Mario Lanza: Television Appearances
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Mario Lanza appeared on American, British, and German television screens on seven occasions during his lifetime. Below are a sampling of these appearances, with comments by Derek McGovern.
Please note: These performances, all of which have been uploaded in the best-available quality, may take a minute or two to complete their buffering. (Patience! They will appear eventually.) |
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30 September 1954, Part One (9:22)
Lanza first appeared on television in the premiere of CBS's Shower of Stars on 30 September 1954. Apprehensive about performing live after a three-year absence from the concert stage, Lanza made the disastrous decision to lip-synch to recordings that he had made in 1950 and 1951. The press quickly realized the deception and attacked him (though, curiously, not his co-star Betty Grable, who had also lip-synched on the program), insinuating for good measure that he had lost his voice.
(Derek McGovern's essay Confounding the Enemy tells the story of Lanza's magnificent redemption on the show just four weeks later.) |
30 September 1954, Part Two (8:31)
In Part One, Lanza lip-synchs to his 1950 RCA recording of 'Vesti la Giubba' and later takes part in the aforementioned skit.
In Part Two of the show, Lanza lip-synchs to his 1951 RCA recording of 'Marechiare' and his 1951 Coca-Cola Radio Show performance of 'Be My Love' (smoking during the latter!). Lost amid the furor was the fact that Lanza had acquitted himself well on the show in an amusing skit with comedian Fred Clark. (As can be seen here, Clark and his fellow comedians Hayden Rorke and Marvin Kaplan also provided some entertaining banter in between musical numbers.) |
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28 October 1954. (7:46) Lanza sings (live) 'E Lucevan le Stelle' from Tosca and 'Some Day' from The Vagabond King. The conductor is Giacomo Spadoni. Derek McGovern's essay Confounding the Enemy tells the story behind this remarkable performance. A colorized version is also available here. |
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31 October 1957 (6:13)
This religious program, filmed in the Vatican, was subsequently broadcast in the United States in July 1958 (and repeated on a number of occasions, most recently in 2013). Lanza sings three songs (live to camera): "Santa Lucia," "Because You're Mine," and "Ave Maria" (Schubert). The pianist is Paul Baron, who later served as conductor on three of Lanza's 1959 albums. This clip features only the songs that Lanza performed on the program; for the full show, including an extended interview with Lanza (in habitually gregarious form) by the program's host, Father James Keller, and an appearance by Betty Lanza, see below. |
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Complete Program (first broadcast on Chicago's WGN-TV on 6 July 1958)
Part One (13:37) Lanza sings "Santa Lucia," and is then interviewed by Father Keller. While Lanza's altar boy premonitions revealed here should be taken with more than a grain of salt (!), the interview does provide ample evidence of the tenor's charm and charisma.
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Complete Program
Part Two (13:41) Lanza sings "Because You're Mine," and is then joined by his wife, Betty. After a short interview, the program concludes with Lanza singing Schubert's "Ave Maria." Note: Lanza states here that he and Betty have been married for a little over thirteen years. In fact, at the time of the interview (October 1957) they had been married for twelve and a half years. So why the fib? Presumably because Lanza knew that the program would not be broadcast until mid-1958.
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Mario Lanza arriving at Victoria Station, London, with his wife, Betty, 14 November 1957. (55 secs)
After six and a half years away from the concert platform (apart from his live performance on the CBS Shower of Stars Show in October 1954), Lanza had agreed to perform at the Royal Variety Show in front of Queen Elizabeth II and other members of the British royalty and aristocracy. An extract from the latter show can be heard in our Audio Files section, while a video of Lanza's appearance at the same venue six days later appears below. |
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24 November 1957 (11:44)
Lanza is in excellent voice on this live performance from the London Palladium. Here he repeats the three selections that he had sung at the same venue six days earlier as headlining artist of the Royal Variety Show. These are: 'Because You're Mine,' 'E Lucevan le Stelle' from Tosca, and 'The Loveliest Night of the Year.' The conductor is Constantine Callinicos. This newly restored version in Digital Extracted Stereo (DES), kindly provided by Lanza aficionado and sonic engineer Stephen Cutler, is a rare and thrilling record of the tenor in front of a live audience. Lanza would only sing live once more on television (on Britain's ATV Saturday Spectacular on January 18, 1958); sadly, no filmed record of that event has yet emerged. |
As Armando Cesari observes in his 2004 biography, "Vocally, Lanza is in total control, with the voice perfectly placed. There is no doubt whatsoever that technically he knows exactly what he is doing. He knows how to turn his voice and cover on the critical passaggio notes. The diaphragmatic support, essential for correct voice production, is superb. This is surprising in itself, given that he was not singing regularly [at the time]."
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