Cast
Enrico Caruso — Tenor
Program notes
Discover the Bel-Canto Series: The Tenors of the 78 Era, 13 portraits of the most illustrious lyrical singers of the beginning of the 20th century. We present 2 episodes: an original vision of the most famous tenor, Caruso and a witnesses' account of the invention of the gramophone.
Jan Schmidt-Garre in the Bel-Canto Series: The Tenors of the 78 Era, provides us with a precious documentary on Caruso, through many quality archive documents, interviews of his friends and thanks to professionals such as Jurgen Kesting (famous German critic, author of The Great Singers) and Stefan Zucker, the famous contemporary tenor.
Enrico Caruso, from early childhood, sang in churches as a contralto. Self-taught, he perfected his technique and was engaged in 1887 in a production of La Bohème at Livourne. Then followed a series of performances until 1903 when he sang at the Metropolitan Opera of New York, to which he vowed a long-lasting loyalty. He gave more than 600 performances there, which made up most of his performances.
Caruso left his mark in history due to his charisma, talent and hard work. He was a remarkable person and he was the first tenor in history to record his performances, which made him a record star.
This first documentary is followed by an analysis of the impact of the invention of the gramophone on performances and the perception of the great singers of the time. An instructive document!