As a teen-ager, before I became interested in folk music I was an opera bug (weird kid) and I went so far as to take some lessons from a retired soprano who had sung with the Metropolitan Opera (not one of the biggies--she sang small "comprimario" roles--but at sixty-some-odd her voice was still impressive). Mario Lanza was going strong at the time in Hollywood and on the pop charts. I asked Mrs. Bianchi what she thought of him. She said, in effect:

"At least two factors go into making a singing voice: one is the instrument you are born with; the other is your musicianship--how well you play your instrument. Take Jan Peerce, for example. His instrument is very good--not a Stradivarius or a Guarnieri--very good, nonetheless. Peerce's musicianship, on the other hand, is not just good, it is superb. The taste and refinement with which he sings puts him in the ranks of the world's finest tenors. Like a good violin being played by a great vituoso.

"Now, Mario Lanza: a voice his comes along very rarely. It's like one of the finest violins that Stradivari or a Guarnieri ever made. A magnificent instrument. Truly, a gift from God. But his musicianship? He has take a few lessons, but nowhere near enough. He refuses to take advice and he doesn't take care of his voice properly. Because of his lack of training, his placement is sporadic and he frequently lets it sink into his chest, then he pushes, which is why he sings sharp much of the time. And he often sings arias that are too heavy for his type of tenor. If he keeps on like this, he will burn that marvelous voice out very quickly. In short, Mario Lanza's voice is like a Stradivarius being played by a baboon!"

Lanza was slated to play "The Student Prince," and he had already recorded the voice tracks, but he weighed over 300 pounds at the time. The Powers That Be at the studio told him that if he was going to play the handsome, dashing young prince, he had to lose weight, and a LOT of it. He refuse, so they gave the role to Edmond Purdom. Purdom lip-synced to Lanza's voice.

Lanza's only real operatic experience consisted of two performances of "Madam Butterfly" in New Orleans, to promote the movie "The Toast of New Orleans." It's one thing recording a bunch of arias, but it's a whole different ball game to sing an entire opera. The Metropolitan, nor any other opera company, will hire someone on the basis of their ability to sing a few arias. You have to know the entire role. Several roles, in fact, before they'll ever consider you. You can win the Metropolitan Auditions on the basis of a few well-sung arias, but unless you have a repertoire of entire operas, you won't be appearing on stage for awhile. They train you first. Mario Lanza didn't have a repertoire of full-length operas and he was not willing to take training that the Met would have insisted upon--and that he really needed.

So Mario Lanza, probably the most famous operatic tenor of the twentieth century (even eclipsing Enrico Caruso in terms of those who heard him--via movies and records), was not really an opera singer at all. Sad.

Don Firth