"Vogliatemi bene" from Puccini's Madama Butterfly, with Frances Yeend, soprano. Hollywood Bowl concert, 28 August 1947. Eugene Ormandy, conducting. (Above) This audio recording is accompanied by images of Lanza and Yeend with fellow Bel Canto Trio member George London in 1947, photos of Lanza with Tomiko Kanazawa (his Butterfly at the New Orleans Opera in 1948), assorted pics of Lanza at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947 and 1948, and a few frames from the Madama Butterfly scene with Kathryn Grayson in The Toast of New Orleans (1950). (7:26) --Courtesy of Vincent Di Placido.
About the Operatic Recordings
Where more than one version of a particular aria or duet exists, I've identified what I consider the best rendition(s) in bold. Roll over this bold text to locate the CD with the best reproduction of that recording. (This service is being updated regularly.) Where only one rendition exists, I've also identified the optimum CD source. (Again, simply scroll over the text with your mouse to locate these details.) Bear in mind, however, that not all of Lanza's operatic recordings are available on CD. Some are soundtrack recordings, for example, that are unlikely to be released commercially.
While SonyBMG has yet to release a CD comprising the best of Lanza's commercial operatic recordings, a starting point is Mario Lanza: Opera Arias and Duets (BMG, 1999). For Lanza's live operatic performances, the CD accompanying the second (2008) edition of Armando Cesari's biography Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy is by far the best compilation, and includes three Hollywood Bowl appearances (1947-49), operatic selections from a 1948 concert in Toronto, and some fascinating private recordings. Last, but not least, there are a number of recent (2015~2025) CDs released by Sepia Records that cumulatively feature almost all of Lanza's best operatic recordings. These are drawn from a variety of sources, including live broadcasts, acetates from Lanza's films, and commercial material. Two of these Sepia discs are devoted entirely to opera---Mario Lanza: Greatest Operatic Recordings and Greatest Operatic Recordings, Vol. 2---while The Undiscovered Mario Lanzaoffers numerous outtakes and operatic rarities and Golden Days features many of the tenor's finest operatic recordings in stereo for the first time.
Please note that while the aforementioned Sepia CDs were compiled by me, Armando Cesari, and Vincent Di Placido, none of us has any financial interest in these discs.
I intend to provide a more detailed discography (featuring exact recording dates, conductors' names, etc) here when time permits.
with Dorothy Kirsten, soprano, Giuseppe Valdengo, baritone, and Blanche Thebom, soprano, for soundtrack of The Great Caruso; Peter Herman Adler, conductor.
1945 one RCA test recording; the other a live radio performance
1947 MGM test recording
1948 Concert with Toronto Symphony Orchestra
1948 two live radio renditions
1950 six renditions: two for The Great Caruso, with Peter Herman Adler, conductor; one for Hedda Hopper Radio Show; three takes for RCA (two released takes & one superior unreleased take, which can be heard on the 2019 Sepia Records CD Mario Lanza: All the Things You Are)
