- Published on
In January 2020 the London-based CD company Sepia Records will be releasing its latest Mario Lanza compilation: Classics. Starting with its best-selling Greatest Operatic Recordings in January 2015, this will be Sepia's eighth Lanza release in five years.
As with Sepia's previous seven Lanza CDs, the selections on this disc were chosen by a small group of Lanza aficionados: tenor Vincent Di Placido, biographer Armando Cesari, Carmel Parisi, Lee Ann Cafferata, and myself. This project was a labour of love, and none of us has any financial involvement with the CD.
As with Sepia's previous seven Lanza CDs, the selections on this disc were chosen by a small group of Lanza aficionados: tenor Vincent Di Placido, biographer Armando Cesari, Carmel Parisi, Lee Ann Cafferata, and myself. This project was a labour of love, and none of us has any financial involvement with the CD.
The commercial recordings on this 74-minute CD were sourced from the best-available pre-1963 vinyl releases that Vince Di Placido and I could find, while the two non-commercial recordings featured here—--"Granada" and "Because"—--were drawn, respectively, from the optical track of a late 1950s film print of Because You're Mine and a 1959 RAI radio programme ("La Mia Vita per il Canto"). All have been lovingly remastered by Sepia's resident sound engineer, Robin Cherry.
The CD also includes a generously filled booklet of detailed liner notes and several rare photos.
Mario Lanza: Classics is available from 7 February 2020 at Amazon and all the other usual online outlets. This is the link for Amazon UK and here is the US Amazon link.
The following is a description of the CD, taken directly from my liner notes:
This CD brings together Lanza’s most popular recordings, including his three million-selling singles (all making their first appearance on this label), his Top 20 chart successes in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and the highlights from his two best-selling albums, The Great Caruso and The Student Prince. It also includes a representative sampling of the tenor at his vocal and stylistic zenith in multiple genres, with definitive renditions of everything from an Edwardian parlour song (“Because”) to five Neapolitan classics. As such, this CD serves as both the perfect introduction to the art and voice of Mario Lanza and—for his existing admirers—an unusually convenient compilation of many of his greatest recordings.
MARIO LANZA: CLASSICS
1 Granada (Lara) (Lanza's 3rd and final version, recorded in 1951)
2 Be My Love (Brodszky-Cahn)
3 Because (d’Hardelot-Teschemacher)
4 The Loveliest Night of the Year (Aaronson-Webster-after Rosas)
5 Some Day (Friml-Hooker)
6 The Lord’s Prayer (Malotte) (RCA)
7 Because You’re Mine (Brodszky-Cahn) (RCA)
8 Serenade (from The Student Prince) (Romberg-Donnelly-Webster) (MGM)
9 Drink! Drink! Drink! (Romberg-Donnelly) (MGM)
10 Beloved (Brodszky-Webster) (1953 version)
11 Mamma Mia, Che Vò Sapé? (Nutile-Russo) (RCA)
12 Voce ’e Notte (De Curtis-Nicolardi)
13 Canta pe’ Mme! (De Curtis-Bovio) (RCA)
14 ’Na Sera ’e Maggio (Cioffi-Pisano) (RCA)
15 Sadko (adapted): Song of India (Rimsky-Korsakov; adapted Mercer)
16 Tosca: Recondita armonia (Puccini-Giacosa-Illica) (RCA)
17 La bohème: Che gelida manina (Puccini-Giacosa-Illica) (RCA)
18 Martha: M’apparì (Von Flotow-Riese)
19 Tosca: E lucevan le stelle (Puccini-Giacosa-Illica) (RCA)
BONUS TRACKS
20 Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod) (RCA)
21 Serenade (Drigo) (RCA)
22 Tell Me, Oh Blue Blue Sky (Giannini-Flaster) (Live from the Royal Albert Hall) 23 Passione (Tagliaferri-Valente-Bovio)
The CD also includes a generously filled booklet of detailed liner notes and several rare photos.
Mario Lanza: Classics is available from 7 February 2020 at Amazon and all the other usual online outlets. This is the link for Amazon UK and here is the US Amazon link.
The following is a description of the CD, taken directly from my liner notes:
This CD brings together Lanza’s most popular recordings, including his three million-selling singles (all making their first appearance on this label), his Top 20 chart successes in both the United States and the United Kingdom, and the highlights from his two best-selling albums, The Great Caruso and The Student Prince. It also includes a representative sampling of the tenor at his vocal and stylistic zenith in multiple genres, with definitive renditions of everything from an Edwardian parlour song (“Because”) to five Neapolitan classics. As such, this CD serves as both the perfect introduction to the art and voice of Mario Lanza and—for his existing admirers—an unusually convenient compilation of many of his greatest recordings.
MARIO LANZA: CLASSICS
1 Granada (Lara) (Lanza's 3rd and final version, recorded in 1951)
2 Be My Love (Brodszky-Cahn)
3 Because (d’Hardelot-Teschemacher)
4 The Loveliest Night of the Year (Aaronson-Webster-after Rosas)
5 Some Day (Friml-Hooker)
6 The Lord’s Prayer (Malotte) (RCA)
7 Because You’re Mine (Brodszky-Cahn) (RCA)
8 Serenade (from The Student Prince) (Romberg-Donnelly-Webster) (MGM)
9 Drink! Drink! Drink! (Romberg-Donnelly) (MGM)
10 Beloved (Brodszky-Webster) (1953 version)
11 Mamma Mia, Che Vò Sapé? (Nutile-Russo) (RCA)
12 Voce ’e Notte (De Curtis-Nicolardi)
13 Canta pe’ Mme! (De Curtis-Bovio) (RCA)
14 ’Na Sera ’e Maggio (Cioffi-Pisano) (RCA)
15 Sadko (adapted): Song of India (Rimsky-Korsakov; adapted Mercer)
16 Tosca: Recondita armonia (Puccini-Giacosa-Illica) (RCA)
17 La bohème: Che gelida manina (Puccini-Giacosa-Illica) (RCA)
18 Martha: M’apparì (Von Flotow-Riese)
19 Tosca: E lucevan le stelle (Puccini-Giacosa-Illica) (RCA)
BONUS TRACKS
20 Ave Maria (Bach-Gounod) (RCA)
21 Serenade (Drigo) (RCA)
22 Tell Me, Oh Blue Blue Sky (Giannini-Flaster) (Live from the Royal Albert Hall) 23 Passione (Tagliaferri-Valente-Bovio)
1 Comments
'Classics' is a smorgasbord of comfort Super-foods—sustenance for the soul that infallibly satisfies, satiates and inspires. The servings have been selected and prepared with exceptional intelligence and love. As is unfortunately not the case with the occasional, sullen, grudging recycling of Lanza by his official custodian, Sony, where some tracks are included because of the generic popularity of their title rather than the quality of Mario's performance, there are no rotten offerings here. Every dish is a masterpiece. 'Passione,' preceded by Mario's speaking his famed credo, "I sing each word as though it were my last on earth" and demonstrating how much he meant it, is the perfect dessert. Bravo Sepia and Derek McGovern!
