Armando Cesari argues that, "In assessing Mario Lanza, the fact that his career took place mainly at MGM, instead of the Metropolitan, should not be the issue." Instead, Cesari asserts, Lanza "should be judged purely on the evidence he left behind, which contains many recorded performances that will stand comparison with – and often surpass – those of more fortunate singers whose careers have been almost entirely devoted to opera."

However, it needs to be said that locating Lanza's best recordings can be a daunting task. In the first instance, his legacy is a vast one: almost 400 studio and radio recordings, most of which have been released by BMG, in addition to numerous alternate takes and a large amount of unreleased soundtrack material. And then there are the recordings known mainly to aficionados: concerts, early radio work, television appearances, and a fascinating series of home rehearsals.

The variety of genres included in this legacy is astonishing, too: popular songs, operatic arias, operetta, show tunes, art songs, religious songs, and Neapolitan and Italian songs. Although, perversely, Lanza's versatility has often been held against him, it would be difficult to find another singer as convincing in so many different musical forms. As Enrico Caruso, Jr. observed, "Let it not be forgotten that Mario Lanza excelled in both the classical and the light popular repertory, an accomplishment that was beyond even my father's exceptional talents."

Lanza arriving in London, January 1958, for the beginning of his European concert tour. Photo courtesy of Armando Cesari.

At the same time, it should be acknowledged that Lanza did make some unfathomably bad recordings. The worst of these is the 1956 album Lanza on Broadway, which as Armando Cesari observes, continues to provide incalculable ammunition to the tenor's detractors. Some of Lanza's 1959 recordings – although never descending to the depths of the Broadway album – should also be avoided. His spirits dampened by illness, and his voice often coarsely produced, Lanza Sings Christmas Carols is the worst of the five albums he recorded in his final six months.

Lanza's 1951-52 Coca-Cola-sponsored radio show is the other main source of substandard recordings. Although the tenor recorded many superb renditions of English songs, his singing of operatic arias and Neapolitan songs on these programmes was often below par. Sloppy, mannered, and often wildly over the top, this is the Lanza whom critics love to seize upon.

What they overlook, however, is the fact that the over-represented "Coke" material represents a mere 11-month period in Lanza's life when his career was, in many respects, at its most chaotic. It should also be remembered that the "Coke" shows were never intended for posterity, and that rehearsal time was often minimal at best. Most of the arias and Neapolitan songs are not representative of the standards that he had already achieved in the RCA studios, and, indeed, would often go on to surpass in the latter part of his brief career. By posthumously releasing so many inferior radio performances, BMG has not helped Lanza's critical rehabilitation.

But no one – save the most diehard of his detractors – can overlook the many great recordings of Lanza's legacy. Scattered willy-nilly across many CDs, these include his 1949 Che Gelida Manina, the two Tosca arias, a near-flawless M'Apparì, the Improvviso from Andrea Chenier, Dio! Mi Potevi Scagliar from Otello, and the 1955 version of O Paradiso with piano.

There are also fine renditions of O Tu Che in Seno agli'Angeli, Questa o Quella, Addio alla Madre, Testa Adorata from Leoncavallo's La Boheme, and a still-unreleased "Coke" version of Cielo e Mar. Meanwhile on video, The Great Caruso is an enduring record of Lanza in exceptional vocal form, singing with many of the best Metropolitan Opera singers of the time.

Among his lighter repertoire, the tenor's first recording of The Student Prince is his greatest, and features some of Lanza's most poetic singing. Recorded in 1952-53, highlights from this album include the immortal Romberg Serenade, Drink! Drink! Drink!, Beloved, and I'll Walk With God.

Lanza also excelled in Neapolitan songs. His 1958 album Mario! showcases his best efforts in this genre, including outstanding renditions of Voce 'e Notte, Passione, and Canta Pe' Me. These are included on the CD Mario! Lanza At His Best. Arguably Lanza's finest album, its respected conductor, the Academy of Santa Cecilia's Franco Ferrara, later hailed the tenor's "great musicality," further describing him as "vocally extraordinary with a voice that combined steel with warmth...a Caruso-type voice."

There are also a large number of good recordings, including the poignant 1959 album Mario Lanza Sings Caruso Favorites – sung in what Lanza authority Lindsay Perigo describes as the tenor's "most haunting ethereal voice" – and the delightful Christmas With Mario Lanza CD compilation, together with many fine performances of English love songs and operetta.

In short, it is a legacy peppered with glorious moments. An uneven legacy, to be sure, but one that overflows with passion, romance, and excitement. While those who demand stylistic perfection and an infallible sense of pitch from their singers will inevitably be disappointed by Lanza, they would do well to note the tenor's musical philosophy: "I sing each word as though it were my last on earth." In essence, that is the key to the tenor's enduring appeal.

His contemporary Oreste Kirkop knew it. "Only a great heart can sing the way that Lanza sang," the Maltese tenor once observed, echoing the words of Lawrence Tibbett, who had earlier hailed Lanza's "natural zest and unbelievable diction." Although the longhairs have panned him as "a movie singer," Tibbett publicly declared in 1950, Lanza is "the greatest musical talent of America in our century. A man who is bringing great music to the kids, the farms, the ghettos, and the palaces." In 50 years, he concluded, "people will recognise Lanza for the great artist he is."

Recommended CDs

• Christmas with Mario Lanza (BMG 1990)
• Mario! Lanza At His Best (BMG 1995)
• Serenade/A Cavalcade of Show Tunes (BMG UK 2004)
• Encore! (Harvest Music 1999) Arias and Italian/Neapolitan songs.
• When Day Is Done (BMG 1998)
• Opera Arias and Duets (BMG 1999)
• Mario Lanza Sings Songs from The Student Prince and The Desert Song (BMG 1989)
• Mario Lanza Live at the Hollywood Bowl (Gala 2000)
• Christmas Hymns and Carols/You Do Something To Me (Collectables 2004)
• For the First Time/Mario Lanza Sings Caruso Favorites (Collectables 2001)

Recommended videos

• Mario Lanza: The American Caruso (1983 Domingo-hosted documentary; also available on DVD)
• The Great Caruso (1951)
• Serenade (1956)

A selection of rare videos and non-commercial audio recordings is available from The Mario Lanza Institute in Philadelphia (http://www.mario-lanza-institute.org).