Mario Lanza - If (They Made Me A King)

Photos and voice of Mario Lanza with beautiful master paintings make a lovely listening and viewing combination.

"The music was written by Tolchard Evans, the lyrics by Robert Hargreaves and Stanley J. Damerell. The song was written in 1934, but the most popular versions were recorded in 1950-1951. Perry Como's version, recorded November 28, 1950, was a #1 charted hit on the Billboard charts for 8 weeks. "
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/If_(They_Made_Me_a_King)

Read about Napoleon III and his cousin (once betrothed to him), Mathilde Bonaparte, shown in the next frame after him in the video. Go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mathilde_Bonaparte

The painting of Lord Nelson is followed by a painting of his great love, Emma, Lady Hamilton. Go to http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Horatio_Nelson,_1st_Viscount_Nelson to find more information about Lord Nelson, his achievements and his relationship with Emma, Lady Hamilton.

A painting of French King, Louis XIV, is followed by his great love and second wife, Madame De Maintenon. They are shown seated, listening to the French writer Jean Baptiste Racine recite Athalie, his last play, said to be one of his finest compositions. Madame De Maintenon was a great supporter of Racine.
"In 1689 the king's mistress, Madame de Maintenon, urged Racine to return to playwriting; at her request, he wrote two short religious plays Esther and Athalie that were performed by the girls of the convent of Saint-Cyr." Quote is from: http://www.newworldencyclopedia.org/entry/Jean_Racine To learn more about Racine, go to this website. For more information on Madame De Maintenon's interesting life, go to: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fran%C3%A7oise_d'Aubign%C3%A9,_Marquise_de_Maintenon

Napoleon's painting is followed by the coronation scene in which he is about to crown Joséphine as Empress of France. Of the many thousands of letters he wrote, most were written to her, his great love.

Following is a list of the paintings and their artists shown in the order of their appearance in the video:
1) Edmund Blair Leighton (1852 - 1922) - King Copetua and the Beggar Maid
2) Sir Thomas Lawrence (1769 - 1830) - Portrait Of George Nugent Grenville, Lord Nugent (detail)
3) Frederick William Burton (1816-1900) - The Meeting on the Turret Stairs, Hellelil and Hildebrand
4) Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805 - 1873) - Portrait of Napoleon III
5) Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805 - 1873) - Princess Mathilde Laetitia Wilhelmine Bonaparte
6) Sir Henry Raeburn (1756 - 1823) - Colonel Francis James Scott
7) Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805--1873) - Empress Elisabeth of Austria in Courtly Gala Dress with Diamond Stars, 1865
8) Johann Friedrich August Tischbein (1750 -- 1812) - The Queen of Sheba Kneeling before King Solomon
9) Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) - The Landing of Marie de Medici at Marseilles (detail)
10) Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) -- The Mantuan Circle of Friends
11) Peter Paul Rubens (1577 - 1640) - Garden of Love
12) Charles Le Brun (1619 - 1690) - Louis XIV
13) Julie Philipaut - Racine Reciting Athalie for Louis XIV and Madame De Maintenon, 1819
14) Anselm Feuerbach (1829 - 1880) - Paolo And Francesca
15) Baron Arthur Georg von Ramberg (1819-1875) - Declaration of Love
16) Alois Heinrich Priechenfried (1867-1953) - The Proposal
17) Albert Edelfelt (1854-1905) - Idylli, 1878
18) Carl Spitzweg (1808 - 1885) - Lovers In A Wood, c. 1860
19) Lemel Francis Abbott ((ca. 1760 - 1802) - Admiral Horatio Nelson, 1800
20) George Romney (1734--1802) - Emma Hart, later Lady Hamilton, 1785-86
21) Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee (1853 - 1928) - Two Crowns
22) Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee (1853 - 1928) - La Belle Dame Sans Merci
23) Sir Joshua Reynolds - Members of the Society of Dilettanti
24) Franz Xaver Winterhalter (1805--1873) - Portrait of Madame Barbe de Rimsky-Korsakov, 1864
25) Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825) - Napoleon as Emperor
26) Jacques-Louis David (1748 - 1825) - Consecration of the Emperor Napoleon I and Coronation of the Empress Joséphine
27) Sir Francis Bernard Dicksee (1853 - 1928) - Paolo and Francesca

Видео Mario Lanza - If (They Made Me A King) канала MegaMusiclover1234