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."
Funiculi Funicula
Mario Lanza Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
And so do I!
Some think it well to be all melancholic
To pine and sigh
But I, I love to spend my time in singing
Some joyous song
To set the air with music bravely ringing
Is far from wrong!
Listen! Listen! echoes sound afar!
Funiculi funicula, funiculi funicula
Echoes sound afar! funiculi, funicula
Some think it wrong to set the feet a-dancing
But not so I
Some think that eyes should keep from coyly glancing
Upon the sly!
But oh! to me the mazy dance is charming
Divinely sweet,
And surely there is nought that is alarming
In nimble feet?
Listen! Listen! music sounds afar!
Listen! Listen! music sounds afar!
Funiculi funicula, funiculi funicula
Music sounds afar! funiculi, funicula
Ah me! 'tis strange that some should take to sighing
And like it well
For me, I have not thought it worth the trying
So cannot tell!
With laugh and dance and song the day soon passes
Full soon is gone,
For mirth was made for joyous lads and lasses
To call their own!
Listen! Listen! hark! the soft guitar!
Listen! Listen! hark! the soft guitar!
Funiculi funicula, funiculi funicula
Hark! the soft guitar! funiculi funicula
The song Funiculi Funicula by Mario Lanza is a high-spirited, joyful ode to life and the pleasures that come with it. The opening lines suggest that some people believe that life is meant to be enjoyed and lived to the fullest, while others believe in being melancholic and pining away their days. Lanza, however, is not one to spend his time grieving and instead prefers to fill his days with music and singing.
In the following verses, Lanza encourages listeners to dance and not be ashamed of their bodies, to enjoy the finer things in life, such as the "soft guitar" mentioned in the final lines. He argues that life is meant to be celebrated and enjoyed, not wasted away in sadness and despair. The catchy melody and upbeat rhythm of the song reinforce this message of living life to the fullest and taking pleasure in the simple things.
Overall, Funiculi Funicula is an inspiring song that encourages listeners to let their hair down and enjoy the simple pleasures of life. Whether it's dancing, singing, or simply being in the moment, Lanza suggests that we should all take some time to enjoy ourselves and live life to the fullest.
Line by Line Meaning
Some think the world is made for fun and frolic
There are those who believe life should be full of enjoyment and merriment, and I share that view.
Some think it well to be all melancholic, to pine and sigh
Although some people enjoy being gloomy and sad, I prefer to be happy and upbeat.
But I, I love to spend my time in singing, some joyous song
I find great pleasure in singing cheerful songs, and it's how I choose to spend my time.
To set the air with music bravely ringing, is far from wrong!
I believe that filling the air with lively music is nothing but good and right!
Listen! Listen! echoes sound afar! Funiculi funicula, funiculi funicula, Echoes sound afar! funiculi, funicula
The echoes of joyful music can be heard from a distance, with the words 'funiculi funicula' repeated in excitement.
Some think it wrong to set the feet a-dancing, but not so I
While some may disapprove of dancing, I am not one of them and enjoy moving my feet to music.
Some think that eyes should keep from coyly glancing upon the sly!
There are those who believe that avoiding eye contact is proper behavior, but I don't think so!
But oh! to me the mazy dance is charming, divinely sweet
I find great enjoyment in twirling and moving in a labyrinthine dance, which is a heavenly experience.
And surely there is nought that is alarming, in nimble feet?
There's nothing to be afraid of when it comes to quick and agile movements, there is only joy to be found.
Listen! Listen! music sounds afar! Funiculi funicula, funiculi funicula, Music sounds afar! funiculi, funicula
You can hear the sound of music from a distance, with the words 'funiculi funicula' repeated with enthusiasm.
Ah me! 'tis strange that some should take to sighing, and like it well
It seems strange to me that some people embrace sadness and enjoy sighing, but to each their own.
For me, I have not thought it worth the trying, so cannot tell!
Personally, I have never found sadness enjoyable, so I cannot relate to those who do.
With laugh and dance and song the day soon passes, full soon is gone
When spent laughing, dancing, and singing, days go by very quickly without a second thought.
For mirth was made for joyous lads and lasses to call their own!
From my perspective, happiness and amusement are meant for upbeat young men and women to partake in.
Listen! Listen! hark! the soft guitar! Funiculi funicula, funiculi funicula, Hark! the soft guitar! funiculi funicula
You can hear the soft sound of a guitar in the background, with the words 'funiculi funicula' repeated in anticipation.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group
Written by: L. Denza, Giuseppe Turco
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@glenbroemer
Yesterday evening, Anna, I went up,
Do you know where?
Where this ungrateful heart cannot spite me any more!
Where the fire burns, but if you flee
It lets you be!
And it doesn't chase you, it doesn't burn you, to see the sky!
Let's go up to the top, let's go,
Funicular up, funicular down!
Let's go from the earth to the mountaintop!
Without walking!
We can see France, Procida and Spain...
and I can see you!
Pulled by a rope, no sooner said than done,
We'll go to heaven...
It goes like the wind suddenly,
Up, up, up!
Let's go up to the top, let's go,
Funicular up, funicular down!
We've climbed it, my love, we've already climbed
To the top!
It's gone up, then returned, then it's back...
It's always here!
The summit revolves, around, around,
around you!
This heart always sings, my love,
Let's get married one day!
Let's go up to the top, let's go,
Funicular up, funicular down!
@newwavepop
i will never understand why people come listen to these great old songs and performers and hit dislike. how did you even end up here if you dislike it?
@marcusaurelius5524
They dislike cause they are cursed with popra, they like crap, how can anyone compare to caruso Gigli, or lanza none
@AwesomeYena
What? People aren't allowed to have opinions?
@grimformation
Well said.
@lialualex
Fred & Barney Rubbles sang this song when they tricked their wives out of going to the opera to go bowling instead.
@speeddemonmjfan
Because they don't afford medicine to stop itching.😂
@makronized
Questa è la mia versione preferita, musica e canto perfetti, in puro stile classico napoletano. Geniale Mario Lanza!
@iamdavid132
Singing this in the shower puts you far above champ level mate.
@richmarino
Mario Lanza delivers the vocal goods on this version. Astounding.
@user-ct1ez8ll5u
Марио - это всегда счастье его слышать и слушать!!