Mario Lanza

Genres:	Drama • Easy Listening • Holiday & Seasonal • Music Videos & Concerts • Musicals & The Arts • Vocals
Descriptive "tags":	tenor • classical • opera • mario lanza • classic
Decades Active:	1950s • 1960s • 1970s • 1980s • 1990s • 2000s
Links online:	BBC Music • Official Homepage • Wikipedia

Biography

Alfredo Arnold Cocozza, 31 January 1921, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, d. 7 October 1959, Rome, Italy. An enormously popular star in film musicals and on records during the 50s, with a magnificent operatic tenor voice. The son of Italian immigrants, he took his stage name from the masculine version of his mother’s maiden name, Maria Lanza. From the age of 15, Lanza studied singing with several teachers, and was introduced into society circles with the object of gaining a patron. He was signed to Columbia Artistes Management as a concert singer, but their plans to send him on an introductory tour were quashed when Lanza was drafted into the US Army in 1943. He appeared in shows, billed as ‘the Service Caruso’, and sang in the chorus of the celebratory Forces show Winged Victory. After release, he lived in New York, gave concerts and worked on radio shows. One of the audition recordings that he made for RCA Records found its way to the MGM Film...

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