Mario Lanza Live at Hollywood Bowl: Historical Recordings

Mario Lanza Live at Hollywood Bowl: Historical Recordings (1947 & 1951) is a 2000 CD, released by the Gala label, includes the six selections that tenor Mario Lanza sang at his first Hollywood Bowl concert in August, 1947. This is the performance that first brought Lanza to the attention of Hollywood, and shortly afterwards the tenor was signed to a seven-year film contract with MGM. He sings the arias "Una furtiva lagrima" from L'elisir d'amore, Un Di all'Azzurro Spazio from Andrea Chenier, and E Lucevan le Stelle from Tosca. In duet with soprano Frances Yeend, he also sings Parigi, O Cara from La Traviata, Vogliatemi Bene from Madama Butterfly, and O Soave Fanciulla from La Boheme. The conductor is Eugene Ormandy. Reviewing the concert in the Los Angeles Examiner, Ernest Lonsdale wrote that, "Mario Lanza could have taken the Bowl with him. [His] voice is rich, full, warm and ringing. He has expression, emotion and good pronunciation. His operatic potentialities, if he works... full article at wikipedia