Mario Lanza - Be My Love: Greatest Performances at Mgm
Our Price: $79.99
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
Buy Used: from $4.26 (click here)
Category: Music CD
See more CD details
Buy this Music CD at online store in your country
Canadian Music Store
Canadian Music Store
CD Details
Artist: Mario LanzaEdition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 1998-03-17
Music Label: Rhino / Wea
Soundtracks:
- That Midnight Kiss: They Didn't Believe Me
- That Midnight Kiss: Love Is Music
- The Toast Of New Orleans:The Tina Lina
- The Toast Of New Orleans: Be My Love
- The Toast Of New Orleans: I'll Never Love You
- The Toast Of New Orleans: Act I. Finale From Madama Butterfly
- The Great Caruso: Celeste Aida From Aida
- The Great Caruso: Ave Maria
- The Great Caruso: Sextet From Lucia Di Lammermoor
- The Great Caruso: La Donna E Mobile From Rigoletto
- The Great Caruso: Vesti La Giubba From Pagliacci
- Because You're Mine: Because You're Mine
- Because You're Mine: All The Things You Are
- Because You're Mine: Granada
- Because You're Mine: Finale From Cavalleria Rusticana
- Because You're Mine: The Lord's Prayer
- Because You're Mine: Because You're Mine (Reprise)
- The Student Prince: Serenade
- The Student Prince: Deep In My Heart, Dear
- The Student Prince: Beloved
Music reviews of Be My Love: Greatest Performances at Mgm
Music Review: Stunning Lanza rarities
Rating: 5 Stars
Some of Mario Lanza's soundtrack recordings make a long-awaited debut on CD with this disc. This is a collection of material from the tenor's first four movies, plus the film in which he should have appeared: The Student Prince.
The sound quality on this CD is not up to the standard of most of Lanza's BMG releases, but the disc is still well worth buying for a number of fascinating tracks that are unavailable elsewhere. The greatest of these is All the Things You Are, a recording that was inexplicably cut from the release print of Because You're Mine, Lanza's fourth movie. One of the tenor's most rapturous achievements, this is a vastly superior version to his 1951 radio version (featured on the BMG CD My Romance), and better than his 1956 rendition for the Cavalcade of Show Tunes album. "You are the angel glow that lights a star," he sings, imbuing the word "glow" with a beguiling magic that would disarm even the starchiest of critics. As an example of pure vocal poetry, this rendition is in a class of its own.
Other standouts include The Lord's Prayer - also from Because You're Mine, but here with organ accompaniment only - and the tenor's immortal Serenade from The Student Prince. Although the same rendition as originally released by RCA, Serenade features a lengthy orchestral intro and a markedly different recording mix between singer and orchestra. Lanza aficionados will also note that the men's chorus is further back than on the commercial version, and that Lanza's concluding high B-flat rings out here with greater clarity.
Equally interesting are several recordings from the Great Caruso, some of which are actually alternate takes from the versions used in the movie. Celeste Aida (one of seven takes that Lanza purportedly made of this aria) contains the soundtrack recitative but the aria itself is a different - and more lyrical - rendition. La Donna 'e Mobile is an improvement over the movie take, and Vesti La Giubba offers a tantalizing alternative to the compelling movie version. Bach-Gounod's Ave Maria, on the other hand, *is* the movie take, but the sound quality is better here, with the organ accompaniment noticeably more dominant.
Although not stated in the liner notes, much of the material presented on the disc consists of alternate takes from the movie versions. The differences are, in many cases, subtle ones, with the exception of Beloved from The Student Prince. Here we have a completely different rendition of this passionate song - the very recording, in fact, that led to Lanza's clashes with Curtis Bernhardt, the man originally signed to direct the film. Bernhardt reportedly disliked Lanza's rendition, deeming it over the top for the character of a Prussian Prince. I can now confirm that Herr Bernhardt was right! This is Lanza at his roughest, and his splendid remake a year later was a vast improvement.
Also included here is an impressive Granada, which in some ways betters the tenor's own commercial recording of the song; and a pleasant alternate take of Deep In My Heart, Dear with Ann Blyth.
The liner notes are well-written and largely accurate, and the presentation of the CD (with numerous photos) is most attractive.
Highly recommended.
More Be My Love: Greatest Performances at Mgm free music reviews:
1
1
Broadway & Vocalists CDs
Music Genres
Bestsellers in Broadway & Vocalists CDs
George Shearing, Mel Torme - Elegant EveningSHEARING,G/TORME,M; Release date: 1990-10-25; Music CD
Best price: $6.39
Price in other shops:
Stan Getz - Spring Is HereRelease date: 1993-01-11; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Rosemary Clooney - Girl SingerRelease date: 1999-04-01; Music CD
Best price: $8.97
Price in other shops:
The Blenders - NogRelease date: 1998-10-20; Music CD
Best price: $8.77
Price in other shops:
Brave Combo, Tiny Tim - GirlTIM,TINY/BRAVE COMB; Release date: 1996-03-19; Music CD
Best price: $15.05
Price in other shops:
Belleville a Cappella Choir - Southern Journey, Vol. 11: Honor The Lamb - The Belleville A Cappella ChoirRelease date: 1998-02-10; Music CD
Best price: $84.05
Diane Schuur - Love SongsRelease date: 1993-05-11; Music CD
Best price: $4.25
Price in other shops:
![Love Is the Thing [Vinyl] Image](/images/noimg.gif)
Nat King Cole - Love Is the Thing [Vinyl]Release date: 1996-11-19; Music CD
Best price: $169.99
Linda Ronstadt - Linda Ronstadt: Greatest HitsRelease date: 1998-01-13; Music CD
Best price: $19.99
Price in other shops:
Buddy Rich, Sammy Davis Jr - Sounds of 66Release date: 1996-09-17; Music CD
Price in other shops:
Similar CDs
![West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Box Set [Blu-ray] Image](/images/West-Side-Story-50th-Anniversary-Edition-Box-Set-Blu-ray-B005BDZQKU-X.jpg){kind=small}
West Side Story: 50th Anniversary Edition Box Set [Blu-ray]West; Release date: 2011-11-15; Blu-ray
Best price: $25.99
Price in other shops:
Because You're MineWarner; Release date: 2010-02-24; Published: 2009; DVD
Best price: $14.88
Price in other shops:
SerenadeWarner; Release date: 2012-01-10; DVD
Best price: $14.89
Price in other shops: