Spanning the years 1946 to 1959, it includes rare live radio performances and an unreleased MGM rehearsal of “Gaudeamus Igitur,” while the bonus tracks section features seven restored gems from other popular operettas. As a further attraction, many of the tracks are appearing here in stereo for the first time, thanks to the process known as DES (Digitally Extracted Stereo), a technological breakthrough that brings remarkable clarity to formerly mono recordings without affecting their integrity.   ​

The Warner Archive has just released a Blu-ray of what is apparently a 6K scan of the original 35mm print of Mario Lanza's final film, For the First Time. Visually, it's stunning, preserving its original Technirama ratio and resolution, and the (mono) sound quality is excellent. This official Blu-ray is a major improvement (especially visually) on the German Blu-ray of the film that was issued some years ago.
More than anything else, this Blu-ray reinforces the overall excellence of Lanza's singing in his screen swansong, with its well-staged operatic scenes (all filmed on the stage of the Rome Opera House) and an impressive "O Sole Mio" among the highlights.  
This Blu-ray is available now from Amazon, and will hopefully be successful enough to encourage Warners to issue more of Lanza's films in this format, with Serenade surely on the top of most fans' wishlists.  

Great news! The Warner Archive Collection will be releasing a Blu-Ray consisting of a 1080pHD master from 4K scans of the original nitrate Technicolor negatives of That Midnight Kiss. If it's as good as Warners' Blu-Ray of The Great Caruso, then we're all in for a treat. 

​The release date is August 26, 2025.

Here are the specs:

THAT MIDNIGHT KISS (1949)
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COLOR
BD-50
Running Time: 98 Minutes
Aspect Ratio: 16×9 1.37:1 with side mattes
Audio Specs DTS-HD MA 2.0 Mono
NOT RATED
Subtitles: ENGLISH SDH
Cast: Kathryn Grayson, Mario Lanza, Jose Iturbi, Ethel Barrymore
Directed by Norman Taurog
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SPECIAL FEATURES: SPECIAL FEATURES: Deleted Musical Outtake “ONE LOVE OF MINE”; Classic M-G-M Cartoons “HEAVENLY PUSS” (HD) and “SENOR DROOPY” (HD), and the Original Theatrical Trailer.

Read more at: https://screen-connections.com/2025/07/16/warner-archive-collection-august-2025-blu-ray-releases-the-huckleberry-hound-show-the-complete-original-series-7-women-more/  

​For more about Lanza's films (and other Blu-Rays), click here.

UPDATE (27 September 2025): This Blu-ray  is an extremely good transfer consisting of a 1080pHD from a 4K scans of the original nitrate Technicolor negatives: brilliant colour and black and white contrast. The sound is superb, and there's an excellent balance between music and voice. Here is the Amazon link.

Highly recommended. (Screenshot below)

I'm thrilled to report that the sterling London-based company Sepia Records will be releasing its first-ever 2-CD set of Mario Lanza, the 49-track Night and Day, in the second week of January 2025. 
Like its predecessor, Golden Days (which reached #10 in April 2024 on Billboard's Traditional Classical Albums chart), all of the tracks on Night and Day are in Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES) for the first time---and the sonic improvements are truly a revelation.
As with all Sepia's Lanza CD releases since 2015, this set was compiled by Armando Cesari, Vincent Di Placido, Carmel Parisi and yours truly. 
UPDATE (22 December): The official international release date for Night and Day is February 7, 2025, for Amazon and the like, but the set will be available directly from sepiarecords.com in the second week of January. A link will be provided here as soon as the set is in stock. For those in the US, Night and Day is available for preorder now from the Mario Lanza Institute at this link, with proceeds going towards scholarships in Lanza's name for up-and-coming singers.   
UPDATE (11 January): Night and Day is now in stock at Sepia Records' London warehouse and can be ordered here. This 2-CD release is selling for £10.99 for those in the UK; £13.99 for people in the EC; and £15.99 everywhere else. All prices include airmail postage. 
Below is the tracklist for Night and Day, together with an extensive video promo created by Vincent Di Placido, and two complete tracks from CD1: "A Kiss" and "Never Till Now." 

UPDATE (28 January 2025): The well-known opera authority (and distinguished professor of medicine) Neil Kurtzman has just posted a review of Night and Day on his popular blog here. 

​Enrico Caruso, Jnr, son of the legendary tenor, once observed that, “Mario Lanza excelled in both the classical and the light popular repertory, an accomplishment that was beyond even my father’s exceptional talents.” This CD underlines that remarkable versatility, featuring some of Lanza’s finest recordings of popular English songs, operetta, Neapolitan classics, and operatic arias from the earlier monaural period of his career. But this is no ordinary Lanza compilation, for each of the 23 tracks offered here is in Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES) for the first time. Thanks to this revolutionary process, the tenor’s authentic vocals can now be appreciated as never before in astonishingly realistic-sounding multi-track stereo, with the orchestra surrounding his voice, rather than boxing it in within the same narrow monaural “cell.” 

The CD is now in stock at Sepia Records in London, and can be ordered here. (Although it's currently listed as a "Forthcoming Release," it is available now.) For those in the US, the CD is now available for pre-orders from the Mario Lanza Institute. Please click here to place your pre-order. Proceeds from Institute sales of the disc will go toward scholarships in Lanza's name for young singers. 

​Snippets of eight tracks from the CD can be heard here. There is also a discussion on the CD here, and below is a stunning promotional video by Vincent Di Placido:

​A further attraction is that ten of the mono recordings are in Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES), a process that has provided greater clarity to some of the less well-recorded material, such as the exciting 1955 film outtake of “Nessun dorma” and the 1959 “One Alone” acetate, while providing a sumptuous orchestral backing to sonically superior recordings, including the MGM “Serenade” from The Student Prince, “Because You’re Mine” with Doretta Morrow, and “You and the Night and the Music.”  Click here to listen to a teaser from the CD.

​Other highlights on the CD include a previously unreleased outtake of the haunting “Hills of Home” (beautifully sung, and superior to the released version), a superior second take of the unused original “Serenade” from the film of the same name (of which only the first take has ever been commercially released), an extended version of the “Miserere” (recorded for the soundtrack of The Great Caruso) that restores the opening with soprano Lucine Amara and the chorus, and the best reproductions I have heard of Lanza’s 1958 version of “Tu Ca Nun Chiagne” and his 1948 Hollywood Bowl performance of “Nessun dorma.”

UPDATE (30 April 2023): The CD is now in stock at Sepia Records' London headquarters. Please click here for orders. For those in the US, the CD is currently available exclusively from the Mario Lanza Institute. To order the CD from the Institute, please click here. Proceeds from purchases of the CD from the Institute will go towards scholarships in Lanza's name for young singers. From May 6 onwards, the CD will also be available for in-person purchase at the Mario Lanza Museum on 1214 Reed Street, Philadelphia. (Please phone 215-238-9691 for  information about opening hours.)