Mario Lanza - Granada, 1949

Mario Lanza, tenor with Orchestra cond. by Ray Sinatra -- Granada (), HMV 1949 (UK) NOTE: Mario LANZA (né Alfredo Arnold Cocozza; Lanza was his mother's maiden name) American operatic tenor, one of the greatest voices in history of singing. Born in Philadelphia, USA in 1921 to Italian immigrant family. In age of 16 he debuted in Philadelphia Opera, where he was discovered by the world famous conductor Serge Koussevitsky -- who expressed opionion, that “such voice is heard once in a hundred years“. He studied music and singing at Berkshire Music Centre in Tanglewood, Mass. His appearances on stage at Tanglewood won him critical acclaim, in 1942 the New York Times hailed the 21-year old singer as “having few equals among tenors of the day in terms of quality, warmth, and power“. Lanza's first professional operatic debut was at Tanglewood Music Festival as Fenton in Otto Nicolai's “The Merry Widows of Windsor“. His budding operatic career was