~
Side 2:
B1 - Act III: E Lucevan Le Stelle (The Stars Were Brightly Shining), Composed By – Puccini*
Donizetti: L'Elisir D'Amore
B2 - Act II: Una Furtiva Lagrima (A Furtive Tear), Composed By – Donizetti*
Ponchielli: La Gioconda
B3 - Act II: Cielo E Mar! (Heaven And Ocean), Composed By – Ponchielli*
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
B4 - Act II: Vesti La Giubba (On With The Play), Composed By – Leoncavallo*
Companies, etc.
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Credits:
Conductor – Constantine Callinicos
Orchestra – RCA Victor Orchestra*
Sleeve Notes – Mari Yanofsky
Tenor Vocals – Mario Lanza
Notes:
Front cover:
Printed in U.S.A.
Back cover:
Printed in U.S.A.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Mario Lanza – The Great Caruso
Label: RCA Victor Red Seal – LM-1127, RCA Victor Red Seal – LM 1127
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1950
Genre: Classical
Style: Vocal, Classical
Styrous® ~ Wednesday, January 31, 2024
 |
vinyl LP front cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®
Today is the birthday of American tenor, actor, and Hollywood film star, Mario Lanza who was born on January 31, 1921.
The Great Caruso was Lanza's very best film. It was directed by Richard Thorpe and produced by Joe Pasternak who produced other Lanza films. I've published other articles about them (link below).
vinyl LP back cover
photo of album cover by Styrous®
The screenplay, by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, was suggested by the biography Enrico Caruso His Life and Death by Dorothy Caruso, the tenor's widow. The original music was composed and arranged by Johnny Green who produced other Lanza films (link below).
The Opera Montage are Metropolitan Opera stars, notably sopranos Teresa Celli, Lucine Amara and Marina Koshetz, mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom, baritone Giuseppe Valdengo and bass Nicola Moscona.
Ann Blyth portrayed the Wife of Caruso.
Several of the characters and incidents portrayed in the movie are
fictional. Because of this, members of the Caruso family in Italy
successfully sued Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer for monetary damages, and the
studio was temporarily ordered to withdraw the film from exhibition in
Italy.
The Great Caruso was a massive commercial success and the most profitable film for MGM in 1951. It set a record gross at Radio City Music Hall in New York City, grossing $1,390,943 in ten weeks. According to MGM records, it made $4,309,000 in theatrical rentals in the US and Canada and $4,960,000 elsewhere, resulting in a profit of $3,977,000. The film was nominated for three Academy Awards; at the 24th Academy Awards ceremony, Douglas Shearer and the MGM Studio Sound Department won for Best Sound and it was nominated for three Academy Awards; costume design and score.
The Great Caruso record album (not an actual film soundtrack) was issued by RCA Victor
on the LP, 45 and 78 RPM formats. The album featured eight popular
tenor opera arias (four of which were heard in the film) sung by Lanza,
accompanied by Constantine Callinicos conducting the RCA Victor Orchestra.
The album sold 100,000 copies before the film premiered and later
became the first operatic LP to sell one million copies. After its
original 1951 release, the album remained continuously available on LP
until the late 1980s and was reissued on compact disc by RCA Victor in 1989.
Tracklist:
Side 1:
Side 1:
Verdi: Rigoletto
A1 - Act I: Questa O Quella (The One Is As Fair As The Other), Composed By – Verdi*
A2 - Act II: La Donna È Mobile (Woman Is Fickle), Composed By – Verdi*
A3 - Act III: Parmi Veder Le Lagrime (Art Thou Weeping?), Composed By – Verdi*
Puccini: Tosca
A4 - Act I: Recondita Armonia (Strange Harmony Of Contrasts), Composed By – Puccini*
A1 - Act I: Questa O Quella (The One Is As Fair As The Other), Composed By – Verdi*
A2 - Act II: La Donna È Mobile (Woman Is Fickle), Composed By – Verdi*
A3 - Act III: Parmi Veder Le Lagrime (Art Thou Weeping?), Composed By – Verdi*
Puccini: Tosca
A4 - Act I: Recondita Armonia (Strange Harmony Of Contrasts), Composed By – Puccini*
Side 2:
B1 - Act III: E Lucevan Le Stelle (The Stars Were Brightly Shining), Composed By – Puccini*
Donizetti: L'Elisir D'Amore
B2 - Act II: Una Furtiva Lagrima (A Furtive Tear), Composed By – Donizetti*
Ponchielli: La Gioconda
B3 - Act II: Cielo E Mar! (Heaven And Ocean), Composed By – Ponchielli*
Leoncavallo: Pagliacci
B4 - Act II: Vesti La Giubba (On With The Play), Composed By – Leoncavallo*
Companies, etc.
Pressed By – RCA Records Pressing Plant, Indianapolis
Credits:
Conductor – Constantine Callinicos
Orchestra – RCA Victor Orchestra*
Sleeve Notes – Mari Yanofsky
Tenor Vocals – Mario Lanza
Notes:
Front cover:
Printed in U.S.A.
Back cover:
Printed in U.S.A.
Barcode and Other Identifiers
Matrix / Runout (Label side A): E0-LRC-4040
Matrix / Runout (Label side B): E0-LRC-4041
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): E0 LRC 4040 12S I B1F L
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): E0 LRC 4041 9S I C1D L
Other (Front Cover): Form 2S-4212
Other (Back cover): Form 2S4411
Matrix / Runout (Label side B): E0-LRC-4041
Matrix / Runout (Runout side A): E0 LRC 4040 12S I B1F L
Matrix / Runout (Runout side B): E0 LRC 4041 9S I C1D L
Other (Front Cover): Form 2S-4212
Other (Back cover): Form 2S4411
Mario Lanza – The Great Caruso
Label: RCA Victor Red Seal – LM-1127, RCA Victor Red Seal – LM 1127
Format: Vinyl, LP, Mono
Country: US
Released: 1950
Genre: Classical
Style: Vocal, Classical
Viewfinder links:
Net links:
YouTube links:
Enrico Caruso -
Una Furtiva Lagrima (1904)
E lucevan le stelle (1904)
O Sole Mio (1916)
Mario Lanza: Bringing Opera To The Masses (42 mins.)
Mario Lanza The American Caruso (1 hr., 6 mins.)
The Great Caruso ~
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