Customer Reviews

Christmas with Mario Lanza

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Mario Lanza has been gone for many years, but his heart and soul and magnificent voice makes him live in our hearts. This review is for those who have not heard the man, or may not have heard him in this kind of genre. Mario Lanza's voice was an intense lyric tenor, with strong baritonal colorings in the middle to lower part of his range. It was an often sweet sound, coupled with a clear diction that should be a model for any singer in any genre.

Lanza seems to me to have had a deep and abiding affection for God, though I would scarcely think of him as a goody-two-shoes. He had the robust appetites of the common man and displayed them proudly- yet- listen to any of these selections and tell me he didn't believe in God. Hark, the Herald Angels Sing jumps out at the listener, as Lanza wraps his wonderful voice around the words and the very meaning of the words. He was capable of surpassing tenderness as well. There's a song here by Max Reger (I think!), The Virgin's Slumber Song, which is sung in an exquisite half voice. The sounds Lanza produces here are amazingly tender, bell-clear, sweet, and full of love. This song alone is worth the price of the album, but it is hardly the only one. Harpo Marx's Guardian Angels will touch your heart deeply. The descriptions here of a child's heavenly visions are enraptured, full of power, yet tender and yearning for the beauty that is, for the moment, out of reach.

The sound preserved here is far better than the old LP that I owned and listened to for decades. It is free of the distortions that record was prone to. Lanza's voice is clear, clean, and distortion free. He was in fine voice for these sessions, and, for me, this preserves Lanza's best work. May God bless this mighty tenor, wherever he is.

Christmas with Mario Lanza has been my favorite Christmas CD for over ten years. I am quite a fan of Christmas music and have been exposed to alot of it thanks to working three Christmas seasons in a retail music store. Mario Lanza's CD still gets more playing time around the season than any other I own. A combination of truly great songs and that magnificent voice is unbeatable. His version of O Holy Night is the greatest I have ever heard.

This CD is a wonderful restoration of a timeless classic for anyone who loves Christmas music. Mario Lanza's magnificent voice complements perfectly the inspiring musical arrangements for listeners of all ages.

Listening to this album brings back memories of childhood when a well-worn record was dutifully and lovingly played on Christmas mornings. One of my favorite selections is "Guardian Angels," a beautiful and haunting song composed by Harpo Marx. "O Holy Night" is a masterpiece and "Silent Night," "The Lord's Prayer" and "Ave Maria" are powerful. Each hymn is impeccably done; Mr. Lanza was truly an artist.

Mario Lanza's wonderfully soaring, searing voice was made for songs like the great traditional carols he performs on this album. He brings back countless memories of the glorious childhood Christmases so many of us had in the 1950s and 1960s--when Christmas, like life in America generally, was still full of optimism, promise, and hope, when tomorrow could still be better than today.

Lanza's album brings back Spielbergesque childhood memories of elaborate and moving midnight Masses or other Christmas services for which our parents indeed would let us stay up so we could see tiny children bring a life-size figure of baby Jesus up the center aisle and into the manger; fine buffets turned by our grandparents into Christmas wonderlands with cotton batting, tiny houses, ponds made from mirrors, faded and chipped but still-exquisite Nativity sets, and what seemed like millions of tiny multicolored lights; of traditional trees bedecked with Shiny Brite ornaments--whisk- or feather-tailed birds, Santas emerging from chimneys or spheres, tiny bells, fruit, and more, or of aluminum trees and revolving color wheels; of trying to go to sleep amid our childhood excitement over the next day's presents, and awakening with even more when we would open them; of going to our grandparents' homes for even more presents and a rich, filling dinner; and of going to sleep somewhat sad at how all that magic lasted only such a short time and was over so fast. (The blues over having to go back to school wouldn't start until after New Year's Day!)

My first memory of Lanza was when I first heard his rendition of _The Drinking Song_ from _The Student Prince_ on December 31, 1967 (the day of the famous Green Bay Packers-Dallas Cowboys "Ice Bowl"), as my parents got ready to celebrate with friends later that day. Even as a child, I was spellbound by That Voice. No one could hold a note like Lanza!

Not until my mid-30s, however, did I hear his Christmas songs, starting with his incomparable 1951 rendition of _Silent Night_, with his and the orchestra's and chorus's lush, perfect evocation of the meaning of the melody and lyrics, evocative of that hope-filled, long-gone postwar era, yet timeless and new as tomorrow.

Even though I had ceased being a traditional Catholic or Christian long ago, I was moved to tears when I heard Lanza's _Silent Night_ over my car radio on the early evening of Christmas Day 1992 as I drove into a relative's neighborhood and looked out over a snow-quilted subdivision dotted with what seemed hundreds of happy houses, chimneys smoking with warmth and lit up with thousands of decorative lights outside and with warmth and love inside.

Truly "heavenly peace," I thought, on that wonderful, love-filled modern-day silent night celebrating the one nearly 2,000 years before. For me, Mario Lanza framed and made this memorable moment forever.

Lanza's tenor is perfect for each song, be it the overwhelming _O Holy Night_ or the gentle _The Virgin's Slumber Song_ and _Guardian Angels_ (with harp accompaniment and music written by Harpo Marx--don't laugh; he was as gifted at the harp as Lanza was as a singer!). When Lanza sings _Adeste Fideles_--in both Latin and English--and urges the angels to "sing with exaltations," he, too, is doing exactly that. You no doubt will want to join him, at least in your heart.

Many of us remember how Lanza's incomparable voice once heralded the season as much as those of Nat "King" Cole or the Carpenters do today. Like Cole and Karen Carpenter, Lanza left us far too young. One all but cries at what each of them could have accomplished had they lived longer, but one rejoices at how they shared their gifts with us all in their short lives.

Thanks to this wonderful CD, we can now enjoy Lanza and his Christmas gifts again, year after year--and share them with others. Get it--you won't regret it.

This is a vast improvement on Lanza's illness-affected (and depressing) Mario Lanza Sings Christmas Carols - reviewed elsewhere on these pages. Here the tenor is in the full bloom of health, and there is much to enjoy. Among the highlights are some of the lesser-known numbers, including an extremely touching and heartfelt Guardian Angels (admittedly not a Christmas Carol as such) and the inexpressibly sweet Virgin's Slumber Song. The latter is all the more remarkable when one considers that the tenor recorded several boisterous arias at the same session.

Other highlights include Lanza's unforgettable I'll Walk With God, from the soundtrack of The Student Prince, and a powerful Lord's Prayer. The former is stirring stuff indeed, and even atheists (myself included) will find themselves applauding this magnificent rendering.

Ironically, the more traditional Christmas Carols are perhaps the least interesting selections, though Lanza sings them all with his trademark commitment. The oddest choice on the CD is a most UNChristmassy selection - Pieta, Signore (from the tenor's Albert Hall concert), which jars against the very spirit of the album.

But overall a very enjoyable release that showcases an extraordinary talent.

I have listened to Mario Lanza since childhood. My mother is a huge fan, also from Philadelphia. This CD (also have in vinyl and 8track(!)) is one of the greatest showcases of his talent. Oh Holy Night is the BEST version of this song. You must add to your collection!

I have just spent the past six hours listening to snippets of every Christmas CD that I can find on Amazon, and this is the best by far. It's the purest rendition of the best Christmas hymns that are sung in church on Christmas Eve. No inane flourishes, no ignorant alterations, no arrogant amendments, just pure hymnal power. Don't agree? Type "christmas" in the Amazon music search box, listen to all the renditions of all the classic hymns such as "O Come All Ye Faithful" and when you are done you cannot but agree that Mario Lanza is not surpassed.

Update: I am now listening to the full CD and it is better even than I had hoped for. The beauty of Lanza's voice brings tears to my eyes and joy to my heart.

When I was growing up in the 60's and 70's Christmas was the focal point of family. It was the only time of year that we saw some of our kin. As such it was always a big deal when the climax of the evening was singing Christmas Carols and my Dad recorded every wacky moment on his reel to reel. Leading up to this extravaganza we'd play a number of different records throughout the day and this one always ruled the roost.

You don't have to be a scholar of musical composition and performance to recognize greatness when something resonates at the core of your being to such an extent that it sends goose bumps scurrying across your skin chasing your hairs on end. Such is the raw emotion conveyed in this most cherished recording. No other possessed such power and grace, and when coupled with the spirit of Christmas - whew! "O Holy Night" and "The Lord's Prayer" are breathtaking.

If you like Christmas music - buy the disc. Especially if you've grown somewhat tired of the usual fair that passes for songs of the season these days. It'll rejuvenate your sense of spirit and if you're not very familiar with him it'll introduce you to one of the greatest voices of all time.

When I was a kid, my parents would listen to this every Christmas, and I couldn't wait for it to end. The Christmas before I turned 16, I found myself putting this on before all the other records. This has become one of my favorites for the last 16 years now. I have searched for this on cd for the last 2yrs, and I'm so glad to have finally found those memories on something I can play. (TRY to find a record player)."We Three Kings" still gives me chills when he speaks those parts, and "Guardian Angels" is so hauntingly beautiful. "oh, Holy Night" showcases the power in his voice that no one could match.

Mario Lanza sings wonderfully bonito. He sings some of the traditionals and also some ones I have not heard in quite some time. Each one is sung with such warm and feeling you will want to play this more then just at Christmas time.This disc is well worth the money, Enjoy!!