Mario Lanza

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Mario Lanza (born Alfred Arnold Cocozza; January 31, 1921 – October 7, 1959) was an American tenor of Italian ancestry, actor and Hollywood film star of the late 1940s and the 1950s.

Lanza began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16. After appearing at the Hollywood Bowl in 1947, Lanza signed a seven-year film contract with Louis B. Mayer, the head of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, who saw his performance and was impressed by his singing. Prior to that, the adult Lanza had sung only two performances of an opera. The following year (1948), however, he sang the role of Pinkerton in Puccini's Madama Butterfly in New Orleans.

His film début for MGM was in That Midnight Kiss (1949) with Kathryn Grayson and Ethel Barrymore. A year later, in The Toast of New Orleans, his featured popular song "Be My Love" became his first million-selling hit. In 1951, he played the role of tenor Enrico Caruso, his idol, in the biopic The Great Caruso, which produced another million-seller with "The Loveliest Night of the Year" (a song which used the melody of Sobre las Olas). The Great Caruso was the top-grossing film that year.

The title song of his next film, Because You're Mine, was his final million-selling hit song. The song went on to receive an Academy Award nomination for Best Original Song. After recording the soundtrack for his next film, The Student Prince, he embarked upon a protracted battle with studio head Dore Schary arising from artistic differences with director Curtis Bernhardt, and was eventually dismissed by MGM.

Lanza was known to be "rebellious, tough, and ambitious." During most of his film career, he suffered from addictions to overeating and alcohol which had a serious effect on his health and his relationships with directors, producers and, occasionally, other cast members.

Hollywood columnist Hedda Hopper writes that "his smile, which was as big as his voice, was matched with the habits of a tiger cub, impossible to housebreak." She adds that he was the "last of the great romantic performers".

He made three more films before dying of an apparent pulmonary embolism at the age of 38. At the time of his death in 1959 he was still "the most famous tenor in the world". Author Eleonora Kimmel concludes that Lanza "blazed like a meteor whose light lasts a brief moment in time".

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-prQ8AE_nvY

"Arrivederci Roma" (English: "Goodbye, Rome") is the title and refrain of a popular Italian song, composed by Renato Rascel, with lyrics by Pietro Garinei and Sandro Giovannini. It was published in 1955 as part of the soundtrack of the Italo-American musical film with the same title, released as Seven Hills of Rome in English.  In the movie, the song is interpreted by the leading character, played by the American actor and singer Mario Lanza. Carl Sigman wrote the lyrics for the English language version of the movie.

Another version of the song, with the same melody but a new set of English lyrics by Jack Fishman, was published in 1955 with the title "Arrivederci Darling". Both versions of the song, in Italian and English, enjoyed lasting and widespread success in the following years.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0VeiwX5wVtw

"The Loveliest Night of the Year" is a popular song.

The music was first published as a waltz called "Sobre las olas" ("Over the Waves") in 1888 written by Juventino P. Rosas. In 1950 the music was adapted by Irving Aaronson with lyrics by Paul Francis Webster for the movie The Great Caruso. It was sung by Mario Lanza and became one of the most popular songs of 1951 reaching No 3 in the US Billboard Charts.

The instrumental version of the song is often associated with magicians performing their "magical tricks" and is played in the background, especially in animated cartoons. It is so commonly associated as to be iconic although few people know it by its real name.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kc2R8DJBPpk

"Memories" is a popular song with music by Egbert Van Alstyne and lyrics by Gus Kahn, published in 1915.

The song has become a pop standard, recorded by many people over the years. Early successes were by Henry Burr who recorded the song in December 1915 using the name of Harry McClaskey, and by John Barnes Wells who recorded it for Victor Records (catalog 17968A) on February 3, 1916.

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https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Qc-Z2yab5kw

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