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."
O
Mario Lanza Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
It is the night of the dear savior's birth
Long lay the world in sin and sorrow pining
'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
Truly He taught us to love one another
His law is love and His gospel is peace
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother
And in his name all oppression shall cease
Sweet hymns of joy sing we
Let us praise His holy name
Christ is the Lord, his name ever, ever praise we
His power and glory ever more proclaim
His power and glory ever more proclaim
Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
O night divine, O night, O night divine
O holy night
is a Christmas carol that celebrates the night of Jesus Christ's birth, which is regarded as a significant event for Christians worldwide. Mario Lanza's rendition of the song is one of the most popular and recognized renditions of the song. The song expresses the joy and wonder of the night when Jesus was born and delivered humanity from the weight of their sins. The song mentions that the world had been filled with sadness and evil, and people longed for a savior to redeem them, and when they finally received Jesus, the thrill of hope made them rejoice.
The song builds up to the point when the listener is urged to fall to their knees and hear the voices of angels in heaven rejoicing in the birth of the Savior. Lanza's powerful and soaring voice captures the profound beauty and wonder of the nativity story and causes the listener to feel an intense emotional connection with the song. The second verse of the song describes how Jesus Christ's teachings brought love and peace to the world and that all chains of oppression of slavery were broken once and for all.
The overall message of "O Holy Night" is that Jesus Christ's birth was not just a significant event in the history of the world, but a momentous time of hope, joy, and salvation for humanity. It is a time for people to recognize the true meaning of Christmas and celebrate the birth of Christ with loved ones around them.
Line by Line Meaning
O holy night, the stars are brightly shining
The night is holy because the stars are brilliantly shining.
It is the night of the dear savior's birth
This is the night when our dear savior was born.
Long lay the world in sin and sorrow pining
The world had been waiting for a long time, struggling with sin and sorrow.
'Til He appeared and the soul felt its worth
But then He appeared and gave the soul its true worth.
A thrill of hope, the weary world rejoices
With His arrival, a thrilling sense of hope makes the tired world rejoice.
For yonder breaks a new and glorious morn
A new morning, full of glory and promise, breaks across the horizon.
Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices
The angels are singing, so please fall on your knees and listen.
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
This night is truly divine, because Christ was born on this sacred occasion.
Truly He taught us to love one another
He taught us to truly love one another.
His law is love and His gospel is peace
His law is based on love, and His teachings preach peace.
Chains he shall break, for the slave is our brother
He will break the chains of slavery, as slaves are our brothers.
And in his name all oppression shall cease
In His name, all forms of oppression shall come to an end.
Sweet hymns of joy sing we
Let us sing sweet hymns of joy.
Let us praise His holy name
We must praise His holy name.
Christ is the Lord, his name ever, ever praise we
Christ is our Lord, and we should forever praise His name.
His power and glory ever more proclaim
We should always proclaim His power and glory.
Fall on your knees, oh, hear the angel voices
The angels are still singing, so please fall on your knees and listen more.
O night divine, O night when Christ was born
Once again, we must remember that this night was truly divine, because Christ was born on this special day.
O night divine, O night, O night divine
This night is a truly divine one. Let us celebrate it as such!
Lyrics © MUSIC SALES CORPORATION, Ultra Tunes, BMG Rights Management, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Capitol CMG Publishing, Kobalt Music Publishing Ltd.
Written by: Adolphe Charles Adam
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
Elissa Schornstein
Mario had such a beautiful voice!
Smooth, clear and rich in quality.
Effortless.
Definitely underrated!
Probably because he was aovie star as well as an Opera Singer.!
김영희
마리오 란자의 크리스마스 앨범은 최고라고 생각합니다 특히 이 노래는 더욱 그러해 영혼을 크게 울려요 이 분의 이 노래를 들을 수 있다는게 얼마나 축복인지요 🙏❤
gretta gip
This is the best version of "O Holy Night" EVER! You feel the majesty of a Holy God....thank you for posting. Have listened to this by Mario Lanza since I was a child...there is none like it!
Frank Maiorana
Totally agree.
Sheila Gilbert
I agree. There's no other singer can top him. Grew up with my dad loving his music. Greatest 😀
John Purves
He was and still is my favourite singer
Ron Stevens
Ditto my friend X
Lenora Westwoodson
Mario Lanza's, Christmas album was a blessing to my life, as a child I had Grand Mal seizures and the side-effects of my medication caused nightmares. This incredible voice blended with my love of God and Christmas to sing me to sleep on many frightened nights. My father would play the album and it would soothe me to restful sleep; especially, "Guardian Angels". Rest in peace, Mr. Lanza.
sugarbist
Harpo Marx wrote "Guardian Angels" R.I.P.
Jimmy Wood
I wish Mario could read your comment. Who knows, maybe he has read it.