Enrico Caruso & Titta Ruffo sing Verdi Otello 

still 10 people here dislike... they want domingo to sing with Mingo！！

@@user-py1jg6bb2r Ahahahahahha 😂 Want to see someone edit and make Mingo sing wtih Mingo, Mingo Iago and Mingo Otello

@@mariofilippeschi4855 No, I was un precise, Domingo conducts, and he also can add piano and guitar solo in between... played by himself, superb level of mastery also...in addition to sing everything!

@@user-py1jg6bb2r No le des ideas, que ya grabó consigo mismo el dueto del Barbero

Placido Domingo truly one of the most overrated singers strained voice strained vocal technique and a very short top reaches B-flat only with Supreme difficulty

Shlomo Hoffert Ruffo would have been in decline.

@@ransomcoates546 True, but still a thrill.

@@ransomcoates546 I think that Caruso's voice would have been in further decline. Ruffo's career lasted well into the electric era. However, I agree that they both were at their peak in this recording.

Bjorling&Merrill tried their best to make their duet as close to this one as possible. But alas, their voices lacked power in low notes. Though, of course, they also sound very good.

@@elenajha4357 yes, that’s the only recording that gives you some insight into what Caruso and Rufo might have really sounded like.

@@edwardstroud8245 I think all the theatre vibrated when they had sung together. Outstanding voices indeed.

I am 76 and grew up listening to this recording when I was about 8!

@@mr.obrien6984 on 78s?

They never sang Otello on stage. Caruso did not sing Otello.

@@WMP777 He was preparing to sing the role when he died.

@@xxsaruman82xx87 Yes, but why so late? There is a video on YT with Mario del Monaco explaining the reason. Unfortunately, I do not understand Italian and the video is without subtitles.

@@aetion The reason is this: Caruso studied the entire Otello opera. But the Met producers were afraid that his voice would be destroyed by the nuances he used. And MDM puts Tosca and Pagliacci as an example. Well, two operas where Caruso left all his heart. MDM says that Giuseppe Danise, a baritone who was present at the Caruso del Otello demo, assures that it was something that had never been heard. To this, MDM adds that the idolization of Tamagno (the first Otello) was another impediment. Greetings from Peru. Postscript: I don't know English. I used google translate 🤪

@@joelshuan I thank you so much for having translated for me. The translation is excellent. MDM must know the reason. Greetings from Greece.

And possibly to have been conducted by Toscanini or Panizza back in 1923......we will never know....but what a concept.

voce poco adatta a questo repertorio

@@armwrestlingfanatic7923 Carissimo/a Fanatic, purtroppo non si capisce niente del suo commento…

THE GREATEST FOR EVER

Это все относится и к Титта Руффо.

But not just power. Considerable subtlety of dynamics by both singers

Ruffo was against fascism, for which he ended up in a concentration camp! And you dare to say that he is guilty of something?

Stupid spell check!

I agree with your opinion. In addition, while Ruffo had blown his voice early in his career, Caruso damaged himself with heavy smoking. The difference was Ruffo's damage was quite apparent and Caruso's was limited to a darkening of his voice and an early death. It would have been wonderful if the two had stayed healthy into the electric recording era.

hobo1975 The tobacco habit was the means by which Caruso damaged himself. As for the smoking damaging his voice...maybe not ... I agree that darkening of the voice in many cases is a good thing. Perhaps, if some of the darkening was from his smoking, we might consider that a good thing. I do not think that Caruso's voice declined as he aged. As a singer Caruso was improving over time. His best recording IMO is Ombra mai fu recorded in 1920. The transition from the trill into a short run at the end of the aria is exquisite. It is his best display of agility and is bettered by only a few. such as Herman Jadlowker John McCormack . My point is that two glorious voices never made it to the electric recoding era because of unfortunate choices made by their hosts.... From listening to the recordings of Ruffo, his voice, to my ears was best before the electric recording era began. I think that Ruffo's voice sounds best in a recording of Largo al factotum in 1912,if memory serves me right. It definitely shows his agility which he never lost.

hobo1975 I think there is finally agreement. As I see it Caruso was the greatest tenor and Ruffo the greatest baritone... As to who was the better singer... that's a tough one... I never considered who was the better. Both had exceptional agility but both pale compared to Herman Jadlowker who I consider to be the most agile tenor that I have heard. I am going to listen Caruso and Ruffo again and consider who is the better.... Jadlowker may have been the most agile tenor but he had problems with breath control and his voice was not the most appealing to me.

You are right. Caruso never sang Otello on stage.

Zenatello at age 33 sang 1 Aida 2, Faust, 1 Butterfly and one I Pagliacci at the Met in 1909. He unfortunately never sang Otello at the Met. Martinelli did 26 Otellos starting at age 52 in 1937 to 1942. He received excellent reviews in Otello and almost everything he sang at the Met. Martinelli also has a record 123 Aidas at the Met with Caruso in 2nd place with 91. Enjoy

This comment, even if true, has no place here.

@@TedinNY e perché sarebbe vietato? Caruso grande sempre. Ma si intuisce che la voce di MDM è il massimo in questa opera.

@@marisamassimino6418, wer verbietet denn? Der Kommentar passt halt nicht ganz hierher. Es ist zweierlei, ob ein Film gedreht wird oder der Sänger live vor Publikum eine Oper bestreitet!

Morì studiando l'Otello. Peccato. 🥺💔 Saluti.

Il migliore Otello e' stato Del Monaco a seguire Merli Vinay Miranda Ferraro Filippeschi Vichers e tanti altri.

Exactly. Domingo was nasal by the time he sang Otello. And he was a lyric tenor. With better technique, he might have been a better Otello, but still not even close to Del Monaco!!!

@@xxsaruman82xx87 i agree to you. plus Mingo had good low notes. He could have been great.

@@mariofilippeschi4855 Like so many singers today, he had great musical talent and potential - what he lacked was a solid technique to fulfill that potential. Especially with regards to his musicality, which was great until he had to resort to barking as a ‘baritone’.

federic017 condivido il suo pensiero. Molti dimenticano che per cantare la lirica ci vuole soprattutto la voce. Naturalmente essa da sola non basta e servono molte altre qualità e talenti,ma la voce è la prima cosa. Cordialità.

non saprei rispondere forse dono di Dio Grandi

Shaliapin was a basso.

Try chaliapin,and indeed he was a great russian bass so he would never have sung this duet with caruso

@@amantedellopera1681 Caruso and Chaliapin sang Mefistofele in Milan in about 1902. What a treat that must have been

@@chastenor oh to have been a fly on the wall at that performance,the worlds greatest tenor and possibly one of the greatest singing actors in chaliapin,i have a book written by his pal gorky and it is full of black and white photos of chaliapin in various roles,his makeup and costumes are second to none and his life story and shocking poverty are a magnificent insight to life in russia at the time,and his steady climb to fame and escape from poverty.

@@amantedellopera1681 When I invent my time machine I will be spending frequent nights at the Met. Have just found out that Caruso and Chaliapin also appeared together in Gounod's Faust in 1908 at the Met.

+Андрей Щербаков The subject is much more complicated than your question implies, but the simple answer is that Ruffo had a dark baritone voice with fabulous high notes.

Ruffo had quite high, but very dark and powerful dramatic voice.

He is everything 😊

He was The Dramatic Baritone. The King.

Шаляпин был великим певцом, но он не принадлежит моему каналу, который посвящен Энрико Карузо.

Шаляпин был великим певцом, но он не принадлежит моему каналу, который посвящен Энрико Карузо.

Mario del Monaco owned Otello role. Domingo never resembled or was able to follow Monaco characteristics in dramatic performances. Domingo lacked temper. He was rather of more lyric natured person. I love Monaco in Otello. He was born to sing it.

🤣🤣🤣🤣 Una volta MDM dissi: io canto tutti i giorni, non solamente il Domingo 👌😏 Saluti.

After Domingo sang Cassio in 1962 in Hartford Connecticut with Del Monaco as Otello, Domingo stated that he would never be able to sing Otello the way MDM did. It's fine that you prefer PD, but in the Esultate, Ora Per Sempre, and Si Per Ciel, MDM had that wielding sound with great high notes and endless breath. Perhaps PD sang the lyric portions of the opera quite well, but cutting phrases short and squeezing in the passaggio and higher always seem to be a problem for Domingo. I saw both live and MDM was quite superior. Enjoy