Mario Lanza

Mario Lanza (January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an Italian American tenor and Hollywood movie star who enjoyed success in the late 1940s and 1950s.

His lirico spinto tenor voice was considered by his admirers to rival that of Enrico Caruso, whom Lanza portrayed in the 1951 film The Great Caruso. Compared with Caruso, however, his operatic career was negligible. Lanza sang a wide variety of music throughout his career, ranging from operatic arias to the popular songs of the day. While his highly emotional style was not universally praised by critics, he was immensely popular and his many recordings are still prized today. He died of a pulmonary embolism at the age of 38 and was entombed in Holy Cross Cemetery.

Lanza’s short career covered opera, radio, concerts, recordings, and motion pictures. He was the first artist for RCA Victor Red Seal to receive a gold disc. He was also the first artist to sell two and half million albums. A highly influential artist, Lanza has been credited with inspiring successive generations of opera singers, including Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Leo Nucci and José Carreras, as well as singers with seemingly different backgrounds and influences, his RCA Victor label-mate Elvis Presley being the most notable example.

In 1994, tenor José Carreras paid tribute to Lanza in a worldwide concert tour, saying of him, “If I’m an opera singer, it’s thanks to Mario Lanza.” Carreras’ colleague Plácido Domingo echoed these comments in a 2009 CBS interview when he stated that, “Lanza’s passion and the way his voice sounds are what made me sing opera. I actually owe my love for opera thanks to a kid from Philadelphia.”

A immense talent taken from us so early in life!