0:00 Domine Deus (Rossini). 4:37 Deh ch'io retorni from the opera L'Africana (Meyerbeer) 8:42.Bois epais (Jean-Baptiste Lully). 11:49 A dream (Bartlett). 15:09 Crucifixus (Rossini)
Great restorations, Michael. His voice makes the hair on arms stand straight up! As an Italian-American whose grandparents are from the Naples region, I'm very proud that Caruso is widely accepted as setting the standard by which all tenors are judged..
Thanks for listening Jimmy, I'm really pleased that you like my restorations. Caruso was a great tenor (some would say the greatest} and I have loved him since I first heard him about 60 years ago. It was the 100th anniversary of his death on 2nd August 2021 and I uploaded a video that you might like to commemorate it with one song from each year that he recorded and many coloured photos. It is a bit long but if you wanted to have a listen the link is ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SYglMiD13D4.html
He will always remain the singer you have to obey and admire, for the great importance his legacy means for so many of us. 150 years since he was born, he is still with us through his extraordinary recordings, so full of soul and emotion. Caruso, 1873-1921. 1873-2023.
Thank you very much for sharing these historic recordings. They show the quality of the voice of the great dramatic tenor Enrico Caruso, the purity of his high notes and the uniformity of timbre throughout the vocal range. Truly, he was one of the greatest voices of the 20th century.
What a superb voice, perhaps the most dense tenor voice ever, very baritonal. His register, it is so equalized - it is a dream, from top downwards. Not to mention the incredible schwung with which he sings Deh ch'io retorni! I could hardly sit still.
I can't keep up with you today Dubbel, thanks for listening to this one as well. It's very sad that Caruso was soon to die as I think that his voice was still magnificent at this time and electrical recording was, of course, just round the corner.
@@michaelmcgrailengland As I loathe wireless smartphones and I don't have a computer at home, I have to go to the library. So I got it over with while there. You won't see me for sometime again so you can relax....😆
@@michaelmcgrailengland it’s Caruso’s glorious incredible depth of tone and vocal colours which for me no other tenor has come near let alone his wonderful technique and command of language. He was and still remains the KING .
@@Mikep487 Thanks for listening Mike, I'm also an admirer of Mario Lanza, he was a wonderful singer and, of course, played Caruso in the film The Great Caruso.. It's difficult to make a fair comparison of the two singers because of the primitive non-electric recording technology and small orchestras used in Caruso's day.
@@michaelmcgrailengland You make a fine point Michael with your commentary as to the recording technology of the eras. I will say this though. You can still tell Caruso had great depth to his voice and superb breath control. It must have been awesome to hear him in person, just like it must have been with Mario.
From 1917 through his final recording session, the lyrics of Caruso’s English-language recordings were taught to him phonetically by Nina Morgana, the American-born coloratura whom he had discovered in 1908 and had sent to Italy to study with the legendary Teresa Arkel. When Caruso chose her as one of his assisting artists for his World War One concerts, she wrote on cards for him the Italian approximation of the words to “The Star-Spangled Banner”: “O sei ch’en iu si ….”
Thank you! He was the first tenor that I ever listened to on a record, given to me by my brothers and sister as a Xmas gift exactly 39 years ago this month. 🙏
The pleasures all mine Timothy,thanks for listening,I hope you enjoyed the video and that it brought back some happy memories. Best Christmas wishes from Yorkshire,England.
The pleasure's all mine, thanks for listening, I'm glad that you like the restorations.I would have responded earlier but for some reason RU-vid are not notifying me of all comments at the moment. By the way, you also do excellent work on the audio quality of the videos that you upload, particularly the Mario Lanza recordings.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Thank you. It is really nice to hear these of such good quality. I guess these were acoustic recordings? Even so, by 1920 recording techniques had improved somewhat! Best wishes, Steve.
@@ballaratboy1 Thanks for your message Steve. Yes, they were acoustic, unfortunately electrical recording which dramatically increased frequency range and reduced noise was not introduced until 1925.
Thanks for listening, I'm really pleased that you like my restorations.I completely agree with you about the overdubbed recordings. In the process of reducing the sound of the old orchestra they also remove the natural depth and subtle tones of the voice and it just does not match the modern sound of the orchestra.
Thank you for sharing this rare data. Many people take Caruso's sound as a good example, but most of them are thin and emphasize only the sound of the Maschera. Maybe they only heard the old LP sound quality or to rationalize their teaching. However, this video shows Caruso's breathing, low position, and lyrical voice starting with Spinto. It's sad to think that no singer will ever make this sound again.
The pleasure is all mine Junsung Jeon, thank you for listening and I'm very pleased that you enjoyed the video. Unfortunately, as you say, the unique beauty in Caruso's voice will probably never be heard again.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Thank you for your kind reply. I saw in another comment that you are 75 years old. I pray that you are healthy and always happy. Thank you so much for sharing these rare videos during pandemic times. These videos will be a great help to many people.
@@junsungjeon4935 Thanks for your kind message. I'm actually 79 this week and although I know it's said that everybody must die, I'm hoping that He will spare me so that I can continue uploading my videos!!!!!!
CARUSO DENTRE TODOS OS TENORES, E CANTORES DO SÉCULO XX, VEM SENDO A VOZ MAIS PODEROSA, RICA EM QUALIDADES VOCAIS EM CANÇÕES, ÁRIAS DE ÓPERA, EM ÓPERAS COMPLETAS QUE TOTALIZAM CERCA DE 53 ÓPERAS. É NA VERDADE, ATÉ OS DIAS CORRENTES, O REI DOS TENORES OU CANTORES DE QUALQUER TIMBRE DE VOZ. INIGUALÁVEL E INSUPERÁVEL.
No tenor since has come close to this man’s voice. Heaven sent. Lyrical nuances are lost on the low fidelity of these recordings but my God he makes Pavarotti’s voice sound small by comparison. If he stood at a modern microphone and sound system he’d blow the roof off a building
Thank you for uploading! amazingly good sound. Have you worked a lot improving the sound in computers or was the record this good? I have several records of Caruso but unfortunately the are not in similar quality anymore as this recordings. thanks again!
Thanks for listening and for your message,particularly as you have noticed the improvement in audio quality (most people don't) I have always dreamed of finding a way to improve the quality of the old acoustic recordings (I'm 77 now) and a couple of years ago,thanks to digital technology,I was able to put one of my old ideas into practice.My system enables me to enhance bass and treble and vary the sound a little in the left and right channels.It does increase bass noise unfortunately but I think the improved music quality more than compensates for that.I add applause just to make them a little different and to add a sort of live feeling.As a matter of interest the applause is from a Jussi Bjorling Carnegie Hall concert. I bet,after this long ramble,you wish you had never asked me!!! Best Christmas wishes from Yorkshire,England.
@@michaelmcgrailengland At 77 you have MANY years left to accomplish your current desired tasks and add several more. My Italian-German-Polish mother hated anyone, including the Great Caruso, singing anything from Pagliacci. That opinion was passed down from her Italian father. When any tenor on TV sang "Ride, Pagliacci" my job was to get up and turn the volume down completely on the TV. [No remote control in their home until I left.] Thanks for putting this on RU-vid and I hope it is not taken down.
@@michaelmcgrailengland I don't mind the ramble, in fact I am too trying to improve recordings. started collecting old records, 78's, a long time ago. built tube preamps with variable equalisations 30 years ago. Now I have equipment that sound ok but I'm not so good with the computer. have tried Audacity but I can't say I master it. I understand only basic function, recording etc. I will see if I can make a post soon of some record. Perhaps something with Benjamin Gigli, he's one of my favourites. Perhaps you want to check out Magic Montys channel and the copyright issue. here is a link ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-_VkTtJNeZ80.html . Best Christmas wishes Borlänge, Sweden.
@@ifixmycarmyself2502 You know I thought because of your RU-vid user name you were younger.(I used to fix my car myself but deteriorating joints and muscles forced me to give up!!!) The software I use is Magix Audio Cleaning Lab 17.I bought a used copy on EBay for £14 about 3 years ago.It took me a long time to be able to use it properly and there are a lot of other things on it that I've avoided but it does what I want. I'm on holiday at the moment but,is there a particular mono recording of Gigli's that you like that I could try to enhance when I return home?Why not have a go yourself at uploading to you tube.If you need any help on the process you just have to contact me.I've uploaded quite a number over the last three years but, to be honest the only real success in terms of number of views has been Jussi's O Holy Night.
@@marthawelch4289 Hello Martha, I've just found your message from about a year ago. Thanks for watching the video, I'm glad that you enjoyed it. Thanks also for your encouraging words and interesting story about your mother.
Mike.....quite wonderful yet sad when having the knowledge beforehand that this is literally the climax of an incredible recording career!.....have you come across any programs of a Caruso recital?
Thanks for listening Mike,I'm glad you like the video.It looks as if it won't be on for long as it has been blocked by SME (Sony).Everything I put on now is blocked by them.I've disputed the claim but recently none of my appeals have been successful.One of the songs they claimed copyright on on this video isn't actually on it. He was a great man and a wonderful singer (and,of course a friend of John McCormack!!).He was still an amazing singer in these last recordings as was Jussi Bjorling when he died at about the same age. Unfortunately there are no concert recordings of him and the only film is silent.I'm not sure whether he actually did concerts,I'll have to look in to that.
@@michaelmcgrailengland Caruso sang many concerts over the years. I believe he even sang one at an American prison! Typically there would be three or four arias on the program and then he would sing a lot of Neapolitan folk songs as encores.
Thanks for the information Timothy, it's such a shame that they were well before live concert recording was possible.I hope you enjoyed this fantasy concert!!
@@ifixmycarmyself2502 Thanks for listening.I've never heard of a live Covent Garden recording of Caruso.If you have any further information I'd be very interested to hear it.
Thanks for listening and for your comment.Yes,wouldn't it have been wonderful,such a short time but such a transformation in audio quality,and Caruso singing Nessun Dorma,such a shame that he had to die so young and still in perfect voice but that's life I suppose.
And Chaplin complained so much about talkies ‘ruining’ things. If his London hoiti toit accent was no good for “The Tramp” character, why not have auditions for someone with a voice he could imagine the Tramp to have, then dub them in over his own? Evidently several Silent Actors did that in transitioning to talkies, a fact that “Singing In The Rain” heartily poked fun of a few years later.
@@michaelmcgrailengland, The premiere of Turandot took place in 1924 and by then Caruso would be already 54. At that age I do no think he would be able to maintain quality of his voice. Not for Nessun Dorma.
@@johnfalstaff2270 You could well be right John but you never know, and if he could have sung it with the added benefit of electrical technology that they started to use in 1925, what a wonderful recording it would have been.
@@michaelmcgrailengland. I do not think so. The first pretty good quality electrical recordings I heard, were made in 1928 by very famous singers as Beniamino Gigli, Rosa Ponsell, Ezio Pinza and Elizabeth Rethberg. You can find them on RU-vid. No way Caruso could keep his voice to compete with them. One of New York critics even said that Caruso's death came at right time. It is sad but artistically true.
Thanks for listening and for your comment Alfred. I uploaded a video recently that you might like. It was to commemorate the 100th anniversary of Caruso's death. It's quite long but If you wanted to watch/listen the link is ru-vid.com/video/%D0%B2%D0%B8%D0%B4%D0%B5%D0%BE-SYglMiD13D4.html
Thanks for listening and for your interesting comment.He was a heavy smoker so you may well be right but, as I understand it, his death in 1921 was said to have been caused by the lung disease pleurisy. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed the video in spite of the medical distractions. All the best from Yorkshire, England.
