Super Mario: the operatic (and boozy) tragedy of the great Mario Lanza
At the centenary of his birth, it’s time to sing the praises of the US tenor who was effectively the first rock star – and paid the price
8 February 2021 • 6:00am
Taking over the screen: Mario Lanza in the 1957 film The Seven Hills of Rome
Credit: Alamy
“The Voice of the Century” was a label often pinned on Mario Lanza, the fabulously popular American tenor of the mid-20th century, whose centenary fell last week. But if that label has been pinned on many others too – Enrico Caruso, Maria Callas, Jussi Björling, not to mention Ella Fitzgerald and Billie Holiday – Lanza was different to any of these, because he straddled the classical/pop divide with triumphant ease.