in Rigoletto, 1904. Wiki
Born in Naples, Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) was said to be one of many babies of a poverty-ridden machinist. Caruso’s father thought his son should adopt the same trade, so at 11 the boy was apprenticed to a mechanical engineer. But at his mother’s wish, he also attended school, receiving a basic education. He sang in his church choir, and considered a career in music. When his Mum died, the lad found work as a street-and-café-singer in Naples.
His apprenticeship was in small Italian theatres. His first major operatic role was in Umberto Giordano’s Fedora, at Teatro Lirico Milan in Nov 1898. He had engagements at St Petersburg, Moscow, Buenos Aires, Bologna, Monte Carlo and Warsaw, then the best one: an invitation to sing at La Scala Milan, the premier opera house! His debut there was as Rodolfo in Giacomo Puccini’s La bohème, with Arturo Toscanini conducting. And in 1900, he and his touring company of first-class Italian singers appeared before the Tsar and Russian aristocracy at Mariinsky Theatre in St Petersburg and the Bolshoi Theatre in Moscow.
The tenor took part in a grand concert at La Scala in Feb 1901 that Toscanini organised, marking the recent death of Giuseppe Verdi. Critics’ admiration was beyond measure. Then he embarked on his last series of La Scala performances in Mar 1902.
In Apr 1902 he was engaged by the Gramophone & Type writer Co to make his first group of acoustic recordings, in a Milan hotel room. These 10 discs swiftly became best-sellers, helping to spread Caruso’s fame particularly throughout the English-speaking world.
as famous as her Italian co-star
After triumphs with Australian soprano Nellie Melba in La Bohème at Monte Carlo & Rigoletto in London in 1902, he went to the Metropolitan Opera Co to do Rigoletto in 1903. The Met never did as well as when Caruso performed.
The management of London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, signed him for a season of appearances in 8 different operas from Verdi to Mozart. His successful debut there was in May 1902, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto, with Melba as Gilda. They’d already sung together in Monte Carlo and became a regular travelling partnership.
The following year, 1903, Caruso travelled to N.Y to take up his Metropolitan Opera contract. The gap between his London and N.Y events was filled by performances in Italy, Portugal and South America.
He soon began a long and lucrative deal with the Victor Talking Machine Co. He made his first American records in Feb 1904, totalling 275 recordings for RCA Victor until 1920, and earning large royalties. Interestingly many opera singers had rejected the gramophone owing to the low fidelity of early discs. But others including Melba used the technology, once they heard of Caruso’s income. Through his recordings, Caruso was the first opera singer to win a mass audience. His records also established recording as a commercial success.
The management of London’s Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, signed him for a season of appearances in 8 different operas from Verdi to Mozart. His successful debut there was in May 1902, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto, with Melba as Gilda. They’d already sung together in Monte Carlo and became a regular travelling partnership.
The following year, 1903, Caruso travelled to N.Y to take up his Metropolitan Opera contract. The gap between his London and N.Y events was filled by performances in Italy, Portugal and South America.
He soon began a long and lucrative deal with the Victor Talking Machine Co. He made his first American records in Feb 1904, totalling 275 recordings for RCA Victor until 1920, and earning large royalties. Interestingly many opera singers had rejected the gramophone owing to the low fidelity of early discs. But others including Melba used the technology, once they heard of Caruso’s income. Through his recordings, Caruso was the first opera singer to win a mass audience. His records also established recording as a commercial success.
in his NY flat, 1910s. Wiki
In Berlin and Vienna Caruso Nights were celebrated, and in Mexico City he received a fortune for a single performance. So Caruso bought Villa Bellosguardo, a palatial country home near Florence in 1904. The villa became his retreat away from the stage and the grind of travel.
Les Huguenots was one of the C19th’s most popular works and Queen Victoria’s favourite opera. Caruso performed the role of Raoul at Covent Garden in 1905
In Nov 1906, Caruso was charged with an indecent act committed in NY’s Central Park Zoo. He was found guilty and fined. N.Y’s opera-going high society were outraged, but they soon got over it. And America’s middle classes also paid to hear him sing, or bought copies of his recordings, especially among N.Y’s huge Italian population.
Met artists, including Caruso, had visited San Francisco in Ap 1906 for a series of performances. Following an appearance in Carmen at the city’s Grand Opera House, a strong jolt awakened Caruso in his Palace Hotel suite. The San Francisco Earthquake led to a series of ruinous fires and the Met lost all the sets, costumes and musical instruments that it had brought on tour. Caruso escaped.
He was heard live from the Metropolitan Opera House stage in 1910 when he was in the first public radio U.S broadcast to be transmitted. Posters only increased the attraction.
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Caruso's had a long liaison with the Italian soprano Ada Giachetti who had left her husband and son, to cohabit with the tenor. They had 4 sons in their relationship, painfully ended by a court in 1912.
Audiences in France, Belgium, Monaco, Austria, Hungary and Germany heard him too, prior to WWI, then he toured Argentina, Uruguay and Brasil. When U.S entered WWI in 1917, Caruso did extensive charity work, raising money for patriotic war causes by giving concerts. He put a good proportion of his earnings into investments, and by war’s end, Caruso’s income was secured. Luckily, since in 1918 he married Dorothy Benjamin (1893-1955), 25-year-old socialite daughter of a NY industrialist. They had one daughter.
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Dorothy Caruso lived until 1955, having written two books about her late husband. And thankfully she kept all her husband’s sketches.
Les Huguenots was one of the C19th’s most popular works and Queen Victoria’s favourite opera. Caruso performed the role of Raoul at Covent Garden in 1905
In Nov 1906, Caruso was charged with an indecent act committed in NY’s Central Park Zoo. He was found guilty and fined. N.Y’s opera-going high society were outraged, but they soon got over it. And America’s middle classes also paid to hear him sing, or bought copies of his recordings, especially among N.Y’s huge Italian population.
Met artists, including Caruso, had visited San Francisco in Ap 1906 for a series of performances. Following an appearance in Carmen at the city’s Grand Opera House, a strong jolt awakened Caruso in his Palace Hotel suite. The San Francisco Earthquake led to a series of ruinous fires and the Met lost all the sets, costumes and musical instruments that it had brought on tour. Caruso escaped.
He was heard live from the Metropolitan Opera House stage in 1910 when he was in the first public radio U.S broadcast to be transmitted. Posters only increased the attraction.
Posters attracted potential customers and increased the profits
Supremely gifted for opera, Caruso was focused and hard-working. Certain roles eg in Pagliacci and Aida became so clearly HIS that all other tenors bowed down. His honours included the Order of the Crown of Italy; French Legion of Honora; Order of Crown Eagle of Prussia.
Supremely gifted for opera, Caruso was focused and hard-working. Certain roles eg in Pagliacci and Aida became so clearly HIS that all other tenors bowed down. His honours included the Order of the Crown of Italy; French Legion of Honora; Order of Crown Eagle of Prussia.
Caruso's had a long liaison with the Italian soprano Ada Giachetti who had left her husband and son, to cohabit with the tenor. They had 4 sons in their relationship, painfully ended by a court in 1912.
Audiences in France, Belgium, Monaco, Austria, Hungary and Germany heard him too, prior to WWI, then he toured Argentina, Uruguay and Brasil. When U.S entered WWI in 1917, Caruso did extensive charity work, raising money for patriotic war causes by giving concerts. He put a good proportion of his earnings into investments, and by war’s end, Caruso’s income was secured. Luckily, since in 1918 he married Dorothy Benjamin (1893-1955), 25-year-old socialite daughter of a NY industrialist. They had one daughter.
Dorothy and Enrico married in 1918
Opera News Magazine
Caruso was a heavy smoker of strong foreign cigarettes, didn’t exercise and had a rugged schedule of performances each season: all contributions to his persistent ill-health. He returned home from a North American concert tour in late 1920 in excruciating pain: pleurisy. Caruso underwent 7 surgical procedures to drain his chest and lungs, then returned to Naples to recuperate. He died in Aug 1921, at 48. King Victor Emmanuel III opened the Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola for the funeral seen by thousands. Then his body was preserved in Naples.
Dorothy Caruso lived until 1955, having written two books about her late husband. And thankfully she kept all her husband’s sketches.