About Us
This site was created by Derek McGovern and Lee Ann Cafferata in September 2010 to complement the long-running forum Mario Lanza, Tenor. It was launched on 31 January 2011 (the 90th anniversary of Lanza's birth). As with the Forum, our purpose is to pay tribute to Mario Lanza by providing informed discussion on his life, career and recorded legacy, and, at the same time, refute the many lingering myths about the man and his artistry. This is not your typical Lanza "fan site," however. While we unabashedly celebrate Lanza, we are not one-eyed in our enthusiasm, analyzing the low points as well as the highlights of his extraordinary life and legacy.
Our sparkling contributors hail from eighteen countries, and include New Zealander Derek McGovern, PhD, an English professor and Lanza aficionado who has written the liner notes to 16 CD releases, including fifteen Lanza compilations for the UK-based Sepia Records; Lee Ann Cafferata, PhD, a digital historian from Northern Virginia, U.S.A.; Italian-Australian singer, biographer and broadcaster Armando Cesari, author of Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Baskerville Great Voices Series, 2nd edition, 2008) and a renowned authority on Lanza's life and career; lyric tenor and Lanza documentary filmmaker Vincent di Placido from Ireland; the late Muriel Agnello, a Maryland, U.S.A.-based writer; American tenor and health professional Tony Partington; Lou Abada, a retired human resources manager from the Philippines; electronics engineering technologist Michael McAdam from Canada; Australian Stephen Cutler, an accomplished sonic engineer specializing in Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES); Rome-based university administrator, author, and former US diplomat Emilio Iodice; former police officer and opera buff Gary Maidens of Canada; linguist and live opera enthusiast David Savage of the U.S.; and researcher extraordinaire Stefanie Walzinger of Germany.
Our sparkling contributors hail from eighteen countries, and include New Zealander Derek McGovern, PhD, an English professor and Lanza aficionado who has written the liner notes to 16 CD releases, including fifteen Lanza compilations for the UK-based Sepia Records; Lee Ann Cafferata, PhD, a digital historian from Northern Virginia, U.S.A.; Italian-Australian singer, biographer and broadcaster Armando Cesari, author of Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Baskerville Great Voices Series, 2nd edition, 2008) and a renowned authority on Lanza's life and career; lyric tenor and Lanza documentary filmmaker Vincent di Placido from Ireland; the late Muriel Agnello, a Maryland, U.S.A.-based writer; American tenor and health professional Tony Partington; Lou Abada, a retired human resources manager from the Philippines; electronics engineering technologist Michael McAdam from Canada; Australian Stephen Cutler, an accomplished sonic engineer specializing in Digitally Extracted Stereo (DES); Rome-based university administrator, author, and former US diplomat Emilio Iodice; former police officer and opera buff Gary Maidens of Canada; linguist and live opera enthusiast David Savage of the U.S.; and researcher extraordinaire Stefanie Walzinger of Germany.