MARIO LANZA."Vesti la giubba", "Pagliacci"Extracts from "The Great Caruso" and "For the First Time"

“Vesti la giubba“ was Lanza’s “lucky aria“. He recorded it professionally many times at RCA, film studios, radio, sang at his recitals and at home for his guests. And his very first private recording session he had at the age of 19 in 1940 of course included this aria. No wonder that he sang it at audition for Serge Koussevitzky in 1942, after which the famous conductor, so to say, opened for Mario the way to his professional career. And how ironic that the next film Lanza had to begin in November 1959 in Rome was “Laugh, Clown, Lough“, based on Leoncovallo’s “Pagliacci“! Which, as you know never happened... We will never know if Lanza could excel in this film his previous renditions of the famous aria, but you can compare his renditions made on and in late August 1959, presented here in two film clips. Below is the link to the first Mario’s recording of the aria in 1940yr.