Enrico Caruso
Enrico Caruso (February 25, 1873, Naples - August 2, 1921) was an Italian tenor, the most popular singer in any genre during the 1920s and one of the pioneers of of recorded music. His great sales success and an extraordinary voice, acclaimed for its power, beauty, richness of tone and superlative technique, make him the most famous opera singer of the first third of the century XX.
Biography
Raised in Naples in a poor family of seven children, he first became part of his parish choir and like his father, at the age of 10, began working as a mechanic and then as a worker in a cloth factory. He spent his free time performing popular songs in the city.
He took classes with Guglielmo Vergine, for three years, and even Caruso, even without mastery of vocal technique, nor of an instrument, managed to sing the score and by 1895, at the age of 22, Caruso made his debut in L' Friend Francesco by Domenico Morelli. With his singing style Enrico Caruso set a standard, influencing virtually all tenors in the Italian and French repertoires. His career spanned from 1895 to 1920 and included a record 863 appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in New York.
When the United States entered World War I in 1917, sending troops to Europe. Caruso did extensive charity work during the conflict, raising money for patriotic war-related causes by giving concerts and enthusiastically participating in Liberty Bond broadcasts. The tenor had proven to be a tough businessman ever since he came to America. He put much of his income from recording rights and singing fees into a whole series of investments. Biographer Michael Scott writes that by the end of the war in 1918, Caruso's income taxes totaled $154,000.
Before World War I, Caruso had been romantically involved with an Italian soprano, Ada Giachetti, who was a few years his senior. Although already married, Giachetti bore Caruso four children during their relationship, who it lasted from 1897 to 1908. Two survived childhood: Rodolfo Caruso (1898-1947) and singer/actor Enrico Caruso, Jr. (1904-1987). Ada had left her husband, the businessman Gino Botti, and another previous son, to go live with the tenor. Information provided in Scott's biography of Caruso suggests that she was also his vocal teacher as well as his lover. Certain statements by Enrico Caruso, Jr. in his book tend to support this. His relationship with Caruso later broke down. eleven years old and separated. Giachetti's subsequent demands to sue him for damages were dismissed by the courts.
Toward the end of the war, Caruso met and courted a 25-year-old socialite, Dorothy Park Benjamin (1893–1955). She was the daughter of a wealthy New York patent attorney. Despite Dorothy's father's disapproval, the couple married on August 20, 1918. They had a daughter, Gloria Caruso (1919–1999). Dorothy wrote two biographies of Caruso, which were published in 1928 and 1945. The books include many of Caruso's letters to his wife.
Caruso bathed twice a day, liked to dress well and eat good food, as well as being cheerful company. He became especially close friends with his Met and Covent Garden partner, Antonio Scotti – a very friendly and stylish baritone from Naples. Caruso was superstitious and usually carried a series of amulets with him when he sang. His wife, Dorothy, said that when she met him, her husband's favorite hobby was collecting scrapbooks. He also amassed a valuable collection of rare postage stamps, coins, watches, and old snuffboxes. Caruso was also a chain smoker of strong Egyptian cigarettes. This habit, combined with lack of exercise and his intense performance schedule, season after season at the Met, may have contributed to the persistent ill-health that afflicted the tenor in the last year of his life.
Death
Enrico Caruso died in 1921 of a complication of pleurisy, and was buried in Naples. As a curiosity, it should be noted that only one film from 1951 has attempted to portray him in: The Great Caruso by Richard Thorpe, in the shoes of the American actor and singer Mario Lanza, accompanied by Ann Blyth. It supposes a conventional biography but with attractions.
In 1986, Lucio Dalla would write the song Caruso, in honor of Caruso, when he stayed in the room where he is said to have died, telling the story of what happened that night; this song was covered by Luciano Pavarotti
Trajectory
She sang in many of the most important opera houses in the world, including the Teatro San Carlo in Naples, the Teatro Cervantes (Tangier), Teatro de La Scala in Milan, the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, the Teatro Solís in Montevideo and Covent Garden in London, although he is best known for having been first tenor at the Metropolitan Opera in New York for seventeen years. The celebrated Italian conductor Arturo Toscanini, who conducted some of the operas Caruso sang at the Metropolitan, considered him one of the greatest artists he had ever worked with. Caruso's repertoire numbered some sixty operas, almost all sung in Italian, although he also sang in French and English (with a heavy Italian accent).
He also had a repertoire of about five hundred songs, from Neapolitan and traditional Italian songs to popular songs of the time.
On the other hand, he was the first vocalist in history to make sound recordings of songs. During his career he made about 260 recordings and earned millions of dollars from the sale of his 78 rpm records.
On April 8, 1904, he recorded Mattinata, a song by Ruggero Leoncavallo, which is considered the first song composed exclusively to be recorded. Caruso and the recording industry did much to promote themselves in the first two decades of the 20th century. His 1902 recording of Leoncavallo's Vesti la giubba, by Pagliacci (Clowns), was the first record with a million copies.
Caruso recorded some songs in Spanish, such as La partida, Happy Night, A Granada and A la luz de la luna , the latter together with Emilio de Gogorza.
Caruso's timbre darkened as he aged, and from 1916 onward, he began adding heroic roles such as Samson, John of Leyden, and Eléazar to his repertoire. Caruso toured South America (Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil in 1917) and two years later he performed in Mexico City. In 1920, he was paid what was then an astronomical sum, US$10,000, to sing one night in Havana, Cuba.
His career was interrupted by a sudden infection that killed him at the age of 48, at the pinnacle of his career. Caruso was a client of Edward Bernays, a public relations pioneer, who worked as his press agent in the United States.
Caruso's Repertoire
Music samples
Selection of some excerpts from operas and songs performed by Enrico Caruso.
- Over there
- Caruso singing the popular World War I song by George M. Cohan.