Enrico Caruso

Enrico Caruso (1873-1921), the well-known Italian tenor was one of the first opera singers to recognise the possibilities in sound recording. His recordings cover most of his 25 year long carrier, a not unrelated consequence of which is the fact that he still has admirers, among others myself. It is difficult to choose from such an amount of material. Finally, I have decided to post two recordings, the first of which could easily be the first I heard from him, his definitive performance of the traditional Neapolitan song, Santa Lucia. In the case of the second recording, I have passed the decision to Woody Allen. Allen has used opera themes in many of his movies, so it came as a pleasure if not a surprise when I heard Caruso's voice in Match Point. The haunting recording that recurs many times during the movie, is his that of "Una furtiva lagrima" (A furtive tear) from Gaetano Donizetti's opera, "L'elisir d'amore". Caruso's untimely death was preceded by a rapid deterioration of his health after he suffered a throat haemorrhage on-stage. He was previously declared fit to perform by his doctor. Less than a year later he died at the age of 48.