{"id":84487,"date":"2024-01-04T00:00:43","date_gmt":"2024-01-04T05:00:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/operawire.com\/?p=84487"},"modified":"2024-01-03T12:00:13","modified_gmt":"2024-01-03T17:00:13","slug":"opera-meets-film-mario-lanzas-brilliance-in-rudolph-mates-for-the-first-time","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-meets-film-mario-lanzas-brilliance-in-rudolph-mates-for-the-first-time\/","title":{"rendered":"Opera Meets Film: Mario Lanza&#8217;s Brilliance In Rudolph Mat\u00e9&#8217;s &#8216;For The First Time&#8217;"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The amount of films about opera and that use opera are endless, and yet, as it happens, time and time again the same studio seems to make an appearance. But, more importantly, the operatic stars at the center of these films seem to be just as copious as the titles. Completed by Austrian director Rudolph Mat\u00e9 in 1959, the film <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/For_the_First_Time_(1959_film)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201cFor The First Time<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u201d was a defining film in the cinematic career of Italian-American tenor <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mario_Lanza\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Mario Lanza<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, whose in-film colleagues included the great Hungarian actress <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Zsa_Zsa_Gabor\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Zsa Zsa Gabor<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and German actress <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Johanna_von_Koczian\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Johanna von Koczian<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what makes this film particularly notable is where it was located in the history of its studio, Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, and what music was used. In many ways, Lanza\u2019s career was far too short and in many others, his career brought him profound success in everything from opera to popular song to cinema and more. Who knows what could have happened if he\u2019d lived past 38 but one thing is for sure: This film, along with the many others starring him, helped immortalize his name in cinema history.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>First, A Plot!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">American tenor Tony Costa, played by Mario Lanza, becomes a celebrated singer and equally notable figure for his many scandals regarding his performance track record and ad hoc performances. Because of his shenanigans, manager Ladislaus Tabory takes Costa to Capri to settle the storm he\u2019s created. However, people begin noticing who he is in town and after being asked to sing in the main square, Costa begins falling for a girl who remains unmoved by his singing. This annoys Costa and he attempts to woo her even more. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The girl turns out to be Christa Bruckner and after WWII, she lost her hearing and thus cannot react to his singing. Costa\u2019s love for her grows with each passing day and when Costa\u2019s current girlfriend arrives to the island, he leaves her. After leaving for his next tour, Bruckner comes with him as Costa hopes to help her with her deafness. Despite risks of surgery, she regains her hearing and when Bruckner can hear his singing again the relationship deepens and a fruitful relationship ensues.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Then, Some Context!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8220;For the First Time&#8221; was shot in 1959 by Mat\u00e9 for Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer Studios, Inc. (MGM), the same studio responsible for the films like the failed 1917 film <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-meets-film-the-failure-of-opera-crossover-in-samuel-goldwyns-thais\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">&#8216;Tha\u00efs\u2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> featuring Mary Garden, the 1935 Marx brothers film <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-meets-film-the-marx-brothers-verdi-in-a-night-at-the-opera\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018A Night at The Opera<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u2019 and the 1940 film which inspired opera singers like Jamie Barton, \u2018<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-meets-film-rossinis-beloved-barber-in-chuck-jones-the-cat-above-and-the-mouse-below\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Cat Above and the Mouse Below<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u2019 However, it\u2019s notable that in the late-1950s MGM had reached the tale-end of their nearly 40 year-long wave of success, with 1959 being remembered as the company\u2019s greatest financial year thanks to the sound remake of \u2018<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ben-Hur_(1959_film)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ben-Hur<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u2019 one of MGM\u2019s most acclaimed silent films. Nevertheless, by the late-1970s MGM had ceased to be the film giant it once was, with most of its business having moved into hospitality under new management. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The year prior, moreover, was just as seminal thanks to MGM\u2019s musical film, <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Gigi_(1958_film)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Gigi<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u2019 starring French-American actress <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Leslie_Caron\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Leslie Caron<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> in the principle role, the film especially poignant chronologically as 1957 marked the first year in MGM\u2019s history that the company lost money due to the retirement of two of MGM\u2019s potent contributors, playwright <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Dore_Schary\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Dore Schary<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> and film executive <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Nicholas_Schenck\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Nicholas Schenck<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">. And adding fuel to the expanding conflagration is the fact that in 1957, MGM\u2019s animation department was proving too expensive to keep operating and so it was shut down. In the midst of these imbricated difficulties, MGM were able to produce some highly celebrated musical films like \u2018<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/An_American_in_Paris_(film)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">An American In Paris<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 (1951) and <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Singin%27_in_the_Rain\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Singin In The Rain\u2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> (1952), unfortunately followed by several big-budget flops like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Silk_Stockings_(1957_film)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2018Silk Stockings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 (1957), a film which tried to cash in on the burgeoning rock and roll movement with little success. As a result, even as early as the 1940s, MGM was in need of strategies that could bring audiences to theatres and much needed revenue to the company in order to sustain its continued success and regular operations.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">One of those said strategies included getting high-profile singers and performers of the day to participate in films, and under Dore Schary\u2019s leadership, famed tenor Mario Lanza, whose training began at 16 and whose career saw him sing with celebrated contemporaries like Spanish soprano Irma Gonz\u00e1lez and whose voice inspired singers like Jos\u00e9 Carreras and Pl\u00e1cido Domingo, came on board. Starring in films like \u2018The Toast of New Orleans\u2019 (1950) and, most famously, \u2018<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/The_Great_Caruso\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Great Caruso<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">\u2019 (1951), Lanza helped bring some much needed attention back to MGM at a time when the company needed it most. That \u2018For The First Time\u2019 is not considered to be MGM\u2019s greatest musical film, the title going to \u2018Gigi,\u2019 speaks to the already tempered reception to Lanza by MGM audiences who, as it turned out, shot the film six weeks before his death in October at the age of 38. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Perhaps one could read this as a prophetic occurrence, as MGM only had 20 years left to its cinematic name before eventually falling apart. In 2002, MGM was known as the MGM Entertainment Business Group, but in 2020 Amazon bought MGM and renamed it <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Amazon_MGM_Studios\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Amazon MGM Studios Distribution<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, with the company\u2019s hard-hitting music and films now a long distant memory. But it bears remembering that once, MGM was at the very center of American cinema and was a leading player in creating some of American culture\u2019s most iconic musical films, even if the only findable traces are within the records of the Library of Congress, Wikipedia, and YouTube.<\/span><\/p>\n<h3><strong>Finally, The Music!<\/strong><\/h3>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The film uses a large amount of operatic repertoire, ranging from Giuseppe Verdi to Ruggerio Leoncavallo, and Edvard Grieg to Franz Schubert. However, a little digging reveals that much of the repertoire may have been chosen in light of what Mario Lanza had already sung or was familiar with at the time. As a dramatic tenor, his forte was Verdi, Puccini, and the likes within the gamut of the Italian bel canto tradition. Roles like Otello, Calaf, Pinkerton, Fenton, and Rigoletto a mere sampling of what made Lanza\u2019s name so acclaimed during his time and for many years after. On Lanza\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mario_Lanza:_Opera_Arias_and_Duets\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">2001 posthumous CD<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">, it\u2019s obvious the great abilities for dramatic lyricism Lanza possessed and wielded during his career, while the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Mario_Lanza_discography\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">many recordings<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> made by him during his lifetime demonstrate Lanza\u2019s unique marriage of opera and popular song thanks to his dual career in film. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">So important was Lanza to opera that stars like <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.metopera.org\/user-information\/nightly-met-opera-streams\/articles\/matinee-idol\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Roberto Alagna<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> credit him for being a strong influence upon their own development, while during his lifetime <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mariolanzatenor.com\/concertsopera-1942-1950.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">negative reviews<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> were a rare occurrance, if ever given at all. Had Lanza not been drafted into WWII, his opera career might have seen his go to the Metropolitan Opera House and beyond, but if he hadn\u2019t been drafted much of his film career may not have begun. Regardless, the songs and arias used in the film speak to the legacy of music created by Lanza during his life, Italian love ballads and German lieder setting effortlessly next to robust operatic lamentations and celebratory odes. A good example of this marriage of \u201chigh\u201d and \u201clow\u201d musical traditions is \u201cLa donna e mobile\u201d from Verdi\u2019s Rigoletto (1851), recorded by Lanza in 1951, and the famous Neopolitan song \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/%27O_sole_mio\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">O Sol Mio<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d written by Giovanni Capurro and recorded by Lanza on numerous occasions (i.e., 1950, 1958, 1959, 1960). So loved was Lanza\u2019s version that recordings are now on YouTube where they have gained upwards of 1.5 million views for just <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=1X27O50Xq4U&amp;pp=ygUVbyBzb2wgbWlvIG1hcmlvIGxhbnph\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">one video<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">But what about some others? Lanza\u2019s iconic \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/watch?v=rRhmogBs-gU\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Vesti La Guibba<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">,\u201d first recorded in the early 1950s for RCA Records and then again in 1951 for Sunrise Records, secures Leoncavallo\u2019s tragic clown as among one of the most iconic roles ever sung by Lanza. The quintessential lament was featured in \u201cFor The First Time,\u201d Lanza on stage in the signature depressed clown makeup, and if all things had gone right during the last days of Lanza\u2019s life he would have opened up Rome Opera\u2019s 1960-61 season in the signature role. <\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">However, before that could take place, being short on money, in 1959 Lanza had agreed to star in the film, \u201cLaugh Clown Laugh,\u201d but it became apparent he wouldn\u2019t live to see the film\u2019s creation. What\u2019s even more tragic is that just ten years prior, he\u2019d been making plans to sing with the <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/everything2.com\/title\/Mario+Lanza\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">great Maria Callas<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at the time thanks to a filling out of his voice which left him confident in growing his operatic standing with his contemporaries. As a result, in the late-1950s his voice had grown deep and rich and he was set for Puccini\u2019s \u2018Tosca\u2019 according to Director of Rome Opera. Featured in the film was another iconic lied, Franz Schubert\u2019s 1825 \u201c<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/en.wikipedia.org\/wiki\/Ave_Maria_(Schubert)\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Ave Maria<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">.\u201d Recorded for Sunrise in 1951, RCA Records in 1955, this became an equally important song in Lanza\u2019s musical oeuvre and was featured in a 1957 broadcast for \u2018<\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.mariolanzatenor.com\/video-television-appearances1.html\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">The Christopher Program\u2019<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> at The Vatican in Rome, Italy.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The amount of films about opera and that use opera are endless, and yet, as it happens, time and time again the same studio seems to make an appearance. But, more importantly, the operatic stars at the center of these films seem to be just as copious as the titles. Completed by Austrian director Rudolph Mat\u00e9 in 1959, the film&nbsp;{&hellip;}<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":80,"featured_media":84488,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[2348,6],"tags":[21281,21278,21279,227,20571,21277,21280],"class_list":["post-84487","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-opera-meets-film","category-high-notes","tag-for-the-first-time","tag-johanna-von-koczian","tag-kurt-kasznar","tag-mario-lanza","tag-mgm","tag-rudolph-mate","tag-zsa-zsa-gabor"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v22.1 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>Opera Meets Film: Mario Lanza&#039;s Brilliance In Rudolph Mat\u00e9&#039;s &#039;For The First Time&#039; - OperaWire<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/operawire.com\/opera-meets-film-mario-lanzas-brilliance-in-rudolph-mates-for-the-first-time\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"Opera Meets Film: Mario Lanza&#039;s Brilliance In Rudolph Mat\u00e9&#039;s &#039;For The First Time&#039; - OperaWire\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"The amount of films about opera and that use opera are endless, and yet, as it happens, time and time again the same studio seems to make an appearance. 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