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."
Vesti la giubba
Mario Lanza Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
Non so più quel che dico
E quel che faccio!
Eppur è d'uopo, sforzati!
Bah! Sei tu forse un uomo?
Tu se' Pagliaccio!
Vesti la giubba
La gente paga, e rider vuole qua
E se Arlecchin t'invola Colombina
Ridi, Pagliaccio, e ognun applaudirà!
Tramuta in lazzi lo spasmo ed il pianto
In una smorfia il singhiozzo e 'l dolore, ah!
Ridi, Pagliaccio
Sul tuo amore infranto!
Ridi del duol, che t'avvelena il cor!
The lyrics to Mario Lanza's Vesti La Giubba are emotionally powerful, articulating the frustration, pain, and loneliness felt by the lead character Canio, a clown or "Pagliaccio" in an Italian opera. Canio is delirious and losing his mind, unable to control his thoughts or actions. Despite this, he knows that he must perform and entertain the audience despite his pain. In this section, Canio attempts to rally himself and remind himself of his duty, berating himself and asking if he is truly a man.
The next section instructs Canio to put on his costume, with his face powdered for the performance. The crowd has paid to see him perform and expects to be entertained with laughter, even if his heart is breaking. If his love interest, Colombina, is stolen away by the character of Arlecchino, or Harlequin, he is still expected to keep performing and making the audience laugh. He is to make light of his pain and turn it into jests, preserving the illusion of a happy clown. In this way, he must transform his pain into comedy, hiding his heartbreak with a painted smile.
In essence, the song is a painfully raw expression of Canio's broken heart and the pressure he is under to perform despite his agony. It is an emotionally charged performance that is sure to resonate with anyone who has hidden their pain behind a smile.
Line by Line Meaning
Recitar! Mentre preso dal delirio
Perform! While lost in madness
Non so più quel che dico
I don't know what I'm saying anymore
E quel che faccio!
And what I'm doing!
Eppur è d'uopo, sforzati!
But it's necessary, make an effort!
Bah! Sei tu forse un uomo?
Bah! Are you even a man?
Tu se' Pagliaccio!
You are a clown!
Vesti la giubba
Put on the costume
E la faccia infarina
And powder your face
La gente paga, e rider vuole qua
The audience paid and wants to laugh
E se Arlecchin t'invola Colombina
And if Harlequin steals Colombina
Ridi, Pagliaccio, e ognun applaudirà!
Laugh, clown and everyone will applaud!
Tramuta in lazzi lo spasmo ed il pianto
Turn spasms and tears into comedy
In una smorfia il singhiozzo e 'l dolore, ah!
With a grimace drown out sobs and pain, ah!
Ridi, Pagliaccio
Laugh, clown
Sul tuo amore infranto!
Over your broken heart!
Ridi del duol, che t'avvelena il cor!
Laugh about the pain that poisons your heart!
Writer(s): Ruggero Leoncavallo
Contributed by Tyler G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
@NWO4LIFE4EVAJF
CANT UNDERSTAND A SINGLE WORD STILL CRYING AT THE BEAUTY OF HIS VOICE
@leneziak
Joshua Fleming It's Pagliaccio the Clown, just after discovering that his wife was cheating on him, singing (before the song he's actually supposed to sing) that his heart is broken but a clown must make his audience laugh, as they paid for it.
(variation of the Paradox of Diderot)
@NWO4LIFE4EVAJF
Michael Dohmen wow BEAUTIFULLY TRAGIC
@caseykendall5506
Joshua Fleming It's actually worse than that. The character is Cannio, and he's playing Pagliaccio in a play. Cannio has just been told his wife is cheating just before he has to play a character whose wife is also unfaithful, but his character doesn't know and laughs like an idiot. The irony is just awful and sad--he has to go on stage and pretend he doesn't know, all the while the audience is unknowingly laughing at his pain.
The part starting at 1:56 goes like this: "Laugh, clown at your broken love! Laugh at the grief that poisons your heart!"
@leneziak
dorkandproudofit
Thank you :)
@NWO4LIFE4EVAJF
ursmue1937 Yes
@Dorvita
Grew up listening to Mario Lanza and at 45 I have still to find ANYONE superior . This man was a gift from God!!!
@Ukie88
At 73, I still feel the same way.
@Dorvita
@@Ukie88 hello there hope this finds you happy and well my friend xoxo
@Dorvita
Dad this still makes me think of you xxx miss you 😘 ❤