Enrico Caruso in Song (1910-1920)

On this CD:

1. Tarantella Sincera for voice & orchestra
Composed by Vencenzo De Crescenzo
Performed by Enrico Caruso

2. For You Alone for voice & piano (or orchestra)
Composed by Henry Geehl
Performed by Enrico Caruso

3. Because for voice & piano (or orchestra)
Composed by Guy d' Hardelot
Performed by Enrico Caruso

4. La danza. Tarantella Napolitana ("Già la luna è in mezzo al mare"), for voice & piano (Soirées musicales)
Composed by Gioachino Rossini
Performed by Enrico Caruso

5. Hantise D'amour for voice & orchestra
Composed by Josef Zygmunt Szulc
Performed by Enrico Caruso

6. Cielo Turchino for voice & orchestra
Composed by M.S. Ciociano
Performed by Enrico Caruso

7. Pecchè? for voice & orchestra
Composed by Gaetano Errico Pennino
Performed by Enrico Caruso

8. Santa Lucia
Composed by Italian Traditional
Performed by Enrico Caruso

9. O Sole Mio for voice & piano (or orchestra)
Composed by Eduardo di Capua
Performed by Enrico Caruso

10. La Partida for voice & piano/orchestra
Composed by Fermin Maria Alvarez
Performed by Enrico Caruso

11. Pietà, Signore! for voice & piano (or orchestra)
Composed by Louis Niedermeyer
Performed by Enrico Caruso

12. Campane a Sera for voice & orchestra
Composed by Vincenzo Billi
Performed by Enrico Caruso

13. A Granada for voice & orchestra
Composed by Fermin Maria Alvarez
Performed by Enrico Caruso

14. Over There
Composed by George M. Cohan
Performed by Enrico Caruso

15. Sultanto a Te for voice & orchestra
Composed by Salvatore Fucito
Performed by Enrico Caruso

16. Vieni Sul Mar
Composed by Italian Traditional
Performed by Enrico Caruso

17. Nina ("Tre giorni son che Nina"), song for voice & keyboard
Composed by Vincenzo Ciampi
Performed by Enrico Caruso

18. Serse (Xerxes), opera, HWV 40 Ombra mai fu
Composed by George Frideric Handel
Performed by Enrico Caruso

19. Petite messe solennelle, for soloists, 2 pianos, harmonium & choir Domine Deus
Composed by Gioachino Rossini
Performed by Enrico Caruso

Tracks:

Rigoletto: La Donna E Mobile
Aida: Se Quel Quel Guerrier Io Fossi... Celeste Aida
Macbeth: O Figli, O Figli Miei... Ah, La Paterna Mano
Il Trovatore: Ah, Si Ben Mio
Il Trovatore: Di Quella Pira
Un Ballo in Maschera: Forse La Soglia Attinse
La Juive: Rachel, Quand Du Seigneur
L'Africaine: Mi Batte Il Cor... O Paradiso!
Manon: Je Suis Seul... Ah, Fuuyez, Douce Image
Le Cid: Ah! Tout Est Bien Fini!
Martha: M'Appari Tutt' Amor
La Gioconda: Cielo E Mar
I Pagliacci: Recitar!... Vesti La Giubba
TOSCA: Recondita Armonia
Petite Messe solennelle: Domine Deus
La Danza: Taratella Neopolitana
I Pagliacci: Comparison Track - Orig. Version: Recitar... Vesti La giubba

Amazon.com

The idea behind Caruso 2000 is actually not new. In the early '30s, RCA rerecorded some of the legendary tenor's acoustic recordings with newly added orchestral accompaniments, to rather crude results. With today's computer know-how, one can carry out this concept with infinitely more finesse and musicality, as the present release proves. What we have are some of Caruso's most famous and memorable sides, with the voice's overtones pretty much intact, minus the shellac surface noise. Likewise, the blatty orchestras are virtually rubbed out, replaced here in new performances by the Vienna Radio Symphony. It's amazing how accurately conductor Gottfried Rabl pinpoints accompaniments around Caruso's very personalized rubatos. In fact, Rabl sometimes anticipates the singer's special effects rather than reacts to them. The basic problem is that you don't get a tangible sense of Caruso's projection. Compare, for instance, the 1907 "Vesti la Giubba" from I Pagliacci (track 17) to its reconstituted counterpart (track 13). The unadulterated recording reveals the voice in proportion to the blatty orchestra in a finite space, with no dial twiddling or body miking to beef things up. In the new version, voice and orchestra are miraculously matched, yet don't blend. A vocalist will normally adjust his or her voice to the environment, but singers can't do such things when they're dead. Still, a release like this will surely instigate Caruso awareness among budding opera fans, just as Ted Turner's colorized films make classic movies palatable to viewers allergic to black and white. --Jed Distler

Customer Reviews:

Caruso 2000 - The world's greatest Tenor ever..........2007-01-11

Tenor Enrico Caruso - who died in 1921 - in the year 2000?!? YES, if you like Caruso or if you just like opera and would like to hear Caruso, this is a good starter. It is Caruso's voice with a new recorded orchestra. Almost 100 years between!
I find this CD VERY entertaining. For Caruso specialists this might be of lesser interest, because it is so different from the originals - being the scratchy old 78s recorded acoustically.

Use this CD as you would use any other music CD, listen and enjoy. I have to rate this as a 5 star release.

I love it!
René

Simply Disgraceful.......2005-04-12

What they have done to Caruso's voice for the sake of fitting his voice to the modern orchestration is simply disgraceful and offensive. The producers of this CD clearly must have assumed that anyone listening to it, would not have heard the original recordings on '78. But I have--all of arias compiled on the CD. And the Caruso voice is so distorted in most of the arias that it is almost unrecognizable. It is as though the producers sped up or slowed down the tempos of the Caruso original recordings to best fit the orchestration. If you want to hear Caruso's voice as it really sounded, don't buy this CD. Stick to the original '78's.

a wonderful effort.......2002-11-24

After reading the lastest negative reviews of this cd. I am compelled to answer the critique. Ok the cd is not perfect. But we are talking about recordings almost a century old. To be able to sit and listen to Caruso without annoyance is marvelous. The reviewer starts his dialogue by saying the Caruso's voice is over rated and this is where he is coming from. I have heard and seen the best and they are all compared to Caruso.

Exellent!.......2002-08-01

This Enrico Caruso CD sounds great! His voice has been remastered, to sound richer and clearer, more like himself. The music on the CD is just wonderful. There is no noise, or static-sound on the CD like the origional recordings. This is just one of the best Enrico Caruso CD's as far as sound, and the songs are favorites.

A Great Effort.......2002-06-24

This Caruso 2000 CD is a great effort to show us what The Great Caruso actually sounded like. Unfortunately no modern creations can really fix the old recordings and give us what He really sounded like; BUT, if you suspend your disbelief, just a little bit, this is not bad at all; and in fact is quit good. All the pops and static in the orgnakl recording is completely gone, its very clean in that regard, the vocals still sound like they were recorded mono, but with this clearer recording you can get glimpses of how great Caruso was. For example on Vesti la Giubba Caruso's vocal power is fantastic; as well as on just about every other selections hear (Great choice of song's). I give this CD a 5 for effort, and for being the best Caruso collection I have ever heard. I only wish we could go back in time with Digital recording equipment and record Caruso, then we would all know if he really was the greatest or not. But, I will tell you this, even with the mono sounding vocals hear, if he was not the best, he sure was one of them, the power and emotion are still evident even without being recorded by modern technology.

Average customer rating:

Caruso in Song

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Classical Music | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music

Opera & Vocal | The Sony BMG Masterworks Store | Amazon.com Label Stores | Stores | Music
ASIN: B000003FGM
Release Date: 1993-09-14

Tracks:

L'Alba Separa Dalla Luce L'ombra
A Grananda
Vieni Sul Mar
Over There...Par La Bas
Chanson De Juin, Op.102: No.6
Amor Mio
Pieta, Signore
Tiempo Antico
Hantise D'Amour
The Lost Chord
La Danza (Tarantella Napolitana)
Core 'Ngrato
Luna D'Estate
Serenade De Don Juan, Op.38: No.1
'O Sole Mio
Guardanno 'A Luna - Enrico Caruso/Francis J. Lapitano
Dreams Of Long Ago
Uocchie Celeste - Enrico Caruso/Francis J. Lapitano
Cielo Turchino
La Campana Di San Guisto
Mattinata - Enrico Caruso/Ruggiero Leoncavallo

Average customer rating:

Ignore the primitive recording, listen to the performances.
Nevermind the quality of sound, listen for the music

The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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The Complete Recordings, Vol. 2
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3
Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 12
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 6
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 4

ASIN: B00004VXD1
Release Date: 2000-09-26

Tracks:

Germania - Studenti, Undite
Germania - Ah, Vieni Qui ... No, Non Chiuder Gli Occhi
Regoletto - Qusta O Quella
Aida - Celeste Aida
Manon - O Doice Incanto (Il Sogno)
L'Elisr D'amore - Una Furtiva Lagrima
Mefisofele - Giunto Sul Passo Estremo (Epilogue)
Mefisto Fele - Giunto Sul passo estremo (Epilogue)
Tosca - E Lucevan Le Stelle
Iris - April La Tuna Finestra (serenata)
Mefistofele - Dai Campi, Dai prati
Fedora - Amorti Vieta (Acc. By Composer)
Aida - Celeste Aida
La Gioconda - Cielo E Mar!
I Pagliacci - Vesti La Giubba
Mascagni - Cavalleria Rusticana - O Lola (Siciliana)
Non T' Amo Piu
La Mina Canzone
Adriana Lecouvereur - No, piu nobile
Luna Fedel
Un Bacio Anchora
Luna Fedel
L'elisir D' Amore - Una Furtiva largima
Tosca - E Lucevan Le Stelle
Germina - No, Non Chiuder
Rigoletto - La Donna E Mobile
Cavalleria Rusticana - O lola (siciliana)

Customer Reviews:

Ignore the primitive recording, listen to the performances........2002-03-13

If you are interested in hearing the documents that launched the gramophone (or phonograph) as a serious recording medium, rather than a toy, then this is the disc to listen to. Of course, 100 years ago, the recording and reproducing process was very primitive, and current digital processing capabilities cannot really compensate for that. But, except for one very poor edit, the transfers from the original 78rpm discs are excellent.

Ignoring the recording deficiencies, what you can hear are marvelously enthusiastic performances by the greatest tenor ever to make records.

Simple as that.

Nevermind the quality of sound, listen for the music.......2000-10-16

This is a sturdy collection of songs, with the most famous pieces of the period (1902-1903, but the sound quality is lacking.The songs are recorded before the age of digital everything, the popping and cracking of the tracks could add charm or ruin the cd-depending on taste. Yet, the songs are incredibly beautiful and are worth a listen.

Enrico Caruso: Opera Arias and Songs Milan 1902 - 1904

Average customer rating:

Enrico Caruso: Opera Arias and Songs Milan 1902 - 1904
Bizet , Boito , Cilea , Denza , Donizetti , Franchetti , Giordano , Leoncavallo , Mascagni , Massenet , Meyerbeer , Corsi , Ponchelli , Puccini , Tosti , Trimarchi , Verdi , Zardo , and Enrico Caruso
Manufacturer: Angel Records
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Match Point
The Legendary Enrico Caruso: 21 Favorite Arias

ASIN: B000002S01
Release Date: 2002-08-05

Tracks:

Germania: Studenti, udite
Rigoletto: Questa o quella
Aida: Celeste Aida
Manon: O dolce incanto
L'Elisir d'Amore: Una furtiva lagrima
Mefistofele: Giunto sul passo estremo
Germania: Ah vieni qui...No non chuider gli occhi
Mefistofele: Dia campi, dai prati
TOSCA: E lucevan le stelle
Iris: Apri la tua finestra
Fedora: Amor ti veta
La Gioconda: Cielo e mar
I Pagliacci: Recitar! ...Vesti la glubba
Cavalleria Rusticana: O Lola
Non t'amo piu
La mia canzone
Adriana Lecouvreur: No plu nobile
Luna fedel
Un bacio ancora
Les pecheurs de perles: Mi par d'udir ancor
Mattinata
Les Huguenots: Qui sotto il ciel
Tu non mi vuoi piu bene

Average customer rating:

Wonderful Recordings

The Complete Recordings, Vol. 2

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 3
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 4
Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 12
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 10

ASIN: B00004WMWW
Release Date: 2000-10-17

Tracks:

Tu Non Mi Vuoi Piu Bene
Tosca - E Lucevan Le Stelle
Les Huguenots - Qui Sotto Il Ciel
Rigoletto - Questa O Quella
Rigoletto - La Donna E Mobile
L'Elisir D'Amore - Una Furtiva Lagrima
Aida - Celeste Aida
Tosca - Recondita Armonia
Tosca - E Lucevan Le Stelle
Cavalleria Rusticana - Siciliana
Pagliacci - Vesti La Giubba
Manon - II Sogno: Chiudo Gli Occhi
Mattinata
I Pescatori Di Perle - Mi Par D'udir Ancor
Don Pasquale Serenata - Com'e gentil
Carmen - Il Fior Che Avevi A Me
Les Huguenots - Bianca Al Par Di Neve Alpina
La Gioconda - Cielo E Mar!
Cavalleria Rusticana - Brindisi
Martha - M'appari Tutt'amor
La Boheme - Che Gelida Manina
Faust - Salut, Demeure Chaste El Pure
Il Trovatore - Di Quella Pira
La Favorita - Romanza: Spirito Gentil, Ne' Sogni Miei

Customer Reviews:

Wonderful Recordings.......2002-01-26

Despite what anyone else says, the Naxos transfers and reissues of Caruso's complete recordings are wonderful! They seem to have taken GREAT care to ensure only the finest quality, and after purchasing vols 1 and 2 in this set, I can say that they do. And (unlike the other reissues by Pearl and RCA) the price is unbeatable! I highly suggest that any Caruso fan or vintage record buff pick up a set of these CDs.

Average customer rating:

Quite a miracle

Amor ti vieta: Great Opera Arias

Manufacturer: RCA
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Arias | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Caruso 2000
Italian Songs: The Digital Recordings

ASIN: B0002JUWY8
Release Date: 2004-08-10

Amazon.com

This disc can make a hardened realist believe in miracles. The first is technological: superimposing a new instrumental background on "vocals" recorded between 1902 and 1913. To listeners who cherish Pearl's re-issues of the Caruso Edition, where the voice comes through in all its glory while the orchestra sounds like a village band several miles away, this is naturally a vast improvement. It is also strangely disorienting: with brand-new accompaniments played by an excellent orchestra, the vocal sound shows its age; instead of leaping out from its surroundings, it almost seems upstaged by it. However, the ear quickly adjusts, just as it did to the originals' orchestral sound. The second miracle is Caruso's unique vocal and dramatic artistry. The program features favorite arias as well as unfamiliar ones, such as the disc's title track from Giordano's Fedora and Canio's final aria, rather than the famous earlier one, from Leoncavallo's I Pagliacci. An aria from Verdi's Otello, which he was to sing for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera in 1921, brings home the tragedy of his death at 48 that year. The disc includes some of his earliest recordings (with the orchestra taking over the original piano accompaniments played by the composers), as well as several he made after his operations, when his bright, honeyed, "golden" voice took on its famous baritonal quality: darker, warmer, somewhat heavier. In close juxtaposition, the difference is quite startling, creating the illusion of hearing two different singers. What remains unchanged are his incomparable technique and his inimitable style, though the early tendency toward what now seem excessive slides, portamentos, fermatas, gradually abates. His top notes retained their thrilling, heroic ring, his agility its effortless ease; his breath-control remained uncanny, his charm infectious. Perhaps most striking is his ability to create mood and character, drawing you instantly into the heart of the scene and the person portrayed. --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews:

Quite a miracle.......2005-05-16

I bought the first digital Caruso CD, "Caruso 2000", and loved listening to it. Although it was more interesting than artistic. I found the digital process fascinating, however it seemed that too much was erased from the digital recordings, to the point that Caruso's voice lost some nuance. This CD however (the third in this series) manages to somehow filter out (most of)the surface noise and the original accompiament while keeping the voice mostly intact. The balance between the old and the new is also more convincing. Detractors of the Caruso 2000 CD should definitely check this one out. They might be surprised

Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 10

Average customer rating:

Caruso for a song.
Number Ten and Counting; And Simply the Best Caruso on CD

Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 10

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

General | Classical | Styles | Music

Romantic (c.1820-1910) | Historical Periods | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

General | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

French | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

German | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Italian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

Russian | Languages | Opera & Vocal | Styles | Music

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Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 12
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 11
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 9
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 8
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 6

ASIN: B0000BX5KY
Release Date: 2003-10-21

Album Description

When complete the Naxos Historical Caruso edition will constitute the complete cycle of all Caruso's recordings issued in chronological order, thus enabling the artistic development of this great artist to be followed in detail. In 1919, shortly after the period covered by this CD, Caruso was to celebrate his twenty-fifth year, yet in these recordings there is no sign of strain or wear on the voice at all, only the brilliant sounds that made Caruso world-famous and the first real operatic star of the gramophone.

Customer Reviews:

Caruso for a song........2004-03-15

In the liner notes provided with this CD, you will read that opera patrons during the years these recordings were made sometimes paid the equivalent of $1,000 to attend a Caruso performance. Modern marketing, Naxos, and restoration engineer Ward Marston allow us to hear 77 minutes of Caruso recordings for merely a fraction of this cost.

Doyen of reviewers J Scott Morrison has already given Volume 10 of the Naxos Complete Recordings of Enrico Caruso series a rave review, so I shall add only a few comments. Regarding track identification: the composer Faure to whom Track 1 is attributed is not Gabriel but the less well-known French composer J B Faure (1830-1914). The Tchaikovsky item in Track 4 is his Op 6, No 5. The starry quartet and sextet items (2 takes of each) are the ones to go for in the Caruso discography. They are (almost) debut recordings for his compatriot Amelita Galli-Curci, one of the few singers whose voice, like Caruso's, was wonderfully well caught by the acoustic recording process.

Number Ten and Counting; And Simply the Best Caruso on CD.......2003-11-08

Naxos, praise be, is issuing all of Caruso's known recordings in the order in which they were recorded. In this, the tenth of the series, we have reached the era which, for some of us, is the ne plus ultra as regards Caruso's depth of musicianship and richness of voice, 1916 to early 1917. Not long afterward his health began to ebb. But in this time period his tenor voice was at its most baritonal, his breath control inhuman, and his musicianship scrubbed of it earlier vulgarity. I know there are those who revel in the latter, but I'm not one of them. We also get several alternate takes that were not issued on 78 at the time of their recording--one of the opening of the Quartet from 'Rigoletto' that only goes to the point where the mezzo enters, another of the complete Lucia 'Sextet' with Amelita Calli-Curci, Giuseppe de Luca and Marcel Journet among others.

Of special interest here are the selections sung in French--with excellent diction, it must be said--Tchaikovsky's 'Pourquoi?,' and Lensky's aria from 'Eugène Onegin' (gorgeous!), as well as Godard's 'Chanson de Juin,' Saint-Saëns's 'Vois ma misère, hélas' from 'Samson et Dalila.' Best of all are the two arias from Bizet's 'Pearl Fishers': 'De mon amie, fleur endormie,' and especially an absolutely stunning 'Je crois entendre encore.'

Other highlights: the full Quartet from 'Rigoletto' with Galli-Curci, Flora Perini, and de Luca; 'M'appari' from Flotow's 'Martha' with a final B-flat that will knock your socks off (and SO much better than the version he recorded more than ten years earlier).

Fauré's 'Sancta Maria' sounds Italian, I must say. 'Santa Lucia' is just a tad hokey. But Caruso's own 'Tiempo antico' is delightful. Andrea Chenier's 'Come un bel di di maggio' is sung with delicacy, grace and ardor. There are a couple takes of a ditty ('L'alba separa dall luce l'ombra') by Tosti and another couple of popular songs by Castaldon and De Crescenzo.

Finally, two takes of an aria I'd never heard before from Anton Rubinstein's 'Nerone,' 'Ah! lumière du jour.' Caruso's trumpet-like high notes are really something here.

I've acquired all but two of the previous Caruso CDs on Naxos. I've also had earlier transfers of some of the material and I have to say that Naxos and their miracle man, Ward Marston, are doing an amazing job of presenting cleaned-up yet true-sounding transfers. Evviva!

TT=76:59

Tracks:

Cavalleria Rusticana - "O Lola"
La Gioconda - "Cielo e mar"
I Pagliacci - "Recitar!...Vesti la giubba"
Germania - "Studenti, udite"
Mefistofele - "Dai campi, dai prati"
Tosca - "E lucevan le stelle"
Iris - "Apri la tua finestra"
Fedora - "Amor ti vieta"
Adriana Lecouvreur - "No, piu nobile"
Aida - "Celeste Aida"
Germania - "Ah vieni qui...No, non chiuder"
Mefistofele - "Giunto sul passo estremo"
The Pearl Fishers - "Mi par d'udir ancor"
Manon - "O dolce incanto"
Rigoletto - "Questa o quella"
L'elisir d'amore - "Una furtiva lagrima"
La mia canzone
Non t'amo piu
Luna fedel
Un bacio ancora
Mattinata

Amazon.com

This collection begins at the dawn of Enrico Caruso's recording career: in 1902, only four years after his breakthrough success at La Scala. Caruso's voice rings out magnificently over the primitive recording technology in a collection of Italian arias from Aida, Tosca, La Gioconda, Manon, and The Pearl Fishers that have become warhorses in our age but were so new in Caruso's time that the singer is occasionally accompanied on piano by the composer. So there's an authentic-performance value in this as well as the sheer pleasure of that famous tenor voice, which maintains its brilliant virility even when Caruso ascends into head voice for the final high pianissimo that ends "Celeste Aida." Even the upper regions of "Mi par d'udir ancor" from The Pearl Fishers have a fluid musicality that so many modern recordings lack. EMI's transfers are a bit overly filtered; there's more noise in RCA's Complete Caruso but also more voice. --David Patrick Stearns

Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 12

Average customer rating:

Caruso--All of the Legend in Great Sound
The final recording sessions.

Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 12

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 11
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 10
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 9
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 8

ASIN: B0001N9ZAC
Release Date: 2004-05-18

Tracks:

Nina
Premiere Caresse
Senza Nisciuno
Mia Piccirella
Serenata
Scordame
Love Me Or Not
Ombra Mai Fu
Noche Feliz
Rachel, Quand Du Seigneur
I' M'Arricordo 'E Napule
Vaghissima Sembianza
Deh, Ch'io Rotorni
Bois Epais
A Dream
Domine Deus
Crucifixus
Liberty Forever
My Cousin Caruso
Studenti, Udite

Customer Reviews:

Caruso--All of the Legend in Great Sound.......2004-08-04

I've been scratching my head over Caruso re-issues over the past 30 years, and frankly didn't understand why the world needed another complete set of the great tenor's recordings. But Naxos hired the great Ward Marsden to re-master this set, which now comes to a triumphant conclusion with Volume 12. The price is astoundingly good in the bargain, with excellent liner notes on each issue. All the CDs are generously filled.

Caruso's robust, but never out-sized singing is a revelation. The voice has range, color, depth, size, spin, and superbly conveys pathos, comedy, elegance, power, and intimacy. Beginning in 1904 up through 1920, we get sixteen years of great singing. The voice got darker, but it certainly never lost its ability to astonish and console. There simply is no decline of vocal powers throughout the set. Even singing "Vecchia zimarra," Colline's coat aria from Puccin's LA BOHEME, Caruso is a revelation. He sang this bass aria for a colleague in vocal distress one evening at the Metropolitan Opera. Nobody knew it until later. Caruso sings very convincingly in the bass range.

This entire sets belongs in the collection of any serious vocal lover. He was a people's tenor, but one with a lot of class. He had the common touch, which means he appealed to everyone. More than 80 years later, Caruso's singing never ceases to amaze and thrill listeners. Gigli and Pavarotti both enjoyed bestselling recording careers and Pavarotti certainly has enjoyed as big a career in the modern era, but Caruso was still a bigger star in his time. Deservedly so, as these great records, both classical and popular, will attest.

The final recording sessions........2004-07-21

Death intervened before the 47-year-old Enrico Caruso could continue to record beyond these sessions from 1919 and 1920. Six recording sessions yielded 17 items. They are all included here, together with an item from Caruso?s very first recording session transferred from a better copy than was used in Volume 1 of the Naxos Caruso series.

I read in the accompanying notes that Caruso?s vocal powers were in serious decline by the time these last recordings were made and that the Victor recording processes were less favorable to his voice during his last years. To my ears, neither of these assessments seems right. Listen, for example to Tracks 10 and 11, from September 1919. Never has a voice leapt out of loudspeakers with such power! True, it is a darker voice than it once was, but the effulgence of the voice and the confidence of the presentation is astounding, and the recording process seems to capture it all vividly.

A couple of curiosities are included in this 69 minute CD: a brass band rendition of a march written by Caruso, and a novelty vocal, mercifully not too long, called ?My Cousin Caruso? presented by Billy Murray.

Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 11

Average customer rating:

Caruso, aged 45.

Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 11

Manufacturer: Naxos
ProductGroup: Music
Binding: Audio CD

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Similar Items:

Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 12
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 9
Enrico Caruso: The Complete Recordings, Vol. 10
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 8
The Complete Recordings, Vol. 1

ASIN: B0000DJEKG
Release Date: 2004-01-20

Tracks:

A La Luz De La Luna
Sei MOrta Ne La Vita Mia
La Partida
Ne Gustare M'e Dato; Sleale! Il Segreto Fu Dunque Violato? - Giuseppe De Luca
Over There
Pieta, Signore
A Granada
Campane A Sera 'Ave Maria'
Inno Di Garibaldi
La Campana Di San Giusto
Le Regiment De Sambre Et Meuse
Sultanto A Tte
Je Viens Celebrer La Victoire - Louise Homer
Venti Scudi!
'A Vucchella
Vieni Sul Mar
Tu, Ca Nun Chiagne
Addio A Napoli

Customer Reviews:

Caruso, aged 45........2004-02-10

Here is 67 minutes of Caruso, as recorded in 1918 and 1919. The voice is wondrously powerful. Not only is he represented at his best here but colleagues who make a strong impression also join him. The great baritone Giuseppe de Luca, glorious especially in his upper register, features in two duets, including a rarely recorded item from "La Forza del Destino", an opera Caruso had recently added to his repertoire. Luise Homer and Marcel Journet join Caruso in another rarely recorded item, a trio from "Samson et Dalila". Emilio de Gorgoza is the baritone heard in the opening track with Caruso in a duet he recorded ten years later with Tito Schipa.

Italians are rarely successful when attempting to sing in English. Although he spent more time in the USA than elsewhere during these years, Caruso's English, as heard in the patriotic song "Over There", is very peculiar. The order to "send the word" is heard as "send da woid".

Four great Neapolitan songs conclude this vintage collection.

Music Review: