album has been singled out for special praise, with its star conductor Franco Ferrara of Rome's Accademia Nazionale di Santa Cecilia later hailing Lanza's singing on the disc as "vocally extraordinary...a Caruso-type voice."

selections include the Neapolitan songs "Voce 'e Notte," "Canta Pe' Me," "'Na Sera 'e Maggio," and "Passione."

The Vagabond King, an operetta by Rudolf Friml, was recorded three months before Mario Lanza's death in October 1959.

Lanza is accompanied on several songs by the soprano Judith Raskin, who recorded her contributions a year later in New York.

Note: In February 2006, this album was reissued by RCA in the sonically superior SACD format.