ANTHONY KEARNS
asked to be
HONORARY PRESIDENT OF THE LANZA LEGEND
at
REDLANDS BOWL
June 25, 2010
OPERA ARENA SPECIAL
More from the Lanza Legend Newsletter, August 7, 2010.
The Lanza Legend August, 2010 newsletter went out to its members this week, and as promised, there is quite a bit about their newest "Honorary President," Anthony Kearns, with more to follow, in the December issue.
Anthony has the center spread, with several photos, including the photo of Anthony next to a drawing of Mario Lanza, that the website has already posted.
There are two wonderful pages of "observations" by Marlene D'Attanasio, Bob Dolfi's "Legend" partner. The article is titled "The Loveliest Night of the Year." With the permission of Bob and Marlene, here are some highlights of the article, in Marlene's words, recalling that June 25th evening at the Redlands Bowl:
"It was a beautiful night for an open air concert. The audience neared the bowl's capacity of 5,000, filling most of the benches and surrounding lawn.
Mr. Kearns began with a beautiful rendition of "With a Song in My Heart,'. and then a Lanza classic, 'The Loveliest Night of the Year.' Of the ten songs he performed, including his encore, only two were non-Lanza.
"Before intermission we heard three more Kearns selections: 'Younger than Springtime,' 'Bring Him Home.' (non-Lanza but could have been), and a favorite, a heartfelt 'Dein ist mein ganzes Herz,' performed in German and English. Splendid! The audience was buzzing during intermission, especially the women.
After intermission, Mr. Kearns returned to centre stage with 'La Donna e Mobile,' and a powerful 'Torna a Sorrento.' Mr. Kearns graced us with 'Serenade' from 'The Student Prince.' So successful was he that I thought I could see the moon above although realistically, I knew the trees were blocking it, so all I could do was look at the many stars. It was splendid. His last song is another all time favorite of mine, albeit not a Lanza song, but once again, a song I wish Mario could have recorded: 'The Impossible Dream' from 'Man of La Mancha.' It always brings tears to my eyes.
"The audience gave a roaring ovation to Kearns, Fetta, and the orchestra. In fact, there were several ovations throughout the evening. We wouldn't let them go until we got another song. Can you guess what any self-respecting Irishman might sing? And yes, it was a song our Mario had recorded so well.....'Danny Boy.' Maestro Fetta accompanied Mr. Kearns on piano. It was sweet, sad, and hauntingly beautiful, and the perfect ending."
After the performance Bob and Marlene were invited backstage by Maestro Fetta to meet Anthony. They presented him with their book-"Be My Love-A Continued Celebration of Mario Lanza." And they asked him to autograph the photo at the beginning of this piece, for the newsletter.
Marlene closes the article by saying,"Maestro Fetta and Mr. Kearns-thank you for a wonderful Lanza Legend evening."
We send our thanks and appreciation to Bob Dolfi and Marlene D'Attanasio, for their kindness and help.
Berta Calechman