in both the classical and light popular repertory, an accomplishment that was beyond even my father’s exceptional talents.”
Enrico Caruso Jr.
In his book, ‘Icons of Opera,’ Matthew Boyden argues that judging Lanza on the basis that he did not perform in opera, “ Is a little like claiming that a painter is only ever an artist when his or her work has been shown.”
por amor de DIOS, LANZA fue mas versatil, que mucho de los llamados grandes tenores, murio a los 38 cuando comenzo a desarrollarse verdaderaente su voz, que es despues de los 40, donde se alcanza el potencial en la opera, sus 12 anos de carrera fueron interrumpidos , por su incursion en el cine, la gran mayoria de estos tenores empezaron muy temprano en los escenarios operisticos, lo que si se deberia acotar es que la voz de lLANZA , como instrumento natural es incoomparable.
su pecho explotar, ha ha ha, definitivamente uno de los desafortunados y estupidos comentarios de la historia en estos foros.