Enrico Caruso

September 14, 2005 11:43 AM

Collected works of Enrico Caruso. Approximately seven hours of vintage, public domain recordings of Il Maestro, courtesy of the Internet Archive's 78 rpm collections. Amongst my favourites: Del Tempio Al Limita, a duet with Mario Ancona from Bizet's The Pearl Fishers, and Cantique de Noel. Sublime.
posted by carter (17 comments total)

Awesome. I'm a happy happy man.
posted by palinode at 11:50 AM on September 14, 2005

I had no idea that archive existed. Thank you!
posted by MinPin at 11:51 AM on September 14, 2005

Overwhelming!
posted by OmieWise at 11:52 AM on September 14, 2005

I forked out for a 'remastered' collection of Caruso a while back, but this wins hands-down.
posted by carter at 11:54 AM on September 14, 2005

A wonderful resource. For those who aren't familiar with Caruso, it's worth noting that his voice went markedly downhill in later years, so it's best to concentrate on his earlier recordings (pre-1910). Unfortunately, this collection isn't dated.

Listen to that Vesti la giubba. Like a number of great tenors, he was a pushed-up baritone, and that shows beautifully here. Great stuff. Grazie, carter.
posted by QuietDesperation at 11:58 AM on September 14, 2005

Thanks for the link. I've been interested for a while.
posted by jonmc at 12:10 PM on September 14, 2005

Cantique de Noel gets added to my Xmas .mp3s first chance I get -- veddy nice. Thanks.
posted by alumshubby at 12:11 PM on September 14, 2005

I'd drag a steamship over a mountain for that voice.
posted by hartsell at 12:39 PM on September 14, 2005

I adore the Internet.
posted by JanetLand at 12:42 PM on September 14, 2005

I'd drag a steamship over a mountain for that voice.
posted by hartsell at 3:39 PM EST

I bow to hartsell's awesome obscure film reference. (Also, extremely cool post, carter. Nice find.)
posted by BoringPostcards at 1:52 PM on September 14, 2005

You have just made my week, possibly my year. And thank you for giving the name of the duet from Les Pecheurs Du Perles - it was the first opera I ever saw live, and I adore that song.
posted by kalimac at 2:05 PM on September 14, 2005

I adore that song. Then don't miss the Bjoerling/Merrill version either, if you don't already know and love it.
posted by QuietDesperation at 2:45 PM on September 14, 2005

Boy, I needed that today. Grazie mille, carter.

Thanks for the duets link, too, QuietDesperation. Wish those sound samples on the Amazon page were a little longer.
posted by FYKshun at 4:56 PM on September 14, 2005

Fantastic. Grazie from me too.
posted by languagehat at 5:31 PM on September 14, 2005

Very cool. Thanks.
posted by geekyguy at 8:51 PM on September 14, 2005

Merci, Carter.
posted by Cranberry at 9:56 PM on September 14, 2005

Lovely link, carter!

Kalimac, the Italian version of the duet sung by Caruso and Ancona is a translation; the original French title, which will be on most recordings, is Au Fond du Temple Saint. And yeah, it's a brilliant piece of music.
posted by Pallas Athena at 7:39 AM on September 15, 2005