About this Artist

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Editorial Reviews

The exceptional value of this selection is that it reveals the 29-year-old Caruso long before he was a famous force who made a lasting mark in the history of opera. Among other fascinating and irreplaceable historical material offered here are excerpts by composers Francesco Cilea and Ruggiero Leoncavallo with the composers themselves accompanying the tenor at the piano. Reproduced faithfully with the original old shellac records' "bacon frying" background noise, these selections also keep original dimensions of the voice that are erased in some other transfers that attempt to clean up the sound. Here we can appreciate the size and power of Caruso's voice, supposedly due to his midriff muscles, which were so developed he could move a piano just by standing next to it and exhaling. Every one of these arias has become a definitive statement, which is why Caruso has remained an ideal even for the most successful tenors of today, like Domingo or Pavarotti. Benjamin Ivry, Barnes & Noble

Customer Reviews

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