Last month…August…Dead Tenors’ Society celebrated the 100th anniversary of the death of Enrico Caruso, who passed away at Naples’ Vesuvio Hotel on August 2, 1921, at the age of 48. I must admit that, after an entire month of Caruso, it has been difficult to even think of another tenor for this month’s episodes. The question arose, “What could possibly follow an entire month of Caruso?”
The answer is obvious…MORE CARUSO!!!
To be honest, I am doing my best to make up for an egregious oversight. In my zeal to showcase the art of Enrico Caruso, I only featured his solo recordings and completely ignored the many magnificent duets and ensembles he recorded with his colleagues. To remedy this situation, I will be featuring some of my favorite duets recorded by the tenor over the years. If I happen to exclude your own favorites, please don’t be cross with me. Just let me know and I will try to include your favorite recording on a future installment.
Caruso’s duet recordings are a marvel to listen to. The great tenor had an uncanny ability to change the color of his voice (without actually changing the voice itself) to match whatever colleague he was singing with. I am hard pressed to think of another artist who had not only the ability to do this, but who possessed the same sense of generosity toward his colleagues to make such a gesture. By doing this, Caruso elevates his singing partner, the music, the drama of the piece and, of course, his own performance by creating the perfect vocal blend. This is just one of the many things that combined to make Enrico Caruso the unparalleled vocal artist he was.
Caruso’s very first recorded duet was made at the Victor studios in New York on March 13, 1906. In a single take, the tenor and his old friend, baritone Antonio Scotti (1866-1936) managed to capture a perfect reading of the duet, “Solenne in quest’ ora” from Verdi’s La Forza del Destino. The aforementioned ability to match his tone with his colleagues is very evident in Caruso’s singing here. In fact, the two voices sound so similar that the Victor company, in its printed description of the piece on the blank side of the disc, felt compelled to mention that it is Caruso’s voice the listener hears first!
