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Ezio Pinza and Mary Martin sing "Some Enchanted Evening"
From a 1954 "General Foods" television special devoted to Richard Rodgers and Oscar Hammerstein II. These shows of Broadway stars were so popular in the early days of television that this special was broadcast simultaneously on all the networks. notice Mary Martin's wonderful acting here! A piece of this clip was featured in the romantic comedy "Only You" (1994). Thank you, frenchkitty, for alerting us to it! In the movie, the heroine, played by Marisa Tomei, stares at the TV set in tears as she watches Pinza sing. Later in Rome, after she meets her great romatic love (Robert Downey Jr.) they stroll by a jazzman on the street playing ''Some Enchanted Evening'' on his saxophone. Ezio Pinza, Italian-American bass, (born Fortunato (Ezio), Roma 1892 - died of a stroke, Stamford, Connecticut 1957) He came from a poor family, the first of seven children to survive, he grew up in Ravenna. Pinza studied engineering and was a bicycle racer before he settled on music. A big star at the Metropolitan Opera house starting in 1926, he continued his career in films, TV and Broadway after he retired from the Met in 1948. Pinza created the part of Emile de Becque in the original Broadway production of "South Pacific". His performance of "Some Enchanted Evening" on the original Broadway cast album as a big hit, and introduced him to a mass audience. He had an inflated view of his attraction and appeal these later years. Oscar Hammerstein said he could have had many more mass audience triumphs, but turned many offers down because they weren't giving him enough money and star treatment. Famous for his charm and looks, a visitor reported that when visiting with conductor Bruno Walter at his house in Saltzburg during the Festival in the late '30s, Walter's secretary came in the room nearly breathless and whispered "Dr. Walter, the most beautiful man in the world is here to see you!" Walter remarked "Ezio Pinza has arrived". Though Pinza studied at some Conservatories in Italy, he did not read music and learned all the music he had to sing by rote. It embarrassed him to go on the radio with Bing Crosby and such, as they could sight-read a new song in minutes, but he had to go home and learn it note-by-note--but this "deficiency" did enhance the learning of a role with all the detail and perfectionism he was famous for. His daughter, Claudia Pinza, founded EPCASO in 1981--the Ezio Pinza Council for American Singers of Opera. Pinza's grandson, Samuele Bozzolla, also remains active in EPCASO.