About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

Those who heard the innovative Caruso 2000 will already be familiar with the brand of technical wizardry on this follow-up album, Italian Songs. Like the earlier recording, this one features the legendary tenor Enrico Caruso, accompanied, remarkably, by a newly recorded orchestra. Caruso died in 1921, when recording know-how was just getting off the ground, and though the recordings he made reveal only a portion of his astonishing voice, a strong sense of its power and lyricism comes through nonetheless. They are precious documents, however imperfect, of arguably the greatest tenor who ever sang. The sound of the orchestral accompaniment on those old shellac discs, however, is more bothersome, thin and shrouded in surface noise. Here, that drawback is put right by a new and sparklingly clear recording by the Vienna Radio Symphony, directed by Gottfried Rabl. At first, it seems like an odd mix of old and new, but the ear adjusts, and one is left to admire freely Caruso's voice and wonder at what it must have been like to hear him in person. The repertoire consists of classic Italian songs ("Santa Lucia," "O sole mio," and others less familiar), which he sings quite literally to the manner born. There's little sense of artifice or mannerism here, just pure, superb singing -- here's a tenor who knew how to carry a legato line! Italian Songs is a window onto a golden age, one that is less opaque than usual by several degrees. And you have to admit it's quite a feat. EJ Johnson, Barnes & Noble

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