The Great Enrico Caruso At His Piano

Enrico Caruso (born Errico Caruso, February 25, 1873 – August 2, 1921) was an Italian opera singer and one
of the greatest tenors in history. Caruso was also the most popular singer in any genre in the first two
decades of the 20th Century and one of the most important pioneers of recorded music. Caruso's popular
recordings and his extraordinary voice, known for its mature power, beauty and unequalled richness of
tone, made him perhaps the best-known operatic star of his era. Such was his influence on singing style,
virtually all subsequent Italianate tenors (and many non-Italian tenors) have been his heirs to a greater
or lesser extent. He remains famous, though he predated the publicity that would aid later stars of opera.
although it should be noted that Caruso was a client of Edward Bernays (the father of public relations) in
the latter's tenure as a press agent in the USA.

During his career, Enrico Caruso made over 260 recordings and made millions of dollars from the sale of
his 78 rpm records. While Caruso sang at many of the world's great opera houses including La Scala in
Milan and Covent Garden in London, he is best known as the leading tenor at the Metropolitan Opera in New
York City for 17 years. Maestro Arturo Toscanini, who conducted some of the operas that Caruso sang in at
the Met, considered him one of the greatest artists with whom he ever worked. Caruso's technique and style
combined in a unique way the finest aspects of elegant, technically-polished 19th Century tenor singing
with the emotionally-charged delivery and exciting, thrusting timbre demanded by the Verismo composers of
the early 20th Century.

Great fame followed with Fedora in Milano, and Caruso was signed for a lucrative recording contract with
the Gramophone and Typewriter Company in 1902 for ten arias at £10 per take. In May the same year he
debuted at the Covent Garden in Rigoletto, and his Met debut came in November 1903. He sang with the
company the next 18 seasons, appearing on 607 occasions in 37 different operas. "His name was to become
synonymous with greatness, a household word, and his movements were followed fastidiously by public and
media alike"

Caruso died in 1921 in Naples, at age 48. The cause of death was likely peritonitis, due to the bursting
of an abscess. He is buried in an elaborate tomb at Naples. Caruso was portrayed by Mario Lanza in a
highly fictionalized 1951 Hollywood film biography, The Great Caruso. In 1987, Caruso was posthumously
awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.