Customer Reviews

The Mario Lanza Collection (3CD)

5 star:		(12)
4 star:		(5)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

This is an excellent collection set, though certainly not exhaustive by a long shot. The great Tenor had over 400 titles to his credit, but this offers a generous sampling of a few of those. There is really nothing new here, but it is nice to have all these titles in one neat little package. Some of the highlights are "Be My Love" (of course), "Loveliest Night of the Year" (ditto), "And Here You Are" (just an incredible interpretation, with the most exciting High B ending ever by any Tenor!), "Will You Remember?", "And This is My Beloved", "All the Things You Are", and "Vesti la Giubba". These are just a few of the many wonderful selections that will delight listeners in this wonderful collection. This is a collection that should be in every lover of great singing's collection, be it opera, or the good old pop standard, or the best from Broadway. Lanza sounds equally at home singing Cole Porter as he does singing Puccini. Mario Lanza is the Tenor who inspired the Three Tenors to pursue operatic careers, and this set will give you some idea why. Hear Mario and hear the Master. Treat yourself and buy this box set now. A sheer delight from the first magnificent selection to the last.

I have loved Mario Lanza since I was a child. How can one not! That voice can make you cry, make you happy, make you feel emotions you didn't think possible to feel just from listening to music. It was actually listening to Mario Lanza, that made me appreciate opera and the classics. Something that otherwise I may never have bothered listening to. This collection of 3cds deserves 10 stars. Disc one has his Legendary Hits and his most romantic love songs. Disc 2 has his more exotic songs like 'Lygia' and 'Lady of Spain'. Then there are some terrific rarities from 'The Mario Lanza Show'. Disc 3 features some movie songs and then some fantastic Opera arias. This collection is also all digitally remastered, so the sound quality is wonderful. If you are a fan of Lanza, please, you need this collection. It is wonderful. And the 20 page booklet is packed with photos and an insightful essay on Lanza's life.

Mario Lanza was one of the gretest tenors of the recorded era. In my opinion, only Fritz Wunderlich was his equal. If you are a fan of Domingo or Pavorotti -- both of whom are fine tenors -- listen to Mario Lanza and hear how a truly great tenor sounds. Unfortunately, many people -- including critics -- don't take Lanza seriously because they believe MGM's publicity from his movie making days that he was a talented but untrained amateur. While Lanza was indeed extremely talented, he also had extensive formal training. But all this becomes immaterial when you hear this man's glorious voice. If you love great singing please treat yourself to this excellent set which covers a wide range of music from classical through popular.

This is a good introduction to Lanza, albeit an incomplete one. Its pluses are the well-written (and largely accurate) liner notes, and often-excellent sound. If you're looking for Lanza's recordings of love songs, then this is the place to start. Beloved has never sounded better, and the tenor's incomparable recordings of Serenade and Drink! Drink! Drink! from The Student Prince are included. Other highlights include the perfectly recorded and sublimely sung The Song Angels Sing (inexplicably rare on CD); Love is the Sweetest Sing (sung by a tenor who knew all about the subject); If I loved You; One Night of Love; and many other stand-outs.

The downside is that operatic selections are limited to just seven in a 61-track collection. Neapolitan Songs - a huge and important part of the Lanza legacy -are similarly under-represented. I feel that BMG has squandered an opportunity to present a fuller picture of the tenor, especially when one considers the care that has gone into the sound mastering and liner notes. By Disc Three, I found myself a little weary of minor songs such as A Night To Remember, Never Till Now and Come Dance With Me, and longed for "meatier" selections that showed Lanza at the height of his powers. A fourth disc given over to opera and Neapolitan/Italian song would have made all the difference, I feel.

Overall verdict: all in all a good release, but newcomers to Lanza take note - there is more to the guy than just love songs.

The Mario Lanza Collection is a three CD set and it has 61 songs and they all sound great. The mastering on this set is excellent and the song choice is very very good. It would have been perfect if they added a forth CD with more Arias, Italian songs and Sacred Arias. BUT still this set is a great introduction to Lanza. Lanza's voice was powerful and beautiful; if you are a fan of great singing, you will love Lanza. Highlights on this CD set are; Be my Love, Because your Mine, Serenade, With a Song in My Heart, Temptation, The Lord's Prayer, Ciribirbin, O Solo Mio, Ariverducci Roma, and on and on. They are many many great songs on this set, and I highly recommend it.

If I am not mistaken, Mario was taught by Gigli's teacher and Gigli was the greatest tenor since Caruso. There is a report that his teacher even preferred him to Gigli and his teacher refused to teach eversince... It doesn't matter much after all. Wasn't Pavarotti a primary school teacher before he started his singing career?

Note Mario's voice and particularly his diction ( e.g., I am delighted by Richard Tauber, but his English diction just puts me off) : the result, so evocative that he is simply unsurpassed. He certainly outshone Domingo, Jose Cura or any other living tenor today.

The only criticism is an irony by itself: Mario made classical music so popular that some no longer know whether he is a pop or classical opera singer. We have to come to terms with this fact: never was English taken to such a height of potency and beauty before, so much so that the English speaking people in general don't want to believe it!

I had forgotten what a beautiful voice Mario Lanza had. This collection contains opera and pop selections that exhibit the power yet sweetness of his voice. Fortunately, we have his CD's and videos so we can remember and listen to his gorgeous, vibrant voice and personality. I highly recommend this collection along with his wonderful movies, especially The Great Caruso.

extract from most important LPs. Brilliant sound quality from RCA. Also included are soundtrack recordings from some of his movies. The are several reissues from Mario Lanza but this one is a collection you should have.

I had forgotten just how beautiful a voice from the past was. It is a wonderful collection

This Mario Lanza collection is just wonderful. The song selections and the sound of the recordings are excellent. If you are a Mario Lanza fan, you do not want to miss purchasing this collection. You will not be disappointed.