New Sepia Records CD: "Mario Lanza: One Alone"

12/18/2016

I'm thrilled to announce yet another Sepia Records Lanza CD compilation: Mario Lanza: One Alone.

A follow-up to Sepia's 2016 release Never Till Now, this compilation features more of Lanza's finest English-language recordings, and, not surprisingly, it's a stunner. Aside from the consistently great singing on display here, many of the commercial recordings (such as "Sylvia," "I'll See You Again," and the 1958 "I Love Thee") have never sounded richer or more vibrant, despite their vinyl origin. (Even jaded aficionados will be surprised!) In short, Sepia Records have once again done Lanza proud, and that extends to the accompanying booklet, which is a work of art in itself.

The material for this CD was chosen by Armando Cesari, Vincent Di Placido, Carmel Parisi, Lee Ann Cafferata and yours truly. As with the previous Sepia CDs we have worked on (Greatest Operatic Recordings, Vol. 1 and 2, My Italian Soul, and Never Till Now), none of us has any financial involvement in this project; it was strictly a labour of love.

One Alone will be available from all the usual online outlets on 10 February 2017.

UPDATE (10 January 2017): One Alone is available now from Sepia Records for between £7.99 and £8.99 (postage included) for PayPal users. For those wishing to purchase the CD from other online sellers, such as Amazon, the release date is still 10 February.

MARIO LANZA: ONE ALONE
1   They Didn’t Believe Me (Kern-Reynolds) Recorded (day/month/year) 23/8/49
2 The World Is Mine Tonight (Posford-Marvell) 10/7/51
3 Wanting You (Romberg-Hammerstein-Mandel-Schwab) 20/7/51
4 I’ve Got You Under My Skin (Porter) 24/7/51 [with previously unreleased spoken introduction]
5 Night and Day (Porter) 14/8/51 [with previously unreleased spoken introduction]
6 Roses of Picardy (Wood-Weatherley) 29/11/51
7 One Night of Love (Schertzinger-Kahn) 5/12/51
8 Your Eyes Have Told Me So (Blaufuss-Kahn-Van Alstyn) Early December 1951
9 Sylvia (Speaks-Scollard) Early December 1951
10 I’ll See You Again (Coward) 29/1/52
11 Romance (Leslie-Donaldson) 1/2/52 [with spoken introduction]
12 The Trembling of a Leaf (Green-Lawrence) 4/3/52
13 Yesterdays (Kern-Harbach) 6/3/52
14 The Moon Was Yellow (Ahlert-Leslie) 20/3/52 [with previously unreleased spoken introduction]
15 Golden Days (Romberg-Donnelly) 31/7/52
16 Will You Remember? (Romberg-Young) 27/8/56
17 Behold! (Moore-Reed) 15/4/57
18 Arrivederci Roma (Rascel-Sigman) 7/11/57 [English-language version]
19 I Love Thee (Grieg) September 1958
20 One Alone (Romberg-Harbach-Hammerstein-Mandel) September 1959  [remastered "raw" acetate]
BONUS TRACKS
21 The Lord’s Prayer (Malotte) Performed live on 19/12/48 (NBC radio broadcast)
22 Tell Me, Oh Blue, Blue Sky (Giannini-Flaster) Recorded sometime in 1952 [private home recording]
23 Love Me Tonight (Friml-Hooker) July 1959
24 Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life (Herbert-Young) 27/7/51 [with spoken introduction]

5 Comments

Karen Stewart

12/20/2016 08:37:09 am

Hello.
Thank you for your excellent description and honest review of song compilation and sound quality.
I grew up listening to my Mum's old (not old then) 78 records - and would like to buy a CD or 2 as a surprise. My Mum (88 in February) appreciates good sound and song choice as I do.
I've also seen a 5 CD set of 100 songs - Do you know anything of its song choice and sound quality?
Lastly, although I have read what you have written carefully, I was only young as I grew up listening to Mario Lanza (I was born in 1959), so would really appreciate some guidance as to best recordings.
I don't want to ask my Mum because I'm wanting to buy them as part of her birthday gift in February (I notice a new CD is being released that month) to surprise her.
Any assistance would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks heaps.
Kind regards,
Karen (Stewart,
Brisbane, Queensland, Australia

Derek McGovern

1/10/2017 03:17:48 am

Hi Karen: Apologies for the belated response. As you can see from the update (10 January), the CD can be ordered now directly from Sepia Records if you have a PayPal account. It will cost you around $15 (Australian dollars), including postage, from Sepia.

The 5-CD set you mentioned ("100 Hits") is a mixed bag in terms of the selections. Although the set includes many good to excellent recordings, in at least a dozen instances, lesser versions of songs and arias that Lanza recorded more than once have been chosen over the superior renditions. There are other poor choices as well, including the atrociously sung "More Than You Know."

Cheers,
Derek

Vincent Di Placido

1/14/2017 01:15:02 am

From the outset I have to admit my comments are slightly biased as I helped on this release & the other 4 fabulous Sepia releases that precede "One Aline" but even with that vested interest I can appreciate all the class, beauty & pratically perfect handling of this cd & the other 4 in this series.
They now represent 5 volumes of Mario Lanza's finest singing, over 6 & a half hours of vocal & interpretive wonders.
The choices for this release "One Aline" cover Mario's entire recording career & after my second listening I found myself amazed yet again at the voice, the passion, the phrasing, the tenderness & yes the power. Mario had it all & in spades.
From that first caressing opening phrase on "They Didn't Believe Me" through to the most passionate outpouring on "Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life" you are left breathless & in awe of this man's talent & voice.
From sequencing to expert booklet notes, fabulous photographs & beautiful remastering, this is a triumph! I am so proud to have had a little involvement in it's creation.
Order this & the other 4 Sepia Mario Lanza release, they are must haves!

jeanne donato

1/7/2018 06:21:00 pm

I'd like to purchase the 1958 recording of Mario Lanza from royal AlbertHall in England with all the songs and extra conversation with his accompanist.Please advise. Thank you, Jeanne Donato

Derek McGovern link

1/7/2018 07:07:56 pm

Hello Jeanne: The BMG CD "Mario Lanza: Live from London" contains all of Lanza's singing at that recital, plus *most* of his comments to the audience. (There was no conversation recorded with his accompanist.) Oddly, however, BMG cut Lanza's funniest remarks, which immediately preceded "Because You're Mine." Those can be heard on the 2016 Sepia Records CD "Never Till Now," details of which can be found here in our News section. (Just scroll down a bit.)

Regards,
Derek McGovern

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New Sepia Records CD: "Mario Lanza: One Alone"

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