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Enrico Caruso (, , ; 25 February 1873 – 2 August 1921) was an Italian
opera Opera is a form of History of theatre#European theatre, Western theatre in which music is a fundamental component and dramatic roles are taken by Singing, singers. Such a "work" (the literal translation of the Italian word "opera") is typically ...
tic first lyric tenor then dramatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. Generally recognized as the first international recording star, Caruso made around 250 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920.


Biography


Early life

Enrico Caruso came from a poor but not destitute background. Born in
Naples Naples ( ; ; ) is the Regions of Italy, regional capital of Campania and the third-largest city of Italy, after Rome and Milan, with a population of 908,082 within the city's administrative limits as of 2025, while its Metropolitan City of N ...
in the via Santi Giovanni e Paolo n° 7 on 25 February 1873, he was baptised the next day in the adjacent Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. His parents originally came from Piedimonte d'Alife (now called Piedimonte Matese), in the Province of Caserta in
Campania Campania is an administrative Regions of Italy, region of Italy located in Southern Italy; most of it is in the south-western portion of the Italian Peninsula (with the Tyrrhenian Sea to its west), but it also includes the small Phlegraean Islan ...
,
Southern Italy Southern Italy (, , or , ; ; ), also known as () or (; ; ; ), is a macroregion of Italy consisting of its southern Regions of Italy, regions. The term "" today mostly refers to the regions that are associated with the people, lands or cultu ...
. Caruso was the third of seven children and one of only three to survive infancy. For decades, there was a story of Caruso's parents having had 21 children, 18 of whom died in infancy. However, on the basis of genealogical research (amongst others conducted by Caruso family friend Guido D'Onofrio), biographers Pierre Key, Francis Robinson, and Enrico Caruso Jr. and Andrew Farkas, have proven this to be untrue. Caruso himself and his brother Giovanni may have been the source of the exaggerated number. Caruso's widow Dorothy also included the story in her best-selling memoir about her husband, published in 1945. She allegedly quoted the tenor, speaking of his mother, Anna Caruso (''née'' Baldini): "She had twenty-one children. Twenty boys and one girl – too many. I am number nineteen boy." Caruso's father, Marcellino, was a mechanic and foundry worker. Initially, Marcellino thought his son should adopt the same trade, and at the age of 11, the boy was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer who constructed and maintained public water fountains. Whenever visiting Naples in future years, Caruso liked to point out a fountain that he had helped to install. Caruso later worked alongside his father at the Meuricoffre factory in Naples. At his mother's insistence, he also attended school for a time, receiving a basic education under the tutelage of a local priest. He learned to write in a handsome script and studied technical draftsmanship. During this period he sang in his church choir, and his voice showed enough promise for him to contemplate a possible career in music. Caruso was encouraged in his early musical ambitions by his mother, who died in 1888. To raise cash for his family, he found work as a street singer in Naples and performed at cafes and soirées. Aged 18, he used the fees he had earned by singing at an Italian resort to buy his first pair of new shoes. His progress as a paid entertainer was interrupted, however, by 45 days of compulsory military service. He completed this in 1894, resuming his voice lessons upon discharge from the army.


Early career

On 15 March 1895 at the age of 22, Caruso made his professional stage debut at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in the now-forgotten opera, ''L'Amico Francesco'', by the amateur composer Mario Morelli. A string of further engagements in provincial opera houses followed, and he received instruction from the conductor and voice teacher Vincenzo Lombardi that improved his high notes and polished his style. Three other prominent Neapolitan singers taught by Lombardi were the baritones Antonio Scotti and Pasquale Amato, both of whom would go on to partner Caruso at the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
and the tenor Fernando De Lucia, who would also appear at the Met and later sing at Caruso's funeral. Money continued to be in short supply for the young Caruso. One of his first publicity photographs, taken on a visit to Sicily in 1896, depicts him wearing a bedspread draped like a toga since his sole dress shirt was away being laundered. During the final few years of the 19th century, Caruso performed at a succession of theatres throughout Italy until 1900, when he was rewarded with a contract to sing at
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
. His La Scala debut occurred on 26 December of that year in the part of Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini's ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' with
Arturo Toscanini Arturo Toscanini (; ; March 25, 1867January 16, 1957) was an Italian conductor. He was one of the most acclaimed and influential musicians of the late 19th and early 20th century, renowned for his intensity, his perfectionism, his ear for orche ...
conducting. Audiences in
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,
Warsaw Warsaw, officially the Capital City of Warsaw, is the capital and List of cities and towns in Poland, largest city of Poland. The metropolis stands on the Vistula, River Vistula in east-central Poland. Its population is officially estimated at ...
and
Buenos Aires Buenos Aires, controlled by the government of the Autonomous City of Buenos Aires, is the Capital city, capital and largest city of Argentina. It is located on the southwest of the Río de la Plata. Buenos Aires is classified as an Alpha− glob ...
also heard Caruso sing during this pivotal phase of his career and, in 1899–1900, he appeared before the
Tsar Tsar (; also spelled ''czar'', ''tzar'', or ''csar''; ; ; sr-Cyrl-Latn, цар, car) is a title historically used by Slavic monarchs. The term is derived from the Latin word '' caesar'', which was intended to mean ''emperor'' in the Euro ...
and the Russian aristocracy at the Mariinsky Theatre in
Saint Petersburg Saint Petersburg, formerly known as Petrograd and later Leningrad, is the List of cities and towns in Russia by population, second-largest city in Russia after Moscow. It is situated on the Neva, River Neva, at the head of the Gulf of Finland ...
and the
Bolshoi Theatre The Bolshoi Theatre ( rus, Большо́й теа́тр, r=Bol'shoy teatr, p=bɐlʲˈʂoj tʲɪˈat(ə)r, t=Grand Theater) is a historic opera house in Moscow, Russia, originally designed by architect Joseph Bové. Before the October Revolutio ...
in
Moscow Moscow is the Capital city, capital and List of cities and towns in Russia by population, largest city of Russia, standing on the Moskva (river), Moskva River in Central Russia. It has a population estimated at over 13 million residents with ...
as part of a touring company of first-class Italian singers. The first major operatic role that Caruso created was Federico in Francesco Cilea's '' L'arlesiana'' (1897); then he was Loris in
Umberto Giordano Umberto Menotti Maria Giordano (28 August 186712 November 1948) was an Italian composer, mainly of operas. His best-known work in that genre was Andrea Chénier (1896). He was born in Foggia in Apulia, southern Italy, and studied under Paolo Se ...
's '' Fedora'' (1898) at the Teatro Lirico, Milan. At that same theatre, he created the role of Maurizio in Francesco Cilea's '' Adriana Lecouvreur'' (1902). Puccini considered casting the young Caruso in the role of Cavaradossi in '' Tosca'' at its premiere in January 1900, but ultimately chose the older, more established Emilio De Marchi instead. Caruso appeared in the role later that year and Puccini stated that Caruso sang the part better.
File:Enrico Caruso as the Duke in Rigoletto.jpg, Enrico Caruso as Duke in ''Rigoletto'', 1904 File:The-Theatre-FC-December-1912.jpg, Caruso as Duke in ''The Theatre'', 1912
Caruso took part in a grand concert at La Scala in February 1901 that Toscanini organised to mark the recent death of
Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi ( ; ; 9 or 10 October 1813 – 27 January 1901) was an Italian composer best known for List of compositions by Giuseppe Verdi, his operas. He was born near Busseto, a small town in the province of Parma ...
. Among those appearing with him at the concert were two other leading Italian tenors of the day, Francesco Tamagno (the creator of the protagonist's role in Verdi's ''
Otello ''Otello'' () is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Arrigo Boito, based on William Shakespeare, Shakespeare's play ''Othello''. It was Verdi's penultimate opera, first performed at the La Scala, Teatro alla Scala, M ...
'') and Giuseppe Borgatti (the creator of the protagonist's role in Giordano's '' Andrea Chénier''). In December 1901, Caruso made his debut at the San Carlo Opera House in Naples in '' L'Elisir d'Amore'' to a lukewarm reception; two weeks later he appeared as Des Grieux in Massenet's '' Manon'' which was even more coolly received. The indifference of the audiences and harsh critical reviews in his native city hurt him deeply and he vowed never to sing there again. He later said: "I will never again come to Naples to sing; it will only be to eat a plate of spaghetti". Caruso embarked on his last series of La Scala performances in March 1902, creating the principal tenor part of Federico Loewe in ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
'' by Alberto Franchetti. A month later, on 11 April, he was engaged by the British Gramophone Company to make his first group of recordings in a Milan hotel room for a fee of 100 pounds sterling. These ten records swiftly became best-sellers. Among other things, they helped spread 29-year-old Caruso's fame throughout the English-speaking world. The management of London's Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, signed him for a season of appearances in eight different operas ranging from Verdi's '' Aida'' to Mozart's ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
''. His successful debut at Covent Garden occurred on 14 May 1902, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's ''
Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
''. Covent Garden's highest-paid diva, the Australian soprano Nellie Melba, partnered him as Gilda. They would sing together often during the early 1900s. In her memoirs, Melba praised Caruso's voice but considered him to be a less sophisticated musician and interpretive artist than Jean de Reszke, the Met's star tenor prior to Caruso.


Metropolitan Opera

In 1903, Caruso made his debut with the
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
in New York City. The gap between his London and New York engagements had been filled by a series of performances in Italy, Portugal and South America. Caruso's contract had been negotiated by his agent, the banker and impresario Pasquale Simonelli. Caruso's debut was in a new production of ''Rigoletto'' on 23 November 1903. This time, Marcella Sembrich sang opposite him as Gilda. A few months later, he began his lifelong association with the
Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...
. He made his first American records on 1 February 1904, having signed a lucrative financial deal with Victor. Thereafter, his recording career ran in concert with his Met career, each bolstering the other, until his death in 1921.
File:CarusoO.jpg, Medal that Caruso gave to Pasquale Simonelli, his New York City impresario File:CarusoR.jpg, Reverse: Euterpe, muse of music, with lyre
Caruso purchased the Villa Bellosguardo, a palatial country house near
Florence Florence ( ; ) is the capital city of the Italy, Italian region of Tuscany. It is also the most populated city in Tuscany, with 362,353 inhabitants, and 989,460 in Metropolitan City of Florence, its metropolitan province as of 2025. Florence ...
, in 1904. The villa became his retreat from the pressures of the operatic stage and the grind of travel. Caruso's preferred address in New York City was a suite at Manhattan's Knickerbocker Hotel. Caruso commissioned the New York jewellers Tiffany & Co. to strike a 24-carat gold medal adorned with the tenor's profile. He presented the medal in gratitude to Simonelli as a souvenir of his many well-remunerated performances at the Met. In addition to his regular New York engagements, Caruso gave recitals and operatic performances in a large number of cities across the United States and sang in Canada. He also continued to sing widely in Europe, appearing again at Covent Garden in 1904–07 and 1913–14, and undertaking a UK tour in 1909. Audiences in France, Belgium, Monaco, Austria, Hungary and Germany also heard him before the outbreak of World War I. In 1909, Melba asked him to participate in her forthcoming tour of Australia, but he declined because of the significant amount of travel time that such a trip would entail. Members of the Met's roster of artists, including Caruso, had visited San Francisco in April 1906 for a series of performances. Following an appearance as Don José in ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'' at the city's Grand Opera House, a strong jolt awakened Caruso at 5:13 on the morning of the 18th in his suite at the Palace Hotel. He found himself in the middle of the
San Francisco earthquake At 05:12 AM Pacific Standard Time on Wednesday, April 18, 1906, the coast of Northern California was struck by a major earthquake with an estimated moment magnitude of 7.9 and a maximum Mercalli intensity of XI (''Extreme''). High-intensit ...
, which led to a series of fires that destroyed most of the city. The Met lost all the sets, costumes and musical instruments that it had brought on tour, but none of the artists were harmed. Holding an autographed photo of President
Theodore Roosevelt Theodore Roosevelt Jr. (October 27, 1858 – January 6, 1919), also known as Teddy or T.R., was the 26th president of the United States, serving from 1901 to 1909. Roosevelt previously was involved in New York (state), New York politics, incl ...
, Caruso ran from the hotel but was composed enough to walk to the St. Francis Hotel for breakfast. Charlie Olson, the broiler cook, made the tenor bacon and eggs. Apparently, the quake had no effect on Caruso's appetite, as he cleaned his plate and tipped Olson $2.50.Bronson, William, ''The Earth Shook, The Sky Burned'', p. 50 Caruso made an ultimately successful effort to flee the city, first by boat and then by train. He vowed never to return to San Francisco and kept his word. In November 1906, Caruso was charged with an indecent act allegedly committed in the monkey house of New York's Central Park Zoo. The police accused him of pinching the buttocks of a married woman. Caruso claimed a monkey did the bottom-pinching. He was later found guilty and fined 10 dollars, although evidence suggested that he may have been entrapped by the victim and the arresting officer. Initially, the leaders of New York's opera-going high society were outraged by the incident, which received extensive newspaper coverage, but it was soon forgotten and Caruso's popularity was unaffected. Caruso's fan base at the Met was not restricted, however, to the wealthy. Members of America's middle classes also paid to hear him sing—or buy copies of his recordings—and he enjoyed a substantial following among New York's 500,000 Italian immigrants. On 10 December 1910, Caruso created the role of Dick Johnson in the world premiere of Puccini's '' La fanciulla del West''. The composer wrote the music for Johnson with Caruso's voice specifically in mind. Appearing with Caruso were two more of the Met's star singers, the Czech soprano
Emmy Destinn Emmy Destinn ( (); 26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930) was a Czech operatic dramatic soprano. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th and 20th centuries. ...
and baritone Pasquale Amato. Toscanini, then the Met's principal conductor, presided in the orchestra pit and Puccini himself, supervised the production.


Extortion by Black Hand

Caruso's success in the Metropolitan Opera drew the attention of Black Hand extortionists. They threatened to injure his throat with lye or harm him and his family if he did not pay them money. He initially paid their extortion fee of $2,000 (US$ in ) expecting the matter to be settled, but his willingness to pay made them more brazen. They subsequently demanded an even larger sum of $15,000 (US$ in )." He was aided by New York City police detective Joseph Petrosino Raab, Selwyn. ''Five Families: The Rise, Decline, and Resurgence of America's Most Powerful Mafia Empires.'' London: Robson Books, 2006. . p. 19. who, impersonating Caruso, captured the extortionists. Two Italian men, Antonio Misiano and Antonio Cincotto, would be later specifically accused of the crime.


Later career and personal life

The timbre of Caruso's voice gradually darkened as he aged and by 1916, he began adding heroic tenor parts such as Samson, John of Leyden, and Eléazar to his repertoire. Caruso toured the South American nations of Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil in 1917, and two years later performed in Mexico City. In 1920, he was paid the enormous sum of US$10,000 a night (US$ in ) to sing in
Havana Havana (; ) is the capital and largest city of Cuba. The heart of La Habana Province, Havana is the country's main port and commercial center.Liberty Bond A liberty bond or liberty loan was a war bond that was sold in the United States to support the Allied cause in World War I. Subscribing to the bonds became a symbol of patriotic duty in the United States and introduced the idea of financi ...
drives. The tenor had shown himself to be a shrewd businessman since arriving in America. He put a sizable proportion of his earnings from record royalties and singing fees into a range of investments. Biographer Michael Scott writes that by the end of the war in 1918, Caruso's annual income tax bill amounted to $154,000 (US$ in ). Prior to World War I, Caruso had been romantically linked to an Italian soprano, Ada Giachetti, who was a few years his senior. Though she was already married, Giachetti bore Caruso four sons during their liaison, which lasted from 1897 to 1908. Two survived infancy: Rodolfo Caruso (1898–1951) and singer/actor Enrico Caruso Jr. (1904–1987). Ada had left her husband, manufacturer Gino Botti, and an existing son to cohabit with the tenor. Information provided in Scott's biography of Caruso suggests that she was Caruso's vocal coach as well as his lover. Statements by Enrico Caruso Jr. in his book tend to substantiate this. Her relationship with Caruso broke down after 11 years and they separated. Giachetti's subsequent attempts to sue him for damages were dismissed by the courts. In 1917, Caruso met and courted a 25-year-old socialite, Dorothy Park Benjamin (1893–1955). She was the daughter of Park Benjamin, a wealthy New York patent lawyer and author. In spite of the disapproval of Dorothy's father, the couple wed on 20 August 1918. They had a daughter, Gloria Caruso (1919–1999). Dorothy wrote two biographies of Caruso, published in 1928 and 1945. The books include many of Caruso's letters to his wife. A fastidious dresser, Caruso took at least two baths a day and enjoyed good food and convivial company. He forged a particularly close bond with his Met and Covent Garden colleague Antonio Scotti – an amiable and stylish baritone from Naples. Caruso was superstitious and habitually carried several good-luck charms with him when he sang. He played cards for relaxation and sketched friends, other singers, and musicians. His wife, Dorothy, said that by the time she knew him, her husband's favourite hobby was compiling scrapbooks. He also amassed valuable collections of rare postage stamps, coins, watches and antique snuffboxes. Caruso was a heavy smoker of strong Egyptian cigarettes. This deleterious habit, combined with a lack of exercise and the punishing schedule of performances that Caruso willingly undertook season after season at the Met, may have contributed to the persistent ill-health which afflicted the last year of his life.


Illness and death

On 16 September 1920, Caruso concluded three days of recording sessions at Victor's Trinity Church studio in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...
. He recorded several discs, including the ''Domine Deus'' and ''Crucifixus'' from the '' Petite messe solennelle'' by Rossini. These recordings were to be his last. Dorothy Caruso noted that her husband's health began to rapidly decline after he returned from a lengthy North American concert tour in the autumn of 1920. In his biography, Enrico Caruso Jr. points to an on-stage injury suffered by Caruso as the possible trigger of his fatal illness. A scenery malfunction during a performance of Saint-Saëns’ '' Samson and Delilah'' at the Met on December 3rd caused a decorative pillar to fall and hit him on the back, over the left kidney (and not on the chest as popularly reported). A few days before a performance of ''Pagliacci'' at the Met (Pierre Key says it was 4 December, the day after the ''Samson and Delilah'' injury) he suffered a chill and developed a cough and a "dull pain in his side". It appeared to be a severe episode of
bronchitis Bronchitis is inflammation of the bronchi (large and medium-sized airways) in the lungs that causes coughing. Bronchitis usually begins as an infection in the nose, ears, throat, or sinuses. The infection then makes its way down to the bronchi. ...
. Caruso's physician, Philip Horowitz, who usually treated him for
migraine Migraine (, ) is a complex neurological disorder characterized by episodes of moderate-to-severe headache, most often unilateral and generally associated with nausea, and light and sound sensitivity. Other characterizing symptoms may includ ...
headaches with a kind of primitive TENS unit, diagnosed "intercostal neuralgia" and pronounced him fit to appear on stage, although the pain continued to hinder his voice production and movements. During a performance of '' L'elisir d'amore'' by Donizetti at the
Brooklyn Academy of Music The Brooklyn Academy of Music (BAM) is a multi-arts center in Brooklyn, New York City. It hosts progressive and avant-garde performances, with theater, dance, music, opera, film programming across multiple nearby venues. BAM was chartered in 18 ...
on 11 December 1920, he began spitting blood as a result of a mouth or throat haemorrhage and the performance was cancelled at the end of Act 1. Following this incident, a clearly unwell Caruso gave only three more performances at the Met, the final one being as Eléazar in Halévy's ''
La Juive ''La Juive'' (, ) is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' ...
'' on 24 December 1920, while suffering acute pain. By Christmas Day, the pain in his side was so excruciating that he was screaming. Dorothy summoned the hotel physician, who gave Caruso some morphine and codeine and called in another doctor, Evan M. Evans. Evans brought in three other doctors, and Caruso finally received a correct diagnosis: purulent
pleurisy Pleurisy, also known as pleuritis, is inflammation of the membranes that surround the lungs and line the chest cavity (Pulmonary pleurae, pleurae). This can result in a sharp chest pain while breathing. Occasionally the pain may be a constant d ...
and empyema. Caruso's health deteriorated further during the new year. He lapsed into a
coma A coma is a deep state of prolonged unconsciousness in which a person cannot be awakened, fails to Nociception, respond normally to Pain, painful stimuli, light, or sound, lacks a normal Circadian rhythm, sleep-wake cycle and does not initiate ...
and at one point, nearly died of heart failure. He continued to experience episodes of severe pain due to the infection and underwent seven surgical procedures to drain fluid from his chest and lungs. He slowly began to improve and by May 1921, he had recovered sufficiently to sail to Naples to further recuperate from the most serious of the operations, during which part of a rib had been removed. According to Dorothy, he appeared to be continuing with his recovery, but in July he allowed himself to be examined by an unhygienic local doctor. Caruso's condition began to deteriorate dramatically after that. The Bastianelli brothers, eminent Italian medical practitioners, examined him and recommended that his left kidney be removed. On the morning of 1 August, Caruso and his entourage left Sorrento for the Bastianelli's clinic in Rome, but by the time they reached Naples, Caruso was running a high fever and was gravely ill. The party checked into the Hotel Vesuvio where Caruso began screaming in pain and eventually, a doctor gave him
morphine Morphine, formerly also called morphia, is an opiate that is found naturally in opium, a dark brown resin produced by drying the latex of opium poppies (''Papaver somniferum''). It is mainly used as an analgesic (pain medication). There are ...
to help him sleep. Caruso died the following morning at the hotel shortly after 9:00 a.m. local time, on 2 August 1921. He was 48 years old. The Bastianellis attributed the cause of death to peritonitis arising from a burst subphrenic abscess. The
King of Italy King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a constitutional monarch if his power is restrained by ...
,
Victor Emmanuel III Victor Emmanuel III (; 11 November 1869 – 28 December 1947) was King of Italy from 29 July 1900 until his abdication on 9 May 1946. A member of the House of Savoy, he also reigned as Emperor of Ethiopia from 1936 to 1941 and King of the Albani ...
, opened the Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola for Caruso's funeral, which was attended by thousands of people. His embalmed body was preserved in a glass
sarcophagus A sarcophagus (: sarcophagi or sarcophaguses) is a coffin, most commonly carved in stone, and usually displayed above ground, though it may also be buried. The word ''sarcophagus'' comes from the Greek language, Greek wikt:σάρξ, σάρξ ...
at Del Pianto Cemetery in Naples for mourners to view. In 1929, Dorothy Caruso had his coffin covered and permanently sealed in an ornate stone tomb.


Historical and musical significance

Caruso's career, which lasted from 1895 to 1920, included 863 appearances with the New York
Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an American opera company based in New York City, currently resident at the Metropolitan Opera House (Lincoln Center), Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center, situated on the Upper West Side of Manhattan. Referred ...
(both at the Met and on tour) before his death in 1921 at the age of 48. Thanks largely to his tremendously popular phonograph records, Caruso was one of the most famous entertainment personalities of his day, and his fame has continued to endure to the present. He was one of the first examples of a global media celebrity. Beyond records, Caruso's name became familiar to millions throughout the world via newspapers, books, magazines, and the new media technology of the 20th century: cinema, the
telephone A telephone, colloquially referred to as a phone, is a telecommunications device that enables two or more users to conduct a conversation when they are too far apart to be easily heard directly. A telephone converts sound, typically and most ...
, and
telegraph Telegraphy is the long-distance transmission of messages where the sender uses symbolic codes, known to the recipient, rather than a physical exchange of an object bearing the message. Thus flag semaphore is a method of telegraphy, whereas ...
. Caruso toured widely both with the Metropolitan Opera touring company and on his own, giving hundreds of performances throughout Europe, and North and South America. He was a client of the noted promoter
Edward Bernays Edward Louis Bernays ( ; ; November 22, 1891 − March 9, 1995) was an American pioneer in the field of public relations and propaganda, referred to in his obituary as "the father of public relations". While credited with advancing the profession ...
, during the latter's tenure as a press agent in the United States. Beverly Sills noted in an interview: "I was able to do it with television and radio and media and all kinds of assists. The popularity that Caruso enjoyed without any of this technological assistance is astonishing." Caruso biographers Pierre Key, Bruno Zirato and Stanley Jackson attribute Caruso's fame not only to his voice and musicianship but also to a keen business sense and an enthusiastic embrace of commercial
sound recording Sound recording and reproduction is the electrical, Mechanical system, mechanical, electronic, or digital inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of ...
, then in its infancy. Many opera singers of Caruso's time rejected the
phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
(or gramophone) owing to the low fidelity of early discs. Others, including Adelina Patti, Francesco Tamagno and Nellie Melba, exploited the new technology once they became aware of the financial returns that Caruso was reaping from his initial recording sessions. Caruso made more than 260 extant recordings in America for the
Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...
(later
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
) from 1904 to 1920, and he and his heirs earned millions of dollars in royalties from the retail sales of these records. He was also heard live from the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House in 1910 when he participated in the first public radio broadcast to be transmitted in the United States. Caruso also appeared in two motion pictures. In 1918, he played a dual role in the American
silent film A silent film is a film without synchronized recorded sound (or more generally, no audible dialogue). Though silent films convey narrative and emotion visually, various plot elements (such as a setting or era) or key lines of dialogue may, w ...
'' My Cousin'' (entirely restored in July 2021) for
Paramount Pictures Paramount Pictures Corporation, commonly known as Paramount Pictures or simply Paramount, is an American film production company, production and Distribution (marketing), distribution company and the flagship namesake subsidiary of Paramount ...
. This film included a sequence depicting him on stage performing the aria '' Vesti la giubba'' from Leoncavallo's opera ''
Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...
''. The following year Caruso played a character called Cosimo in another film, '' The Splendid Romance''. Producer
Jesse Lasky Jesse Louis Lasky (September 13, 1880 – January 13, 1958) was an American pioneer Film producer, motion picture producer who was a key founder of what was to become Paramount Pictures, and father of screenwriter Jesse L. Lasky Jr. Early life ...
paid Caruso $100,000 (US$ in ) each to appear in these two efforts but ''My Cousin'' flopped at the box office, and ''The Splendid Romance'' was apparently never released. Brief candid glimpses of Caruso offstage have been preserved in contemporary
newsreel A newsreel is a form of short documentary film, containing news, news stories and items of topical interest, that was prevalent between the 1910s and the mid 1970s. Typically presented in a Movie theater, cinema, newsreels were a source of cu ...
footage. While Caruso sang at such venues as
La Scala La Scala (, , ; officially , ) is a historic opera house in Milan, Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as (, which previously was Santa Maria della Scala, Milan, a church). The premiere performa ...
in Milan, the
Royal Opera House The Royal Opera House (ROH) is a theatre in Covent Garden, central London. The building is often referred to as simply Covent Garden, after a previous use of the site. The ROH is the main home of The Royal Opera, The Royal Ballet, and the Orch ...
, in London, the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg, and the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires, he appeared most often at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, where he was the leading tenor for 18 consecutive seasons. It was at the Met, in 1910, that he created the role of Dick Johnson in
Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Puccini (22 December 1858 29 November 1924) was an Italian composer known primarily for List of compositions by Giacomo Puccini#Operas, his operas. Regarded as the greatest and most successful proponent of Italian opera after Verdi, he ...
's '' La fanciulla del West''. Caruso's voice extended up to high D-flat in its prime and grew in power and weight as he grew older. At times, his voice took on a dark, almost baritonal colouration. He sang a broad spectrum of roles, ranging from lyric, to spinto, to dramatic parts, in the Italian and French repertoires. In the German repertoire, Caruso sang only two roles, Assad in
Karl Goldmark Karl Goldmark (born Károly Goldmark, Keszthely, 18 May 1830 – Vienna, 2 January 1915) was a Hungarian-born Viennese composer. Peter Revers, Michael Cherlin, Halina Filipowicz, Richard L. Rudolph The Great Tradition and Its Legacy 2004; , p ...
's '' The Queen of Sheba'' and
Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner ( ; ; 22 May 181313 February 1883) was a German composer, theatre director, essayist, and conductor who is chiefly known for his operas (or, as some of his mature works were later known, "music dramas"). Unlike most o ...
's '' Lohengrin'', both of which he performed in Italian in Buenos Aires in 1899 and 1901, respectively.


Honours

During his lifetime, Caruso received many orders, decorations, testimonials and other kinds of honours from monarchs, governments and miscellaneous cultural bodies of the various nations in which he sang. He was also the recipient of Italian knighthoods. In 1917, he was elected an honorary member of the
Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia (legally Phi Mu Alpha Sinfonia Fraternity of America, colloquially known as Phi Mu Alpha, PMA, or simply Sinfonia) () is an American collegiate social Fraternities and sororities, fraternity for men with a special interest ...
, the national fraternity for men involved in music, by the fraternity's Alpha chapter of the New England Conservatory of Music in Boston. One unusual award bestowed on him was that of "Honorary Captain of the New York Police Force". In 1960, for his contribution to the recording industry, Caruso received a star located at 6625 Hollywood Boulevard on the
Hollywood Walk of Fame The Hollywood Walk of Fame is a landmark which consists of 2,813 five-pointed terrazzo-and-brass stars embedded in the sidewalks along 15 blocks of Hollywood Boulevard and three blocks of Vine Street in the Hollywood, Los Angeles, Hollywood dist ...
. Caruso was posthumously awarded a
Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award The Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award is a special Grammy Award The Grammy Awards, stylized as GRAMMY, and often referred to as The Grammys, are awards presented by The Recording Academy of the United States to recognize outstanding achiev ...
in 1987. On 27 February of that same year, the
United States Postal Service The United States Postal Service (USPS), also known as the Post Office, U.S. Mail, or simply the Postal Service, is an independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the executive branch of the federal governmen ...
issued a 22-cent
postage stamp A postage stamp is a small piece of paper issued by a post office, postal administration, or other authorized vendors to customers who pay postage (the cost involved in moving, insuring, or registering mail). Then the stamp is affixed to the f ...
in his honour. He was voted into '' Gramophone''s Hall of Fame in 2012.


Repertoire

Caruso's operatic repertoire consisted primarily of Italian works, along with a few roles in French. He also performed two German operas, Wagner's '' Lohengrin'' and Goldmark's '' Die Königin von Saba'', singing in Italian, early in his career. Below are the first performances by Caruso, in chronological order, of each of the operas that he undertook on the stage. World premieres are indicated with **. * ''L'amico Francesco'' (Morelli) – Teatro Nuovo, Napoli, 15 March 1895 (debut)** * '' Faust'' – Caserta, 28 March 1895 * '' Cavalleria rusticana'' – Caserta, April 1895 * ''Camoens'' (Musoni) – Caserta, May 1895 * ''
Rigoletto ''Rigoletto'' is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the 1832 play '' Le roi s'amuse'' by Victor Hugo. Despite serious initial problems with the Austrian censors who had c ...
'' – Napoli, 21 July 1895 * '' La traviata'' – Napoli, 25 August 1895 * '' Lucia di Lammermoor'' – Cairo, 30 October 1895 * '' La Gioconda'' – Cairo, 9 November 1895 * '' Manon Lescaut'' – Cairo, 15 November 1895 * ''
I Capuleti e i Montecchi ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' (''The Capulets and the Montagues'') is an Italian opera (''tragedia lirica'') in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini. The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of ''Romeo and Juliet'' for an opera by Nicol ...
'' – Napoli, 7 December 1895 * ''Malia'' ( Francesco Paolo Frontini) – Trapani, 21 March 1896 * '' La sonnambula'' – Trapani, 25 March 1896 * ''Mariedda'' () – Napoli, 23 June 1896 * '' I puritani'' – Salerno, 10 September 1896 * '' La Favorita'' – Salerno, 22 November 1896 * ''A San Francisco'' (Sebastiani) – Salerno, 23 November 1896 * ''
Carmen ''Carmen'' () is an opera in four acts by the French composer Georges Bizet. The libretto was written by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée. The opera was first performed by the O ...
'' – Salerno, 6 December 1896 * ''Un Dramma in vendemmia'' (Fornari) – Napoli, 1 February 1897 * ''Celeste'' (Marengo) – Napoli, 6 March 1897** * ''Il Profeta Velato'' (Napolitano) – Salerno, 8 April 1897 * ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' – Livorno, 14 August 1897 * '' La Navarrese'' – Milano, 3 November 1897 * ''Il Voto'' (Giordano) – Milano, 10 November 1897** * '' L'arlesiana'' – Milano, 27 November 1897** * ''
Pagliacci ''Pagliacci'' (; literal translation, 'Clowns') is an Italian opera in a prologue and two acts, with music and libretto by Ruggero Leoncavallo. The opera tells the tale of Canio, actor and leader of a commedia dell'arte theatrical company, who mu ...
'' – Milano, 31 December 1897 * ''
La bohème ''La bohème'' ( , ) is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions '':wikt:quadro, quadri'', ''wikt:tableau, tableaux'' or "images", rather than ''atti'' (acts). composed by Giacomo Puccini between 1893 and 1895 to an Italian libretto b ...
'' (Leoncavallo) – Genova, 20 January 1898 * '' The Pearl Fishers'' – Genova, 3 February 1898 * ''Hedda'' (Leborne) – Milano, 2 April 1898** * '' Mefistofele'' – Fiume, 4 March 1898 * '' Sapho'' (Massenet) – Trento, 3 June (?) 1898 * '' Fedora'' – Milano, 17 November 1898** * '' Iris'' – Buenos Aires, 22 June 1899 * '' La regina di Saba'' (Goldmark) – Buenos Aires, 4 July 1899 * ''Yupanki'' (Berutti)– Buenos Aires, 25 July 1899** * '' Aida'' – St. Petersburg, 3 January 1900 * '' Un ballo in maschera'' – St. Petersburg, 11 January 1900 * '' Maria di Rohan'' – St. Petersburg, 2 March 1900 * '' Manon'' – Buenos Aires, 28 July 1900 * '' Tosca'' – Treviso, 23 October 1900 * '' Le maschere'' (Mascagni) – Milano, 17 January 1901** * '' L'elisir d'amore'' – Milano, 17 February 1901 * '' Lohengrin'' – Buenos Aires, 7 July 1901 * ''
Germania Germania ( ; ), also more specifically called Magna Germania (English: ''Great Germania''), Germania Libera (English: ''Free Germania''), or Germanic Barbaricum to distinguish it from the Roman provinces of Germania Inferior and Germania Superio ...
'' – Milano, 11 March 1902** * ''
Don Giovanni ''Don Giovanni'' (; K. 527; full title: , literally ''The Rake Punished, or Don Giovanni'') is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. Its subject is a centuries-old Spanish legen ...
'' – London, 19 July 1902 * '' Adriana Lecouvreur'' – Milano, 6 November 1902** * ''
Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (18 April 1480 – 24 June 1519) was an Italian noblewoman of the House of Borgia who was the illegitimate daughter of Pope Alexander VI and Vannozza dei Cattanei. She was a former governor of Spoleto. Her family arranged ...
'' – Lisbon, 10 March 1903 * ''
Les Huguenots () is an opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer and is one of the most popular and spectacular examples of grand opera. In five acts, to a libretto by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps, it premiered in Paris on 29 February 1836. Composition history '' ...
'' – New York, 3 February 1905 * '' Martha'' – New York, 9 February 1906 * '' Madama Butterfly'' – London, 26 May 1906 * '' L'Africana'' – New York, 11 January 1907 * '' Andrea Chénier'' – London, 20 July 1907 * '' Il trovatore'' – New York, 26 February 1908 * '' Armide'' – New York, 14 November 1910 * '' La fanciulla del West'' – New York, 10 December 1910** * '' Julien'' – New York, 26 December 1914 * ''
Samson et Dalila ''Samson and Delilah'' (), Op. 47, is a grand opera in three acts and four scenes by Camille Saint-Saëns to a French libretto by Ferdinand Lemaire. It was first performed in Weimar at the (Grand Ducal) Theater (now the Staatskapelle Weimar) on 2 ...
'' – New York, 24 November 1916 * '' Lodoletta'' – Buenos Aires, 29 July 1917 * '' Le prophète'' – New York, 7 February 1918 * '' L'amore dei tre re'' – New York, 14 March 1918 * '' La forza del destino'' – New York, 15 November 1918 * ''
La Juive ''La Juive'' (, ) is a grand opera in five acts by Fromental Halévy to an original French libretto by Eugène Scribe; it was first performed at the Opéra National de Paris, Opéra de Paris, on 23 February 1835. Composition history ''La Juive'' ...
'' – New York, 22 November 1919 Caruso also had a repertory of more than 500 songs. They ranged from classical compositions to traditional Italian melodies and popular tunes of the day, including a few English-language titles such as George M. Cohan's " Over There", Henry Geehl's "For You Alone" and
Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan (13 May 1842 – 22 November 1900) was an English composer. He is best known for 14 comic opera, operatic Gilbert and Sullivan, collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including ''H.M.S. Pinaf ...
's " The Lost Chord".


Recordings

Enrico Caruso died in 1921, before the advent of electrical recording technology in 1925. His entire recorded output was made using the acoustic process, which required the performer to sing into a metal horn or funnel; the sound was relayed directly onto a wax master disc, using a
stylus A stylus is a writing utensil or tool for scribing or marking into softer materials. Different styluses were used to write in cuneiform by pressing into wet clay, and to scribe or carve into a wax tablet. Very hard styluses are also used to En ...
. This antiquated process captured a limited range of the overtones and nuances present in a singing voice. Caruso's 12 inch disc records were limited to a maximum playing time of approximately four and one half minutes; consequently, most of the operatic selections that he recorded were limited to that duration or those which could be edited to fit this time constraint. Occasionally, longer excerpts were issued on two or more record sides. Caruso is generally acknowledged as the record industry's first major recording star. He possessed a phonogenic voice which was "manly and powerful, yet sweet and lyrical", to quote the singer/author John Potter (see bibliography below). Caruso and the disc
phonograph A phonograph, later called a gramophone, and since the 1940s a record player, or more recently a turntable, is a device for the mechanical and analogue reproduction of sound. The sound vibration Waveform, waveforms are recorded as correspond ...
(known in the United Kingdom as the gramophone) did much to promote each other during the first two decades of the 20th century. During his lifetime, Caruso earned more in royalties from the sales of his recordings than he did from his operatic appearances. From 1902 to 1921, Caruso's record royalties amounted to more than two million dollars (nearly $36 million in 2025). Many of Caruso's recordings have remained continuously available since their original release over a century ago. All of his surviving recordings (including several which were long unissued) have been remastered and reissued several times over the years. Although some recordings of complete operas had been undertaken during the early 1900s, Caruso never participated in a complete opera recording. He did, however, take part in a series of recordings for Victor of excerpts from Gounod's '' Faust'' with a unified cast featuring Geraldine Farrar, Marcel Journet, Antonio Scotti and Louise Homer. Caruso's first recordings were arranged by recording pioneer Fred Gaisberg and cut on disc in three separate sessions in Milan during April, November and December 1902. They were made with piano accompaniments for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company Limited, precursor to
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
. In April 1903, he made seven further recordings, also in Milan, for the Anglo-Italian Commerce Company (AICC). These were originally released on discs bearing the Zonophone label. Three more Milan recordings for AICC followed in October 1903, released by Pathé Records on cylinders as well as on discs. On 1 February 1904, Caruso made his first recordings in the United States for the
Victor Talking Machine Company The Victor Talking Machine Company was an American recording company and phonograph manufacturer, incorporated in 1901. Victor was an independent enterprise until 1929 when it was purchased by the Radio Corporation of America (RCA) and became ...
. With the exception of one final recording for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company in April, 1904, Caruso thereafter recorded exclusively for Victor. The tenor's American recordings were all made in Victor's studios in New York and its headquarters in
Camden, New Jersey Camden is a City (New Jersey), city in Camden County, New Jersey, Camden County, in the U.S. state of New Jersey. It is part of the Delaware Valley metropolitan region. The city was incorporated on February 13, 1828.Snyder, John P''The Story of ...
. Some of Caruso's later recordings were made in Victor's Trinity Church studio, which Victor acquired in 1917 for its acoustical properties and could accommodate larger bands of musicians. Caruso's first Victor recordings in 1904 were made in Room 826, a small vocal studio located in
Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan, New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhattan), 57t ...
in New York. " Questa o quella" and " La donna è mobile" from Verdi's ''Rigoletto'' were the first selections to be recorded. Caruso's final recording session took place at Victor's Trinity Church studio in Camden on 16 September 1920, with the tenor singing the "Domine Deus" and "Crucifixus" from Rossini's '' Petite messe solennelle''. Caruso's earliest Victor records of operatic arias from 1904 and 1905, like their thirty or so Milan-made predecessors, were all piano accompanied. Beginning on 11 February 1906, orchestral accompaniments became the norm, utilizing an ensemble of between eleven and twenty musicians. The regular conductors of these recording sessions with the Victor Orchestra were Walter B. Rogers and, from 1916, Josef Pasternack. Beginning in 1932,
RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...
in the USA and EMI (
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
) in the UK, reissued several of the Caruso discs with the original accompaniment over-dubbed by a larger electrically recorded orchestra. (Newsreel film of the overdubbing process being carried out at
His Master's Voice His Master's Voice is an entertainment trademark featuring a dog named Nipper, curiously peering into the horn of a wind-up gramophone. Painted by Francis Barraud in 1898, the image has since become a global symbol used across consumer elect ...
studios in London.)
Earlier experiments using this re-dubbing technique, carried out by Victor in 1927, had been considered unsatisfactory. Although these overdubbed Caruso recordings were initially praised by many critics upon their original release in the 1930s, they are largely vilified by collectors today. In 1950, RCA Victor reissued a number of the tenor's recordings on 78-rpm discs pressed on red vinylite instead of the usual
shellac Shellac () is a resin secreted by the female Kerria lacca, lac bug on trees in the forests of India and Thailand. Chemically, it is mainly composed of aleuritic acid, jalaric acid, shellolic acid, and other natural waxes. It is processed and s ...
. After RCA Victor began issuing long-playing records (LPs) in 1950, many of Caruso's recordings were electronically enhanced with reverb and similar effects to make them sound "fuller" for release on the extended format. RCA Victor issued its first Caruso LP collections in 1951; most of these early LP compilations were also simultaneously released on RCA Victor's recently introduced 45-rpm format. In 1956, RCA Victor issued a limited edition 3 LP Caruso anthology in a deluxe album with an illustrated booklet. By 1959, RCA Victor had reissued more than half of their Caruso catalog on LP records. A few more collections of Caruso recordings previously unavailable on LP were released by RCA Victor during the 1960s. In 1973, to mark the centennial year of Caruso's birth, the label issued a 4 record boxed set containing the tenor's remaining 58 recordings not previously transferred to LP, which included some unpublished items. In Italy that year, RCA Italiana released a comprehensive 12 LP boxed set containing most of Caruso's Victor recordings. During the 1970s, Thomas G. Stockham of the
University of Utah The University of Utah (the U, U of U, or simply Utah) is a public university, public research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. It was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret (Book of Mormon), Deseret by the General A ...
developed an early computer reprocessing technique called " Soundstream" to remaster Caruso's recordings for RCA. This digital recording process claimed to remove or reduce some of the undesirable resonances and distortion and to reduce surface noise typical of the early acoustically recorded shellac discs (critics of Stockham's process later claimed that the recordings were merely "re-equalized" by increasing bass and reducing treble). After the Soundstream process was introduced in 1976 on an LP collection containing sixteen of Caruso's most popular opera arias, RCA began ''The Complete Caruso'' LP series in 1978, utilizing Soundstream's digitised recordings (after the introduction of the
compact disc The compact disc (CD) is a Digital media, digital optical disc data storage format co-developed by Philips and Sony to store and play digital audio recordings. It employs the Compact Disc Digital Audio (CD-DA) standard and was capable of hol ...
in the early 1980s, RCA never finished ''The Complete Caruso'' series on LP and the tenor's European and 1904-05 Victor recordings were never remastered using the Soundstream process). RCA released its first Caruso compact disc, a collection of 21 operatic arias, in 1987. Finally in 1990, RCA Victor issued a 12 CD boxed set of Caruso's complete recordings (the recordings were repackaged and reissued by RCA again in 2004 and (minus the pre-Victor recordings) for a third time, in 2017). Other complete sets of Caruso's recordings in new remasterings were issued on CD on the Pearl label and in 2000–2004 by
Naxos Naxos (; , ) is a Greek island belonging to the Cyclades island group. It is the largest island in the group. It was an important centre during the Bronze Age Cycladic Culture and in the Ancient Greek Archaic Period. The island is famous as ...
. The Pearl and Naxos sets were remastered by the noted American audio-restoration engineer Ward Marston. In 1993, Pearl also released a two-CD collection devoted to RCA and EMI's electrically over-dubbed versions of some of Caruso's original acoustic discs, originally issued in the 1930s. Since 1999, RCA Victor has issued three CDs of Caruso recordings with digitally recorded over-dubbed orchestral accompaniments. Since the expiration of their original copyrights, Caruso's records are now in the
public domain The public domain (PD) consists of all the creative work to which no Exclusive exclusive intellectual property rights apply. Those rights may have expired, been forfeited, expressly Waiver, waived, or may be inapplicable. Because no one holds ...
in the United States and have been reissued by several different record labels with varying degrees of sound quality. They are also available over the internet as digital downloads. Caruso's best-selling downloads at
iTunes iTunes is a media player, media library, and mobile device management (MDM) utility developed by Apple. It is used to purchase, play, download and organize digital multimedia on personal computers running the macOS and Windows operating s ...
have been the popular Italian folk songs " Santa Lucia" and "". In addition to operatic arias, Caruso recorded many duets and ensembles with several noted opera stars of the period, including Nellie Melba, Geraldine Farrar, Johanna Gadski, Frances Alda,
Emmy Destinn Emmy Destinn ( (); 26 February 1878 – 28 January 1930) was a Czech operatic dramatic soprano. She had a career both in Europe and at the New York Metropolitan Opera. She was one of the greatest opera singers of the 19th and 20th centuries. ...
, Marcella Sembrich, Alma Gluck, Luisa Tetrazzini, Frieda Hempel,
Amelita Galli-Curci Amelita Galli-Curci (18 November 1882 – 26 November 1963) was an Italian lyric coloratura soprano. She was one of the most famous operatic singers of the 20th century and a popular recording artist, with her records selling in large numbe ...
, Louise Homer, Ernestine Schumann-Heink, Antonio Scotti,
Mario Ancona Mario Ancona (28 February 1860 – 23 February 1931), was a leading Italian baritone and master of bel canto singing. He appeared at some of the most important opera houses in Europe and America during what is commonly referred to as the "Gold ...
, Pasquale Amato, Titta Ruffo, Giuseppe De Luca and Marcel Journet.


Media

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * *


See also

* Caruso sauce * '' The Young Caruso'', 1951 Italian film * '' The Great Caruso'', 1951 US film * Pasqual Mario Marafioti


Notes


References

* * * * *


Further reading

* Anadón Mamés, Roberto, Lanzola, Andrea and Mouchon, Jean-Pierre (Eds.): ''Enrico Caruso. Nel centenario della morte (1921-2021)'', Milano, Rugginenti, 2023. ISBN 978-88-7665-692-7 * * * * Caruso, Dorothy, and Goddard, Torrance ''Wings of Song: The Story of Caruso'', (Milton, Balch & Company, New York, 1928). * Douglas, Nigel, ''Legendary Voices'' (Andre Deutsch, London, 1992). * Gargano, Pietro and Cesarini, Gianni, ''Caruso, Vita e arte di un grande cantante'' (Longanesi, 1990). * Gargano, Pietro, ''Una vita una leggenda'' (Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori, 1997). * Griffith, Hugh, CD liner notes for ''The Complete Recordings of Enrico Caruso'', volumes 1 & 2, produced by Ward Marston (Naxos Historical, 8.110703, 8.110704, 2000 HNH International Ltd). * Il Progresso italo americano, ''Il banchiere'' at bluehawk.monmouth.edu; , , sezione B – supplemento illustrato della domenica, New York, 27 luglio 1986. * , "Particularités physiques et phonétiques de la voix enregistrée de Caruso", foreword by Prof.André Appaix (in Le Sud Médical et Chirurgical, 99e année, n°2509, Marseille, France, 31 October 1964, pp. 11812–11829). * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Enrico Caruso. 1873–1921. Sa vie et sa voix. Étude psycho-physiologique, physique, phonétique et esthétique", foreword by Dr. Édouard-Jean Garde (Académie régionale de chant lyrique, Marseille, France, 1966, 106 p. ill.). * Marafioti, Mario
''"Caruso's Method of Voice Production: The Scientific Culture of the Voice"''
* Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Enrico Caruso. His Life and Voice" (Éditions Ophrys, Gap, France, 1974, 77 p. ill.). * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Enrico Caruso. L'homme et l'artiste, 4 vol.: Première partie. L'homme (Étude psycho-physiologique et historique), pp. 1–653 bis, ill.; deuxième partie. L'artiste (étude physique, phonétique, linguistique et esthétique), pp. 654–975 bis, bibliographie critique, index des représentations données par Enrico Caruso entre 1895 et 1920, index de ses concerts et récitals, pp. 976–1605 (Paris-Sorbonne 1978, published by Atelier national de reproduction des thèses, Université de Lille III, 9, rue Auguste Angellier, 59046 Lille, France in three volumes, and by Didier-Érudition, Paris, in microfiches). * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Chronologie de la carrière artistique du ténor Enrico Caruso" (Académie Régionale de Chant Lyrique, Marseilles, France, 1992, 423 p., ill.). * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Caruso in Concert" (in "Étude" n. 46, "Hommage à Marguerite-Marie Dubois", January–February–March–April 2010, pp. 12–37, Journal of Association internationale de chant lyrique "Titta Ruffo", Marseilles, France, edited by Jean-Pierre Mouchon). * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre
"Enrico Caruso. L'homme et l'artiste"
two volumes (Terra Beata, Société littéraire et historique), 45, bd. Notre-Dame, 13006, Marseille, France, 2011, 1359 pp., ill. * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Enrico Caruso. Deuxième partie. (La voix et l'art, les enregistrements). Étude physique, phonétique, linguistique et esthétique." Volume III (Association internationale de chant lyrique Titta Ruffo, 2012, 433 p. ill. ). * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Le Ténor Enrico Caruso. Volume I (La voix et l'art),Étude physique, phonétique, linguistique et esthétique". Édilivre, Saint-Denis, 2015, 131 pp., ill.) * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Le Ténor Enrico Caruso. Volume II (Les enregistrements), Étude physique, phonétique, linguistique et esthétique". Édilivre, Saint-Denis, 2015, 381 pp., ill.) * Mouchon, Jean-Pierre, "Enrico Caruso, interprète de Turiddu et de Canio" (in Avant-Scène Opéra, "Cavalleria rusticana/Pagliacci. Mascagni/Leoncavallo", 147 pp., n° 295, 2016, pp. 15–18). * Pleasants, Henry, ''The Great Singers'' (Macmillan Publishing, London, 1983). * Potter, John, ''Tenor: History of a Voice'' (Yale University Press, New Haven & London, 2009). * Steane, John, ''The Grand Tradition: 70 Years of Singing on Disc'' (Duckworth, London, 1974). * Vaccaro, Riccardo, ''Caruso'', foreword by Dr. Ruffo Titta (Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, Naples, Italy, 1995).


External links

* * *
Complete Thesis of Jean-Pierre Mouchon "Enrico Caruso. The Man and the Artist
(Terra Beata, 45, bd. Notre-Dame, 13006. Marseille, France, 2011, 1359 p. ill. )
Caruso, Enrico and Luisa Tetrazzini: Caruso and Tetrazzini on the Art of Singing (1909)
complete text at
Project Gutenberg Project Gutenberg (PG) is a volunteer effort to digitize and archive cultural works, as well as to "encourage the creation and distribution of eBooks." It was founded in 1971 by American writer Michael S. Hart and is the oldest digital li ...

"Caruso and the San Francisco Earthquake"
San Francisco Museum
Enrico Caruso recordings
at the Discography of American Historical Recordings. *
The Enrico Caruso Museum of America
*
Enrico Caruso – Sound Clips and Narration
at History of the Tenor
Recordings of Caruso Part 1Part 2
Audio files at Internet Archive
Video of Caruso at 1908 opening of Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires
* * Simonelli, Pasquale (2012), Enrico Caruso Unedited Notes, Charleston, SC.: S.E.A.O. Inc. * {{DEFAULTSORT:Caruso, Enrico 1873 births 1921 deaths 1906 San Francisco earthquake survivors 19th-century Italian male singers 20th-century Italian male opera singers Articles containing video clips Deaths from peritonitis Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award winners Italian emigrants to the United States Italian operatic tenors Singers from Naples Victor Records artists Italian tenors Italian singers Pathé Records artists French-language singers of Italy English-language singers from Italy