Operatic career:
Born Alfredo Arnold Cocozza in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, he was exposed to opera and singing at a young age, and by the age of 16 his vocal talent became apparent. Starting out in local operatic productions in Philadelphia, he later came to the attention of conductor Serge Koussevitzky, who provided young Cocozza with a full student scholarship to the Berkshire Music Festival at Tanglewood in Massachusetts. Koussevitzky would later tell Lanza that, "Yours is a voice such as is heard once in a hundred years."
His operatic debut, as Fenton in Otto Nicolai's The Merry Wives of Windsor, was at Tanglewood on August 7, 1942, after just six weeks of study with conductors Boris Goldovsky and Leonard Bernstein. It was here that Cocozza adopted his stage name from his mother Maria's maiden name of Lanza. His performances at Tanglewood won him critical acclaim, with Noel Straus of The New York Times hailing the 21-year-old tenor as having "few equals among tenors of the day in terms of quality, warmth, and power."
His operatic career was interrupted by World War II, when he was assigned to Special Services in the U.S. Army Air Corps. He appeared on the wartime shows On the Beam and Winged Victory while in the Air Corps.
He resumed his singing career in October 1945 on the CBS radio program Great Moments in Music, where he made six appearances singing various operatic selections. He later studied under Enrico Rosati for fifteen months, then embarked on an 86-concert tour of the United States, Canada and Mexico between July 1947 and May 1948 with George London and Frances Yeend. In April 1948, he sang Pinkerton in the New Orleans Opera's Madama Butterfly. A concert at the Hollywood Bowl brought Lanza to the attention of MGM's Louis B. Mayer, who signed Lanza to a seven-year film contract with Metro Goldwyn Mayer. This would prove to be a turning point in the young singer's career.
Film career:
MGM's contract with Lanza required him to commit to the studio for six months, and at first Lanza was able to combine his film career with his operatic one, singing two acclaimed performances as Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly for the New Orleans Opera Association in April 1948. He also continued to perform in concert, both in solo appearances and as part of the Bel Canto Trio with George London and Frances Yeend. In May 1949, he made his first commercial recordings with RCA Victor. However, his first two films, That Midnight Kiss and The Toast of New Orleans, were very successful, as was his recording career, and Lanza's fame increased dramatically.
In 1951, Lanza portrayed Enrico Caruso in The Great Caruso, which proved to be an astonishing success. At the same time, his popularity exposed Lanza to intense criticism by music critics, including those who had praised his work years earlier.
In 1954, Lanza was dismissed by MGM after he had pre-recorded the songs for The Student Prince. The film was subsequently made with actor Edmund Purdom miming to Lanza's vocals. During this period Lanza came very close to bankruptcy as a result of poor investment decisions made by his former manager. Owing about $250,000 in back taxes to the IRS, Lanza withdrew from the public eye for a time.
Mario Lanza at home.He returned to an active film career in 1956 in Serenade; despite its strong musical content, it was not as successful as his previous films. Lanza then moved to Rome, Italy in May 1957, where he worked on the film Seven Hills of Rome and returned to live performing in a series of acclaimed concerts throughout Britain, Ireland and the European Continent. In early 1958, he auditioned for the management of La Scala in Milan, and was immediately offered a minimum two-year contract to sing at that theatre. The opera initially discussed was Puccini's Tosca. Later that year, Lanza also agreed to open the 1960/61 season at the Rome Opera as Canio in Pagliacci. At the same time, however, his health began to decline, with the tenor suffering from a variety of ailments, including phlebitis and acute high blood pressure. The following year, in April 1959, Lanza suffered a minor heart attack, followed by double pneumonia in August. He died in Rome in October of that year at the age of 38 from a pulmonary embolism. His widow moved back to Hollywood with their four children and died of a drug overdose five months later; the younger of their two sons died of a heart attack at the age of 37. When Lanza died rumors spread that the notorious mob boss Lucky Luciano (Salvatore Luciano) had had him killed after he refused to perform for him but those rumors quickly died down because they simply were not true. Soprano Maria Callas would later say of him, "My biggest regret is not to have had the opportunity to sing with the greatest tenor voice I've ever heard."
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 the careers of successive generations of opera singers, including Plácido Domingo, Luciano Pavarotti, Leo Nucci and Jose Carreras, as well as those of 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."
Come Back to Sorrento
Mario Lanza Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Tender thoughts occur to me
I have often seen your eyes
In the nighttime when I dream
When I pass a garden fair
And the scent is in the air
In my mind a dream awakes
But you said goodbye to me
Now all I can do is grieve
Can it be that you forgot?
Darling forget me not!
Please don't say farewell
And leave this heart that's broken
Come back to Sorrento
So I can mend
Mario Lanza's song, "Come Back to Sorrento," is a ballad about a man who is longing for his loved one to return to Sorrento, the place where they last parted ways. The lyrics symbolize the man's yearning for his lover, as he describes how memories of her flood his mind and heart, causing him both joy and pain. The opening line, "sunlight dances on the sea," creates a serene and peaceful image of the coast. But it soon becomes evident that this is not enough to bring peace to the man's heart, as he begins to think of his lover's eyes "in the nighttime when I dream." This imagery suggests that he longs for her to not only be physically present but also to be a part of his subconscious.
As he continues to sing, he discovers that reminders of her presence cause him both pleasure and heartache. The scent of flowers in a garden brings back a dream of her and awakens his heart from its slumber, causing it to "break." He longs to be with her again, but she has left him behind. Now, all he can do is mourn his loss and hope that she hasn't forgotten him.
The song's repeated plea, "come back to Sorrento," expresses both a yearning for her presence and a desire to be made whole once more. The sorrow in the man's broken heart is palpable as he asks his lover not to say farewell and leave him this way. Through his words, the listener is invited into the man's emotional turmoil and shares in his hope that his lover will return to him so that he can mend.
Line by Line Meaning
Sunlight dances on the sea
The sun is shining on the sea and reflecting beautifully. It reminds me of the good times we shared.
Tender thoughts occur to me
I remember the sweet moments we had together and how much I miss them.
I have often seen your eyes
Your eyes are so mesmerizing that I often visualize them in my dreams at night.
In the nighttime when I dream
Whenever I sleep, I dream of you and wish that you were with me.
When I pass a garden fair
Whenever I come across a beautiful garden, it reminds me of the good times and happy moments we shared together.
And the scent is in the air
The fragrance of the flowers in the garden takes me back to the time when we were together and fills my heart with memories.
In my mind a dream awakes
I begin to dream of a life with you and the happiness we could have if we were together again.
And my heart begins to break
Every time I think of you and remember what we had, it breaks my heart that we are not together anymore.
But you said goodbye to me
You left me alone, and I am left devastated and broken-hearted, wondering why you had to go.
Now all I can do is grieve
I am in so much pain and sadness that all I can do is mourn and feel overwhelmed by the loss of you.
Can it be that you forgot?
I am wondering if you have moved on and forgotten the good times we shared together, leaving me behind in the past.
Darling forget me not!
Please don't forget the love we shared and the happiness we brought to each other's lives when we were together.
Please don't say farewell
Please don't go, leaving me alone and heartbroken. Stay with me, and we can work through any challenges together.
And leave this heart that's broken
Leaving me alone and heartbroken is the worst thing you could do to me, please don't do it.
Come back to Sorrento
Come back to me, and we can start over again, building a new future filled with love and happiness.
So I can mend
Give me a chance to heal the pain, repair the hurt, and rebuild the trust so that we can have a fresh start together.
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Society of Composers, Authors and Music Publishers of Canada (SOCAN), Spirit Music Group
Written by: Ernesto De Curtis
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@bibijohns7567
Tell me which Tenor sings in 2023 like this ?! No one ! Bravo Lanza.
@zelinwang2907
You’re right 🎉
@CMar-tw3od
Dimash Qudaibergen
Kazakh singer and songwriter
@user-mz9ke7mt5v
Это разные вещи и сравнивать их нельзя. Димаш только как будто-то пробует голос, но не поёт. Петь надо уметь
@nevillefilar6931
Freddie de Tommaso. And his top is freer than Lanza’s was too. But this is a fabulous bit of proper singing.
@operaaugu8526
I
Me
@zuzannawisniewska4464
Who else is still listening in 2023...is the best tenor of the world of the 20th century. Great voice.....from Chicago, IL
@user-lm3mc1df3z
Восторг ! Фантастика !
@russneese1004
Answer…. No one.
@yamilababilonia3801
Esa era una de mis cansiones de Cuba mi Padre me la cantina a El le decian Caruso era El Caruso Cubano cuando no SE podia our musica en Cuba Yo tennis mi cantante particular gracias mi Viejo me oyes desde El Cielo tu eras in angel