Customer Reviews

The Essential Mario Lanza

5 star:		(6)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Let me state at the outset that I am not generally a great fan of the opera or vocal music in general. I am a died-in-the-wool fanatic for symphonic and orchestral music. Oh, I enjoy much of Bizet's works, Richard Wagners orchestral suites, most of Verdi's work - including some of his arias, Rossini's overtures, and I admit to having a weakness for some of the great vocalists over the years - Iussi Bjorling, Mario Del Monico, Placido Domingo et al - but I could never get into hard core opera, and popular vocal trash leaves me totally cold. All that being said, this 2-disc set of Mario Lanza is absolutely to die for!! Mario has the greatest voice, bar none, that I have ever heard in all my 75 years. His renditions of Granada and Valencia are enough to send shivers up your spine - but I could repeat that statement for every cut on this 2-disc set.

The sound leaves something to be desired on both discs. There is some surface noise present between all of the selections, and the accompanying players do not always sound at their best, but all that is immediately forgotten once Lanza's extraordinay voice takes over. In spite of the recording shortcomings, I would give this set 10 stars if I could. What a shame Lanza had to die so young! The world of music will never again see his equal.

amazing collection....this ill-fated glorious man had a voice unlike any others....the and now.

Alot for your money here. Opera, show tunes, pop, Italian favorites, all sung perfectly by this vocal master. The Student Prince Serenade and Una Furtiva Lagrima are my favorites, but there are so many to choose from. Some I've never even heard before.
If you can buy just one of his CDs, get this one.

Great cd, I especially laughed at the Donkey sernanade. It brings back wonderful memories. Everything was delivered as promised.

Mario Lanza had a voice you only hear once in a lifetime. There really are no CDs which do him justice...they just couldn't capture it with the equipment they had. This compilation is nice, though. A pleasant reminder of what he was.

This is the best collection of Lanza's recordings that I have yet found, many of which I have on the original 45rpm releases. My only objections are personal, and not a fault of this collection - I would have liked to have had "Lolita", from the reverse side of "Granada" on the original 45rpm, included. Also, I despise "I'll Walk with God", which was included in the original movie in a blatant act of pandering to the religiosity of the film audience. It doesn't belong in this otherwise great Lanza collection.

Ah, Sweet Mystery of Life says it all. Lanza had an unbelieveable sound/instrument. His voice will always live on. BRAVO, Mario!