- Review
By Lindsay Perigo
At first glance, it would be tempting to write off the new Mario Lanza
double-CD release, Encore, as just another tired old BMG compilation, albeit
graced by the absence of Be My Love & some of the other seemingly inescapable
bromides of previous compendiums. Such an impression would be reinforced
by the minimalist approach to this release: the lack of technical information
& recording data, the failure even to credit composers - so that one
is left not knowing until it comes on which Ave Maria it is - pedestrian
art work which features Mario's face ridiculously superimposed on a pair
of puny shoulders, and token liner notes which refer to the "thirty
arias" on the discs when fully half the items (fifteen) are not arias
at all. But at first hearing of the discs themselves, this reviewer at
least felt that much, if not all, could be forgiven.
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- Old war-horses though all the tracks
may be, most of them have never sounded better - except perhaps when they
were first released on pristine vinyl, enveloped in that distinctively
warm, rich mono sound of the era. To me it was like hearing these recordings
again on my grandmother's gramophone, only with much more detail now apparent.
Selections from "Caruso Favourites" and "For the First Time"
have shed most of the sandy quality that marred their earlier appearances
on CD, and the earlier recordings have had the lush mellowness, of which
they had been progressively stripped, restored. Forward to the past! No
longer does a shrieking clarinet ruin the opening of E Lucevan Le Stelle;
even Granada has lost some of its excess brightness.
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- The worst thing that can be said about
Encore is that it begins with the wretched 1958 Funiculi Funicula, with
Mario sharp (over-pitched) on his very first entry. Still, this does serve
to give notice that the singer's most notorious fault will be present here,
as ever, so that one can make allowances from the start.
-
- Next is La Donna E Mobile, featuring
the alternate take of the second verse first heard on The Mario Lanza Collection.
This ends with a magnificent rendering of Verdi's cadenza - and then the
final two notes (pensier) from the first take are edited in! Did Mario
pull off a splendid cadenza and then fluff his final notes on this take?
Whatever, the unfluffed final B natural here is a glass-breaker.
-
- Brief notes on the remaining tracks now
follow:
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- Mattinata. Here the voice is a tad over-brightly
recorded, but the orchestra sounds veritably symphonic. Mattinata was probably
never intended to sound like Rachmaninoff, but what the hell? - enjoy!
Mario's top surges & gleams as always.
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- Celeste Aida. From the 1949 stable, one
of the four recordings with which Mario announced his arrival to the world.
Slightly untutored here & there, with a decidedly wobbly moment on
the final B-flat, but overall, what an entrance!
-
- Granada. As I've indicated elsewhere,
I much prefer the Because You're Mine soundtrack version, but I have to
say that I've never heard this one sound better. Bass has been restored,
the over-brightness is less than usual - & this performance is always
worth hearing for the last note of the introduction alone!
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- Che Gelida Manina. Another of the first
four recordings, arguably Mario's greatest, and certainly my desert island
disc if it ever comes to that. Our esteemed web-site host has, I'm afraid,
slightly oversold the extent to which it has been restored to its original
glory. This pressing shows the same intermittent fluttering that has marred
previous re-issues, and the annoying orchestral drop-out just before the
word "Scrivo" is still there. But for the most part, the sound
is just magnificent. The phrase "Talor dal mio forziere," which
I have seen reduce susceptible females - and myself - to copious, instant
tears, is more stunning than ever, and the climactic High C is one to die
for. Had Mario never recorded anything else, this one performance would
have earned him immortality.
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- A Vucchella. Wow!! I suggest listening
to this three times in succession. First, listen to the voice alone. Remind
yourself that these almost unbearably sweet sounds are coming from the
same throat that rendered the operatic tour de force you've just heard,
and marvel anew at the astonishing versatility of this artist. Then, listen
to the orchestra alone. So much more detail than before is apparent in
this pressing - envelop yourself in the lush harmonies now manifest. Finally,
savour the two together, and the exquisite precision with which soloist
& orchestra work together. Gorgeous!
-
- Core 'ngrato. I know this recording (1949)
has a lot of fans, but I wish Mario had done a re-take. The off-key shrieking
at the beginning of the reprise spoils it for me.
-
- Santa Lucia. This is from the 1959 Caruso
Favourites album, and is the first welcome intimation that the "sandy"
quality I referred to earlier has been largely excised. Still, the performance
is pedestrian, & I wish that the Coke version had been used instead.
-
- O Sole Mio. I shared Jeff's disappointment
that this was the 1958 For The First Time version - until I heard it. Again,
there is a wealth of orchestral detail not evident earlier, and the voice
for once rings out almost exactly as it did in the movie. Give it another
chance, Jeff!
-
- Flower Song. Somehow I always had the
sense that Mario & the Flower Song were competing against each other,
with the aria getting the better of the artist! This is the alternate take
from the ML Collection. It starts out promisingly enough. As he approaches
the words "Je m'accuse ... " however, Mario is clearly itching
to rock & roll - but the orchestra is not having a bar of it. By the
time he gets to "Te revoir O Carmen" the thing is hopelessly
adrift, and the ugly, gratuitous aspirating of the final "Je t'aime"
seals this performance's unfortunate fate as something that should be heard
only among consenting masochists in private.
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- Lolita. The early version. A fun recording,
with the hitherto deleted portion once again restored, as on The ML Collection.
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- Questa O Quella. One of Mario's cleverest
feats, a daring gallop across a vocal tightrope which sees him arrive triumphantly
on the other side. And again, it never sounded better - although some trigger-happy
technician seems to have almost killed the orchestra's last chord.
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- Vesti la Giubba. The alternate take.
Mario is smouldering, but the conductor & orchestra are asleep. Just
as he alights on the High A of "infranto" & prepares to savour
it, they come off it! It's a wonder he didn't stop there & then and
utter one of his famous expletives about a certain part of his mother-in-law's
anatomy.
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- Addio Alla Madre. A brilliant recording
with some truly dazzling top notes. A pity that the last ones are sharp
by a country mile.
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- Vieni Sul Mar. Here the redemption of
"Caruso Favourites" proceeds apace. Sweet & mellow, with
beautifully burnished high notes.
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- Ave Maria. The commercial Bach-Gounod
Ave Maria, minus the violin solo. Overblown. The Great Caruso soundtrack
rendering is much more sensitive.
-
- Cielo E Mar. There is quite simply too
much mis-pitching in this for it to be acceptable. Someone should tap BMG
on the shoulder & alert them to the Coke version.
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- Recondita Armonia. Glorious. A knock-out.
Always was. Red wine & red eye territory.
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- E Lucevan Le Stelle. Ditto.
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- Mamma Mia Che Vo Sape. Ditto again!
-
- Libiamo. This always conjures up the
unforgettable scene at the 1995 ML Ball, when Elaine Malbin, seated at
the head table, got up & sang along with herself & her late fellow-duettist.
Mario was in great voice on this occasion, but he could have learned a
thing or two about finesse from his 19-year-old companion.
-
- Ideale. Some stunning touches in this
by-the-book reading of the Tosti classic, especially the almost-whispered
"Torna" at the end. And what depth in the voice - Mario Lanza,
baritone!
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- Nessun Dorma. Sorry guys, but Pav wins
the contest here. M comes close, but there are just too many blemishes
- the coarse bleariness of the opening phrases, the uncharacteristic constriction
in the top register, the marginal but noticeable collapse off the final
note ... Jeff thought this might have been a re-take. If only!
-
- Serenata. For my money, the find of the
season! Once again, there is so much more coming through from the orchestra,
especially the horn section, that we are offered a whole new experience
of this Caruso Favourite. Anyone who thinks that Mario was vocally finished
by this time must now explain this performance, just four months before
he died. To be sure, he goes astray in a couple of passages, but his voice
is big & black & rock solid, & he's really having fun here.
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- Una Furtiva Lagrima. If Mario had entered
a singing competition & sung this aria this way, he would have been
ranked last by the judges & first by the audience. A completely wrong
approach to this oh-so-delicate lyric aria, but the result is irresistible!
-
- Musica Proibita. From Caruso Favourites,
but not the revelation that Serenata was. OK, but not memorable.
-
- O Tu Che In Seno Agli Angeli. Good on
BMG for including this oft-overlooked recording. It's the original commercial
version, & it smokes!
-
- Pieta Signore. An odd choice from the
Albert Hall concert - wouldn't the Lamento di Federico have been more appropriate?
- with Mario stylistically mis-reading Stradella (or whichever imitator
this composition is now attributed to).
-
- Death of Otello. Sounds as good as it
does on the soundtrack. With Mario's imaginative gasps as he expires, &
the sombre closing chords from Verdi's pen, a breath-stopping way to end
the compilation.
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- Overall, Encore is a winner, a thrilling
repository of some of the most glorious sounds ever to flow from a human
throat. With so many things on it to savour, your reviewer is now going
to leave off writing about it & do just that. But first, he will uncork
a worthy Cab Sav.
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- And where did I leave those tissues?
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