For the First Time
Encyclopedia
For the First Time is tenor
star Mario Lanza
's final film. Filmed on location in 1958 in Capri
, Salzburg
, Berlin
and at the Rome
Opera House, the film told the sentimental story of an operatic tenor (Tony Costa) who finds love for the first time with a young German woman (played by Johanna Von Koczian
), who happens to be deaf. The film was directed by Rudolph Mate
, and featured Kurt Kasznar
and Zsa Zsa Gabor
in supporting roles. Critics singled out Lanza's singing of "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagliacci and the Death Scene from Otello
for special praise, with Howard Thompson of The New York Times
calling it the tenor's "most disarming vehicle in years."
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
star Mario Lanza
Mario Lanza
right|thumb|[[MGM]] still, circa 1949Mario Lanza was an American tenor and Hollywood movie star of the late 1940s and the 1950s. The son of Italian emigrants, he began studying to be a professional singer at the age of 16....
's final film. Filmed on location in 1958 in Capri
Capri
Capri is an Italian island in the Tyrrhenian Sea off the Sorrentine Peninsula, on the south side of the Gulf of Naples, in the Campania region of Southern Italy...
, Salzburg
Salzburg
-Population development:In 1935, the population significantly increased when Salzburg absorbed adjacent municipalities. After World War II, numerous refugees found a new home in the city. New residential space was created for American soldiers of the postwar Occupation, and could be used for...
, Berlin
Berlin
Berlin is the capital city of Germany and is one of the 16 states of Germany. With a population of 3.45 million people, Berlin is Germany's largest city. It is the second most populous city proper and the seventh most populous urban area in the European Union...
and at the Rome
Rome
Rome is the capital of Italy and the country's largest and most populated city and comune, with over 2.7 million residents in . The city is located in the central-western portion of the Italian Peninsula, on the Tiber River within the Lazio region of Italy.Rome's history spans two and a half...
Opera House, the film told the sentimental story of an operatic tenor (Tony Costa) who finds love for the first time with a young German woman (played by Johanna Von Koczian
Johanna von Koczian
Johanna von Koczian is a German actress. She grew up in Salzburg, Austria, where actor Gustaf Gründgens offered her a role at the Salzburg Festival. She later portrayed Anna Frank at the Schiller theater in Berlin, but her breakthrough in cinema was her role in the 1957 remake of Victor and Victoria...
), who happens to be deaf. The film was directed by Rudolph Mate
Rudolph Maté
Born in Kraków , Maté started in the film business after his graduation from the University of Budapest. He went on to work as an assistant cameraman in Hungary and later throughout Europe, sometimes with noted colleague Karl Freund...
, and featured Kurt Kasznar
Kurt Kasznar
-Early life:Kasznar was born in Vienna, Austria as Kurt Servischer. His father left when Kurt was very young, his mother married a Hungarian restaurateur named Ferdinand Kasznar, and Kurt assumed his surname. He emigrated to the United States in the mid-1930s for The Eternal Road in which he...
and Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor
Zsa Zsa Gabor is a Hungarian-born American stage, film and television actress.She acted on stage in Vienna, Austria, in 1932, and was crowned Miss Hungary in 1936. She emigrated to the United States in 1941 and became a sought-after actress with "European flair and style", with a personality that...
in supporting roles. Critics singled out Lanza's singing of "Vesti la Giubba" from Pagliacci and the Death Scene from Otello
Otello
Otello is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on Shakespeare's play Othello. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, and was first performed at the Teatro alla Scala, Milan, on February 5, 1887....
for special praise, with Howard Thompson of The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
calling it the tenor's "most disarming vehicle in years."