Georges Bizet
The Pearl Fishers
Mi par d'udir ancora
(sung in Italian)

Enrico Caruso, tenor
Ruggero Leoncavallo, pianist

Recorded April 8, 1904

The role Caruso played in recording history was largely due to the fact that he was a very distinguished and popular artist at just the right time in the development of the industry. In 1897 the phonograph was the hot consumer item, by 1900 most homes had a machine. Naturally, those who had a financial interest in records went to court to sort it all out. By 1904 the new industry was taking shape: the Gramophone Company held its international patents, and the newly-formed Victor Talking Machine Company would become a force in America. But the best thing that happened was in the end of 1903 when the Bell and Gramophone engineers finally gained access to each other's experience, and set about establishing new industry standards. The first Victor session with Caruso saw those standards put into practice for the first time, and the results changed everything.

Acoustic Balanced recording became the rule for the entire audio industry. Even 120 years later, these recordings come back with the sound intact because of it. What this new standard amounted to was a technology where the recorded track is a near perfect match of the original room acoustics. This means that what we hear today is the same as what was heard over a century ago.

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