Saluting Caruso

Commemorating the 100th Anniversary of the Death of the Legendary Tenor Enrico Caruso

Above: Enrico Caruso, 1873-1921, dressed as clown, holding back of chair, in “Pagliacci”; circa 1908; Library of Congress Prints and Photographs Division; Digital ID cph 3b09185

To commemorate the 100th anniversary of the death of the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso, the acclaimed great baritone, scholar and pedagogue Thomas Hampson and the outstanding distinguished vocal historian and dramaturg Roger Pines discuss with Jon Tolansky Caruso’s unique position in musical history and the lasting powerful impact of his art.

The Hampsong Foundation · SALUTING ENRICO CARUSO – ROGER PINES AND THOMAS HAMPSON

The music items are, in order of their appearance:

Leoncavallo – Pagliacci: “Vesti la giubba” – recorded 1902 (Vol. 1)
Puccini – La bohème: “Che gelida manina” – recorded 1906 (Vol. 2)
Leoncavallo – Pagliacci: “Vesti la giubba” – recorded 1902 (Vol. 1)
Leoncavallo – Pagliacci: “Vesti la giubba” – recorded 1907 (Vol. 3)
Verdi – Otello: “Ora è per sempre addio” – recorded 1910 (Vol. 5)
Puccini – Tosca: “Recondita armonia” – recorded 1909 (Vol. 4)
Leoncavallo – Pagliacci: “No, Pagliaccio non son” – recorded 1910 (Vol. 5)
Verdi – Otello: “Si, pel ciel” – recorded 1914 (Vol. 8)
Verdi – La Forza del Destino: “Il segreto fu dunque violato” – recorded 1918 (Vol. 11)
Tosti – “‘A vuchella” – recorded 1919 (Vol. 11)
Verdi – Otello: “Si pel ciel” – recorded 1914 (Vol. 8)

Produced by Jon Tolansky

All the music items are selected from the remarkable and highly extolled transfers by Ward Marston for the Naxos Complete Caruso Edition, and we are extremely grateful to Naxos Records for their very generous agreement enabling us to include them as vital illustrations in this feature.

Producer’s note:
The conversation in this feature was recorded by Zoom in three locations simultaneously: Zürich, Chicago and London. There are occasional interferences in the internet signal reception that have not been possible to eradicate, but fortunately the general overall sound quality of the speaking voices is reasonably good.

Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings

Enrico Caruso’s ascent ran parallel with the emergence of early recording technology. Because of his use of the gramophone record as a medium for his art, the gramophone record became socially acceptable. Caruso recorded approximately 290 commercially released recordings. Naxos Historical presents all of his recordings in twelve volumes.

Sadly, this collection is not available in the United States due to possible copyright restrictions and cannot be purchased or listened to in digital form in the United States. (Options for purchasing or listening to physical CDs are available online and via libraries.)

Buy via Presto Music (Outside of U.S.) Buy via Amazon (Within U.S.; CD only) Find at your Local Library

Naxos Historical: 8.110703 [Vol. 1], 8.110704 [Vol. 2], 8.110708 [Vol. 3], 8.110719 [Vol. 4], 8.110720 [Vol. 5], 8.110721 [Vol. 6], 8.110724 [Vol. 7], 8.110726 [Vol. 8], 8.110750 [Vol. 9], 8.110751 [Vol. 10], 8.110752 [Vol. 11], 8.110753 [Vol. 12]