Mario Lanza - I've Told Every Little Star

A very special Kern/ Hammerstein song, sung by the great Mario Lanza. What a voice, what a lovely song, how beautifully Lanza sang it. I never fully appreciated this song until I heard him sing it. Some pairings such as this one with Kern/ Hammerstein and Lanza are just truly made in heaven. May you enjoy this as much as I.

Photos of Lanza and paintings by master artists are added to accompany the lyrics. Mario's photos are from his films, The Great Caruso and That Midnight Kiss. These and his other films are available for purchase from Turner Classic Movies.

Please read the following comments section, although it may be long. I believe that you will be as moved as I was to find out about this song.

Dear Friends,
I came across the following quote from Tommy Thornton writing about Jerome Kern's inspiration for this song. I found the story so touching that I thought that you would like to read it also. You will find the following quote at:
http://www.openwriting.com/archives/2004/08/ive_told_every.php#more.

"In 1931, Jerome Kern was awakened one morning by a bird singing outside his window. The warbling so enchanted him that he woke his wife Eva and they listened together. When the bird flew away Jerry sang the melody over and over to himself then fell asleep.
When he awoke, he set about writing down the theme. To his dismay, he could not recall it correctly. He went to his piano but soon gave up in frustration. The song that had seemed so memorable and simple just a few hours before eluded him completely.
By a stroke of luck the bird reappeared the following morning. Kern grabbed a pencil and paper and, stealing quietly downstairs to his piano so as not to wake the sleeping household, he wrote down the tune.
As Kern noted: 'It was a complete phrase and a perfectly rounded melodic treatment.'
The bird was identified as a Cape Cod Sparrow Melospiza Melodia and its warbling was the inspiration for the song I've Told Every Little Star.
His collaborator, Oscar Hammerstein, later wrote, ''Jerry got the melodic theme from a bird. He swears it! He heard a finch outside the window singing the first line and he built a refrain on it.'' The song proved difficult to fashion lyrics, according to Mr. Hammerstein, who added, ''There were times when I wished the finch had kept his big mouth shut!''
On 5 November 1945, Jerome Kern went for a walk in New York City. When he reached the south west corner of Park Avenue and 57th street he collapsed suffering a cerebral hemorrhage. He was eventually taken to the Doctors Hospital in Manhattan where he lapsed into a coma.
His family arrived along with Oscar Hammerstein. On Sunday 11 November, Oscar was at his bedside. Lifting the oxygen tent he softly sang I've Told Every Little Star to Jerry who had a special affection for the song. When he'd finished, Oscar glanced at his beloved associate. There was no movement. The clock on the wall read 1.10 pm. For a moment, Oscar alone knew what a saddened world would shortly learn.
At the funeral, at Ferncliffe crematory at Hartsdale, every major figure from the musical stage was present. Oscar Hammerstein stepped forward to deliver a prepared eulogy. He never finished it. He gave way to emotions that overwhelmed him."
The audio on this video is a stereo version of Mario singing the song.
The following is a list of the master artists and their paintings according to their appearance in the video:
1) Francesco Albani - Adonis Led by Cupids to Venus
2) Louis Reinhardt - Still Life of Flowers, Fruits and Insects, c. 1855
3) John Vanderlyn -- Portrait of the Artist
4) John Opie (1785-1855) - Portrait of Maria Godsal
5) Merle Hugues - Romeo and Juliet
6) artist unknown -- classical landscape oil painting
7) Charles Edward Conder - Watching the Fireworks, St. Cloud (on the Terrace) c.1893
8) John Singer Sargent - Nancy Vicountess Astor
9) Jan Van Beers - A Love Match
10) Theodore Blake Wirgman - Gather Ye Rosebuds Whilst Ye May, 1905
11) Alfred de Breanski - Neath O'er Hanging Boughs
12) Francis Cotes - Portrait of Paul Sandby, 1761
13) Theodore Robinson - La débâcle, 1892
14) Jean-Antoine Watteau (1684-1721) -- Le Chasseur du Nid (The Hunter of the Nest)
15) Eustache Le Sueur - A Gathering of Friends 1640 -- 1642
16) Anne-Louis Girodet de Roucy-Triosson (1767-1824) - Portrait of a Young Man
17) William Powell Frith -- Lovers
18) John Faed - Lovers (Possibly representing Robert Burns and Highland Mary)
19) William Powell Frith - The Lovers
20) Alston Abbey -- A Beauty (detail)
21) Thomas Phillips - Michael Faraday (detail)
22) Pál Szinyei Merse (1845-1920) - Picnic in May
23) Pál Szinyei Merse (1845-1920) - Szerelmespár (Twosome), 1870
24) John Elgar Hicks - title unknown
25) Jean-Antoine Watteau, 1684-1721) - La Surprise

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