Welcome to Music for Life, enhancing the Armstrong concert experience. I'm your host, Ryan Malone. In today's episode, we will discuss the first event coming to Armstrong Auditorium this 2019-20 concert season, the four Italian tenors. The four Italian tenors are on their inaugural U.S. tour and will perform in Armstrong Auditorium Thursday, September 12th. They will sing an extraordinary program of the most famously beloved Italian opera arias and songs, fusing Italian wit and charm with romanticism, lyricism, dramatic flair, and operatic style. And today, we will hear many of these famous arias and songs. So stick around as we spotlight the four Italian tenors and go through their powerful program coming to Armstrong today on Music for Life.
The four Italian tenors kick off Armstrong's 2019-20 concert season with a program titled Viva Italia. This program will be a salute to four legendary Italian tenors Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Luciano Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli. And as we go through their program today, I want to play examples from these four tenor legends. So before I talk about each of the four Italian tenors who will be singing at Armstrong, I want to give a brief biographical sketch of each of the tenors whom they are saluting, and the ones we will mostly be hearing from today. Enrico Caruso, originally Enrico Caruso, was born into a poor Neapolitan family. He was a musical child but didn't receive any kind of formal training until age 18. Through his early 20s, he performed all over the world, but after a bad reception in Napoli in 1901, he vowed never to sing there again and he based himself in the United States. Since his American debut at New York's Metropolitan Opera in 1903, Caruso went down as one of the most admired operatic tenors in history and one of the first to record his work. He sang his last performance at the Metropolitan Opera in December 1920 and died in August of the following year. That same year, 1921, Mario Alonso was born in Philadelphia.
to Italian immigrant parents. A fan of Italian opera and Caruso, Lanza began studying voice at the age of 15. His training was put on hold, though, in 1943 when he was drafted into the U.S. Army during World War II. After his release in 1945, he resumed his studies and soon began performing in operas. However, his path started shifting more in the direction of Hollywood. He was even cast as his childhood hero in a 1951 film called The Great Caruso. He walked away from the film industry not long after that and disappeared from public appearance until he moved to Italy in 1958, shortly afterward dying at the young age of 38. Back in Modena, Italy in 1935, Luciano Pavarotti was born, considered to be one of the...
greatest bel canto opera singers of the 20th century. His goal as a child was to be a football or soccer goalkeeper, but he later abandoned that to dedicate his life to singing. He made his professional operatic debut in 1961, his New York Met debut in 1968, began frequent television performances in 1977, and became associated as one of the three tenors, along with Placido Domingo and Jose Carreras. He continued with a successful international presence until his death in 2007 at his home in Modena. The final tenor of the four being saluted on this concert was one who was discovered by Pavarotti in 1992. Andrea Bocelli was born to a woman who was advised to abort her child as it would be born with some disability. But she went through with the pregnancy and Andrea was born on September 22, 1958 in Laiatico, Italy. He always suffered from congenital glaucoma and went permanently blind at age 12 due to a brain hemorrhage from a soccer accident. However, young Andrea had already begun piano lessons and began singing at bars to finance his law degree. He practiced law for a year before abandoning his position as an attorney and devoting his life to singing. Though opera was his main passion, he mixed his style with the contemporary...
And before we do that, I'll introduce you to the four tenors actually performing. The troupe consists of Federico Serra, a tenor who won a pop music contest in Italy at age 11, and by age 17 had enrolled at the Liceo Musicale of Varese. Another tenor in the group is Federico Parisi from Taormina, Italy, who won the youngest Tenor of Italy award in September 2011, and who is also the host of a popular Italian television show. This quartet of vocal powerhouses also includes Alessandro D'Atrisa, who graduated with honors in opera singing at the University of Cosenza, and we're actually hearing his voice here.
The fourth tenor remaining to be discussed is Roberto Cresca. I actually have a few recordings of his that we'll hear today. One of those is actually the first piece to be performed on the four Italian tenors concert Il Lamento di Federico from the opera La Lesiana by the late Romantic era Italian composer Francesco Cilea. Here is a little of that aria, again, from one of the four Italian tenors himself, Roberto Cresca.
That was Roberto Cresca singing the famous aria from Chile's opera La Lesiana titled Il Lamento di Federico. Roberto Cresca is one of the four Italian tenors performing at Armstrong Auditorium on Thursday, September 12th. This concert marks the season opener for us. And today on Music for Life, I'm simply going through the program of arias and songs that these vocal powerhouses will be presenting on our stage. That aria we just heard will open the program. And as stated earlier, this program will be a tribute or salute to four legendary Italian tenors, Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Luciano Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli. And as I go through the program, I'll be favoring recordings of those tenors when we preview the music.
to be presented that night. The second work on the program will be the famous tenor aria from Giacomo Puccini's opera La Boheme. This is the aria Que Jelida Manina and we're hearing it sung by Andrea Bocelli. That was Andrea Bocelli singing Che Geli da Manina, an aria from Puccini's La Boheme. That will be the second work performed on the Four Italian Tenors program on Thursday, September 12th at Armstrong Auditorium. After that, the program features a work by Gaetano Donizetti from his opera L'Elizir d'Amore. This is Una Furtiva Lágrima. Now for this aria, let's hear a recording of the great Enrico Caruso. Keep in mind that all of his recordings will sound a bit old, but they're still great to hear to try to appreciate the grandeur of this man's voice. This is a recording from 1904, but in this case, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra re-recorded the instrumentals in April 2002 to help remaster this classic rendition.
Thank you. That was a 2002 remastering of a 1904 recording of Enrico Caruso, one of the tenors who will be saluted in the Viva Italia program coming to Armstrong Auditorium Thursday, September 12th, when the four Italian tenors take the stage. We just heard him sing Una Furtiva Lágrima from Donizetti's L'Elysia d'Amore. Next on their program is one of the most famous tenor moments in all of opera, the Rì di Pagliaccio recitative and aria from Ruggero Leoncavallo's opera E Pagliacci. To hear this, let's listen to a recording by the famed Luciano Pavarotti.
Yes, it is. That's from a recording by the famed Luciano Pavarotti. We will hear this on the Four Italian Tenors program at Armstrong Auditorium when these young men paid tribute to four great tenor legends. And we're hearing examples from this program sung by the legends being honored. We've heard an example from Bocelli, from Pavarotti, and also from the great Caruso. And the next song on the program is called Caruso by Lucio Dalla. But after that will be a song titled La Española by Vincenzo Di Chiara. Let's hear that from the one legend of the four whom we haven't heard from yet. This is the rendition by Mario Lanza, recorded in 1952 for the final broadcast of The Mario Lanza Show.
Bella che senti nel cuore l'ansia dei baci fiorir. Bella che cerchi l'amore come un supremo desir. Bella che senti nel cuore l'ansia dei baci fiorir. Bella l'amore come un supremo desir. Vieni stretta al tuo seno.
Mario Lanza sang La Spaniola by Vincenzo Di Chiara in that 1952 recording. The four Italian tenors will present that on their September 12th program here at Armstrong. And after that will be L'Alba Separa Dalla Luce Lombra, a song by Francesco Paolo Tosti. The song following that will be Mama, a popular song from 1940 by Cesare Andrea Bixio. And for this, we'll hear a Bocelli recording.
Mamma, son tanto felice, perché ritorno da te. La mia canzone ti dice, è il più bel giorno per me. Mamma, son tanto felice, vivere lontano per te. Mamma, solo per te la mia canzone vola. Mamma, sarai con me, tu non sarai più sola. Quanto ti voglio bene, queste parole d'amore, che ti sospiro il mio cuore, forse non s'usano più. Ma sei tua, e per la vita non ti lascio mai più.
Sento la mano tua stanca, cerca i miei riccioli d'or. Sento la voce tua anca, la ninna nanna dall'or. Oggi la testa tua bianca, io voglio stringere al cuor. Ma solo per te la mia canzone vola. Mamma, sarai con me, tu non sarai più sola Quanto ti voglio bene, queste parole d'amore Che ti sospira il mio cuore, forse non si usarà più Ma la canzone mia più bella sei tu, sei tu una vita E per la vita non ti lascio mai più Voglio bene, queste parole d'amore
And my love, maybe I don't use it anymore But my song is my most beautiful And for my life I never leave you anymore The 1940 hit Mama by Cesare Andrea Bixio. We just heard that in a recording by tenor Andrea Bocelli. That will be performed on September 12th at Armstrong Auditorium as part of the Four Italian Tenors' Viva Italia program, which pays tribute to four Italian tenor legends, Bocelli being among them. We're listening to recordings of Bocelli, Caruso, Lanza, and Pavarotti as we go through their program. After Mama, the Four Italian Tenors will return to the operatic repertoire with a great aria from Giuseppe Verdi's opera Rigoletto. This is Questa Aquella, as performed by Mario Lanza.
Thank you.
Thank you. That was a 1951 recording of Mario Lanza singing Verdi's Questa Aquella from the opera Rigoletto. Again, we're previewing songs to be featured on the four Italian tenors program at Armstrong Auditorium September 12th, and we're using recordings from the four tenor legends they are saluting in their program. Next will be the popular Italian song Volare by Domenico Modugno. For this, let's go to a lovely Pavarotti recording with the Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna under the baton of Henry Mancini.
Poi d'improvviso venivo dal vento rapito E incominciavo a volare nel cielo infinito Nel blu, difinto di blu Felice di stare lassù E volavo, volavo felice Più in alto del sole ed ancora più su Mentre il mondo pian piano spariva lontano laggiù A sweet music was only for me. In blue, painted blue, happy to stay there. A sweet music was only for me.
Penso che un sogno così non ritorni mai più.
That was the famous Pavarotti singing the famous Italian hit Volare. Next on the four Italian tenors program will be Non ti scordar di me, written in 1912 by Ernesto de Cortis, which will be the second to last song of the first half. The final song of the first half will be La Danza by Gioacchino Rossini. The Rossini is a famous opera composer. This is a standalone vocal work and a great example of patter song, which is another way of saying lots of fast words on lots of fast notes. This is in the style of a tarantella, which some of our listeners might immediately recognize. For this song, let's hear a 1912 recording by Enrico Caruso.
... ... ... ... . . .
Bye bye. Thank you.
You are listening to Music for Life. I'm your host, Ryan Malone. This is KPCG. In today's episode, we are discussing the first event coming to Armstrong Auditorium this 2019-20 concert season, the four Italian tenors. Their program, Viva Italia, will be an homage to four legendary Italian tenors, Caruso, Lanza, Pavarotti, and Bocelli. So as we discuss the arias and songs they will sing on this program, we are using examples from those four legendary tenors to give a foretaste of what this stellar night at Armstrong will be like. We just heard Rossini's patter song, La Danza, after the style of a Tarantella dance, and it was sung by Enrico Caruso in that 1912 recording. We're hearing most of the songs from the four...
Italian tenors program by listening to recordings made by the tenors whom our performers will be saluting. The first song of the second half is called Nostalgias, and then after that will be a popular folk song made popular by Enrique Iglesias. Here's a snippet of him with paparazzi in this well-known song. After that, the four Italian tenors have programmed a work from the operatic literature, the famous La Donna Immobile from Verdi's Rigoletto. For that, let's hear one of the four Italian tenors himself, Roberto Cresca.
Thank you. Thank you.
That was Roberto Cresca, one of the four Italian tenors coming to Armstrong Auditorium Thursday, September 12th. We just heard him in Verdi's famous La Donne Mobile from Rigoletto. After that song will be another hit from the composer Ernesto de Cortis, the 1902 song Torna a Sorrento. Then the next song on the program is one of the most famous Italian songs of all time, Funiculi Funicula, written by Luigi Densa in 1880 to commemorate the opening of the Funicular Railway on Mount Vesuvius. Here is Mario Lanza.
Thank you. Yeah. Yeah.
. . . Jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme, jamme.
That was Mario Lanza singing the ever-popular Funiculi Funicula, a song to be featured on the September 12th concert at Armstrong Auditorium, presented by the four Italian tenors, as they pay tribute to four legendary tenors, among them Mario Lanza. After Funiculi Funicula will be Matinata, composed by Ruggero Leon Cavallo, and actually dedicated to Enrico Caruso. Then after that will be Dicci Tancelo Vuille, a song written in 1930 by Rodolfo Falvo. Following that will be Core Ingrato by Salvatore Cardillo, a Naples-born composer who emigrated to the United States in 1903. Let's return to the modern tenor Andrea Bocelli for a recording of this song.
Katari, Katari.
I don't think you're here.
Andrea Bocelli sang Cardillo's Core in Grato in that recording, and that's a song to be sung on the four Italian tenors program coming to Armstrong Auditorium September 12th. These four vocal powerhouses are saluting famous tenors like Bocelli, and we've been listening to recordings by Bocelli and the other three tenors being saluted as we go through their program. Let's return to a Pavarotti example. This is for the next song to be featured on the program, Parlami d'Amore Mario, a song by Bixio, which he dedicated to his wife Mary. ... ... ... ...
Bye. Bye.
The lovely Palami d'Amore Mario by Cesare Andrea Bixio, sung by Luciano Pavarotti, one of the tenors being saluted by the four Italian tenors coming to Armstrong Auditorium Thursday, September 12th. Following that song on the program will be a Mexican song titled Granada, a song made popular by one of the four legendary tenors we're listening to today. The four Italian tenors then have two more works on their program. The first of these two is the utterly famous O Sole Mio. This song was composed in 1898 by Eduardo Di Capua with lyrics by Italian poet Giovanni Capuro and later made famous with completely rewritten English lyrics for Elvis Presley to create his hit song It's Now or Never. But let's hear one of the early...
This is Enrico Caruso's 1916 recording. You are listening to Music for Life. I'm your host, Ryan Malone. This is KPCG. In today's episode, we have discussed the first event coming to Armstrong Auditorium this 2019-20 concert season, the four Italian tenors. Their program, Viva Italia, will be an homage to four legendary Italian tenors, Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanza, Luciano Pavarotti, and Andrea Bocelli. To explore the arias and songs they will sing on this program, we've heard examples today from those four legendary tenors. For the last aria to be sung on the program, I will use a recording of one of the four Italian tenors, one of the men singing on our stage Thursday, September 12th. Before I do that, I'd like to point you to Armstrong's website. More information about this and all Armstrong Auditorium.
All right, to close today's program, which will also be the final number on the Four Italian Tenors program, we have the famous tenor aria from Turandot, my favorite opera, and probably my favorite tenor aria, Nessun Dorma. We'll hear it sung by one of the Four Italian Tenors himself, Roberto Cresca. I hope you enjoy, and I hope to see you soon at Armstrong. You have been listening to Music for Life, a production of KPCG 101.3 on the FM dial in Edmond, Oklahoma. From the Herbert W. Armstrong College campus, I'm Ryan Malone. Thanks for joining me.