Caruso Salvatore singer. The tenor who changed the world

(1873-1921) Italian Opera singer

There is nothing unusual in the biography of Enrico Caruso. Like many other outstanding singers, he owes his success to his excellent vocal abilities, hard work and luck. Caruso’s creative development took place at a time when there was no talk of any modern “promotion” with the help of videos or disks.

And yet, Enrico Caruso became known to our contemporaries, since it was he who introduced mandatory recordings on records into the practice of the singer, thanks to which his magnificent voice was preserved. It's about him great conductor Arturo Toscanini once said: “This Neapolitan made the whole world talk about himself.” Despite the fact that seemingly everyone sings in Italy, the boy’s talent was noticed in childhood. He was born in Naples into the family of a watchman and by the age of sixteen he was already distinguished by his ringing voice, skillfully accompanying himself on the guitar. However, he did not stop there and began taking lessons from the pianist Schirardi and Maestro de Luteno. Famous singer baritone Missiano taught Caruso several popular songs. And on holidays and on days of great events, Enrico sang in the choir in the Church of St. Anne.

His first success came in 1888, when Father Bronzetti, a teacher at the church institute, chose him to perform the part in M. Fasanaro’s one-act opera “The Robbers” in a small theater at the church. At that time, Enrico was studying at an evening gymnasium.

One day the singer G. Vergine heard his voice. He immediately appreciated his capabilities and persuaded Enrico’s father to send his son to the Temple of Bel Canto, as the school of singing, which was led by Vergine himself, was then called. There, under his leadership, the young man’s talent began to fully reveal itself. The father agreed to give up his son in order to get rid of the extra mouth; he did not really believe in the maestro’s promises. But by that time the young man himself was already infected with art and greedily rushed to study the history and art of singing.

Soon the teacher showed his student to the famous tenor Masini, who found that Enrico Caruso had a uniquely beautiful voice, but it still needed to be developed and improved. The assessment was flattering and promising, but Caruso was young, he wanted to be famous right now, and here he had to humble his temperament and deprive himself of many pleasures. However, thanks to iron discipline, enormous hard work and, to a large extent, ambition, Enrico Caruso eventually became what millions of fans know him to be.

The singer's path to great art was not strewn with roses. His debut in Morelli's opera Francesco's Friend in 1894-1895 went unnoticed. Only a year later, thanks to the efforts of impresario F. Zucchi, he experienced his first success in Gaetano Donizetti’s opera “The Favorite.” Now he receives invitations to sing all over Italy. And Caruso makes his first tour, performing in Alexandria, Caserta, Messina, Salerno, and Sicily.

Enrico Caruso gains financial stability and at the same time becomes dependent. He is engaged for the whole season, but the fee for performances is still minimal. True, in Palermo he will perform with famous singer soprano A. Giachetti-Botti, who had not only a beautiful appearance, but also dramatic talent. Caruso immediately fell in love with her, later Ada responded to his feeling, but their relationship was very difficult. From Ada, Caruso had two sons, whom he later took with him to New York, because Ada was constantly touring. She never agreed to give up the stage to devote herself to her family. This eventually led to a breakup. For some time, Ada’s sister, Rina, helped the singer raise his sons, but soon she left his home. Only ten years later, in 1918, did real happiness finally come to the singer. He met Dorothy Blacklenk and fell in love with her with a passionate, youthful love. They soon got married, despite the protests of Dorothy's parents. She became a real mother to the sons of Enrico Caruso. Soon Enrico and Dorothy had their own daughter, who was named Gloria. Now the singer was truly happy.

Caruso's real debut took place on the stage of Milan's La Scala theater in November 1897. According to tradition, only after success on this famous stage did the singer gain true recognition and the path to all the stages of the world opened before him. Enrico Caruso's success grew from performance to performance, and at the end of the month he was offered a contract with an unprecedented amount of payment - a thousand lire for one appearance.

Only one city did not accept the singer’s fame - his native Naples. The local theater bosses could not forgive the great tenor for giving free performances and depriving them of their income. A scandal was brewing, but Caruso's talent won out. As always, the performance ended with an ovation. After this, the singer vowed never to sing on the Neapolitan stage again. Nevertheless, he returned to Naples every year, spent time with friends, and sang a lot and willingly for them.

He had the opportunity to perform on the stages of almost all the leading theaters in the world. The most successful year for the singer was 1902, when he performed with Nellie Melba in Monte Carlo. International fame came to him after a successful performance that same year at the Covent Garden Theater in London. But almost every year Enrico Caruso found time to perform on the stage of La Scala.

By the age of thirty, his repertoire included more than fifty operas. He selected the material very carefully and could learn the part he liked in just a few days. This is what the outstanding Polish pianist I. Paderewski recalled about his voice: “The secret of Caruso’s success lies in the wonderful merging of the singer’s emotions, internal expressiveness and technique, which gave his art beauty, emotionality, stunning listeners.”

In the year of his thirtieth birthday, Enrico Caruso crossed another important milestone - he performed on the stage of the American Metropolitan Opera. Although by this time he had traveled almost all over the world, this particular stage was considered the highest point in the career of any performer. He made his debut in New York as the Duke in G. Verdi's Rigoleto at the Metropolitan Opera and forever won over the American public. After the first performance, the theater director signed a contract with Caruso for a whole year. So the maestro settled in New York.

Subsequently, Enrico Caruso regularly appeared on this stage until last year of his performances - 1920. In total, he sang in almost 40 operas, participating in more than 600 performances.

Enrico Caruso's repertoire is amazing: he knew more than a hundred operas different languages, sang in more than eighty of them. In addition, he performed countless songs of every genre, sang in English, French, German and Spanish, from classical works church music to Italian romances of the 19th - early 20th centuries.

Despite his somewhat corpulent figure, Caruso was considered a good actor. In the USA he starred in several sound films. In addition, he recorded a lot and successfully on records: he became the first singer in history to preserve almost all of his performances in recordings.

Own musical creativity The singer’s career was not extensive: he left behind several romances - “Old Times”, “Serenade”, “Sweet Torments” (the latter written together with Berthelemy).

He was also known as a brilliant draftsman, caricaturist, who left hundreds of cartoons of his friends and acquaintances - Kreisler, Leoncavallo, Safonov, Toscanini, Tirendelli. Together with photographs of Enrico Caruso, where he was depicted in various roles, these cartoons were published since 1906 in New York by the weekly Folia.

The last year of his life was very dramatic for Enrico Caruso. During a performance of the opera "Elixir of Love" at the Brooklyn Academy, he began coughing up blood. Then the great tenor did not yet know that he last job will be the role of Eleazar in Alevi's The Cardinal's Daughter at the Metropolitan Opera at Christmas 1920. He underwent emergency lung surgery. The doctors did everything in their power, and the singer’s condition began to improve. But he could no longer perform on stage. Before leaving for Naples, Caruso recommended the young singer to the theater management. It was Beniamino Gigli, who was just starting out, the future great singer, who became worthy successor Caruso.

To finally restore his strength, the maestro moved to Naples. But the illness did not subside, and in August 1921 he died, mourned by many of his fans. He was buried in a crystal coffin placed in a special chapel. Only fifteen years later the coffin was closed and the body was interred.

While still alive outstanding singer many were dedicated to him musical works, and this tradition has survived to this day. The popular Italian singer Lucio Dalla, for example, created a song called “Caruso” and recorded it together with another great tenor - Luciano Pavarotti. And another brilliant tenor - Mario Lanza - played the role of a singer in the film “The Great Caruso”, thereby also paying tribute to his memory.

basic information Birth name

Errico Caruso (Neapolitan style)

Date of Birth Date of death A country

Kingdom of Italy

Professions Singing voice Teams

Biography

He made his debut in Naples on March 15, 1895. Caruso became famous in 1897 when he performed the part of Enzo (La Gioconda) by Ponchielli in Palermo. In 1900, he made his first appearance on the stage of Milan's La Scala theater (Nemorino in Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore); in 1902 he made his debut at London's Covent Garden Theater (The Duke in Verdi's Rigoletto). The singer's greatest fame is associated with the New York Metropolitan Opera, where he was a leading soloist from to

Caruso recorded a lot - one of the first among opera singers recorded the bulk of his repertoire on gramophone records. He had a voice of unique timbre, in which the natural baritone, velvety sound of the lower and middle registers was combined with brilliant tenor highs. Thanks to his exceptional command of breathing, impeccable intonation and, most importantly, high performing culture, he became a legend of the vocal art of the 20th century, a model for future generations of operatic tenors.

Caruso performed the roles of lyrical and dramatic plan, mainly in the operas of Verdi (The Duke, Manrico in Il Trovatore, Richard in Un ballo in maschera, Radamès in Aida) and verist composers (Canio in Pagliacci by Leoncavallo, etc.). He was the first performer of the roles of Federico (“The Arlesian” by Cilea, 1897), Loris (“Fedora” by Giordano, 1898), and Johnson (“The Girl from the West” by Puccini, 1910). Neapolitan songs occupied the main place in Caruso's concert repertoire.

Enrico Caruso died on the morning of August 3, 1921 in Naples at the age of 48 from purulent pleurisy. After his death, a giant wax candle was made in his honor, funded by people who were grateful to him. This candle should be lit once a year in front of the Madonna. According to calculations, this candle should be lit for 500 years.

Voice example

Reproduction help

Notes

Literature

In Russian

Bulygin A.K. Caruso M.: Young Guard, 2010. 438 p. (Life of remarkable people: ser. biogr.; issue 1264).
Ilyin Yu., Mikheev S. The Great Caruso. St. Petersburg: Glagol, 1995. 264 p.
Tortorelli V. Enrico Caruso / Trans. from Italian N. V. Vishnevskaya; General edition by I. I. Martynov. - M.: Music, 1965. - 176, p. - 75,000 copies.
Fucito S., Beyer B.J. The art of singing and vocal technique of Enrico Caruso / Trans. with him. St. Petersburg: Composer, 2004. 56 p.
Enrico Caruso on stage and in life / Trans. from English M.: Agraf, 2002. 480 p. (The Magic Flute series).

In foreign languages

Bolig, J. R. Caruso records: a history and discography. Mainspring Press, 2002. 216 p.
Caruso, Dorothy. Enrico Caruso: His Life and Death, with discography by Jack Caidin. Grant Press, 2007. 316 p.
Caruso D., Goddard, T. Wings Of Song. New York, 1928. 220 p.
Caruso, Enrico, Jr. Caruso's Caricatures. Dover Publications, 1993. 214 p.
Caruso, Enrico, Jr. My Father and My Family (Opera Biography Series, no. 2). Amadeus Press, 2003. 488 p.
Fucito, Salvatore. Caruso and the Art of Singing. Dover Publications, 1995. 224 p.
Gara, Eugenio, Caruso: Storia di un emigrante. Milan: Rizzoli, 1947. 281 p.
Gargano, Pietro & Cesarini, Gianni. Caruso, Vita e arte di un grande cantante. Longanesi, 1990. 336 p.
Gargano, Pietro. Una vita una leggenda. Editoriale Giorgio Mondadori, 1997. 159 p.
Greenfield, Howard S. Caruso: An Illustrated Life. Trafalgar Square Publishing, 1991. 192 p.
Jackson, Stanley. Caruso. Stein And Day Publishers. New York, 1972. 302 p.
Key P. V. R., Zirato V., Enrico Caruso: A Biography. Boston: Little, Brown, and Co., 1922. 459 p.
Michele, Mary di. Tenor of Love: A Novel. Penguin Canada, 2004. 336 p.
Mouchon, Jean-Pierre. Enrico Caruso: His Life and Voice. Gap, France: Editions Ophrys, 1974. 74 p.
Robinson, Francis. Caruso His Life in Pictures. With discography by John Secrist. N. York and London Studio Publications, inc., 1957. 159 p.
Scott, Michael. The Great Caruso. Northeastern University Press, 1989. 322 p.
Vaccaro, Riccardo. Caruso. Edizioni Scientifiche Italiane, 1995. 466 p.
Ybarra, T. E. Caruso: the Man of Naples and the Voice of Gold. New-York: Harcourt, Brace and Company, 1953. 315 p.

Childhood and youth

Enrico Caruso was born on February 25, 1873 in Naples, Italy. poor family. He was the third son of parents with many children to survive infancy. In the memoirs dedicated to the singer’s life, there was interesting fact, according to which his mother gave birth to 21 children - 20 boys and 1 girl. This legend, voiced by the tenor's widow and some of his friends, was subsequently refuted by biographers and researchers.

Caruso's father, who worked as a mechanic and foundry worker, believed that his son should continue his profession. At the age of 11, Enrico was apprenticed to an engineer who built city fountains and involved the boy in this process.

At the insistence of his mother, Caruso attended school and received a basic education under the supervision of a local priest. He learned to write letters and numbers beautifully, studied technical drawing and began singing in the church choir. The boy's voice was so good that he and those around him thought that he should leave design and construction and start a musical career.

Enrico's mother supported her son's desire for creativity. After her death in 1888, Caruso found work as a street singer in Naples and began performing in local cafes and parties to earn money to support his family.

In his youth, the tenor gave concerts at Italian resorts, which brought in a good income. He completed a mandatory military training course, after which he was convinced that music was the only thing he wanted to do.

Music

In the spring of 1895, Caruso made his debut on the stage of the Teatro Nuovo in Naples in an amateur opera by composer Mario Morelli called Amico Francesco. This was followed by a series of performances at provincial concert venues, combined with vocal lessons that Enrico took from conductor Vincenzo Lombardi.

There was not enough money to live on, as evidenced by the singer’s appearance in an 1896 advertising photo in a blanket draped like a toga, since his only shirt was in the wash. On early stage creative biography Tenor Caruso was booed during one of his concerts in Naples because he did not pay the claqueurs. This incident struck a nerve with the singer, and he vowed never to perform in his homeland again.

In 1900, Enrico had a breakthrough in his career. He signed a contract with the famous Italian opera house La Scala and on December 26 made his debut as Rodolfo in the composer's La Bohème. Caruso toured with a theater troupe in European and American capitals, singing for high-ranking audiences, including the Russian Tsar, who came to listen to the Italians perform on stage Mariinsky Theater in St. Petersburg.

Enrico's first major role was the role of Loris in the opera Fedora by Umberto Giordano, which he first performed in Milan theater"Lirico" in 1898. He then took part in grand concert on the stage of La Scala, dedicated to the memory of the composer. Other participants in the performance were leading Italian tenors Francesco Tamagno and Giuseppe Borgatti.

At the end of his contract with the theater in 1902, Caruso was hired to record records, offering a fee of £100. 10 discs quickly became bestsellers and helped to the young singer become famous in the English-speaking world. As a result, the management of London's Royal Opera House Covent Garden engaged Enrique for a season of performances in 8 operas, including Giuseppe Verdi's Aida and Don Giovanni.

Caruso made his debut at Covent Garden in mid-May 1902 in the role of Matntui in the production of Rigoletto. His partner was the highest paid opera diva, Nellie Melba, who praised Enrique's voice, but considered him a less refined musician than the great tenor of the time, Jean de Resque.

After spending the 1902 theater season in London, Caruso moved to New York and signed a contract with the famous Metropolitan Opera. At the same time, Pasquale Simonelli, who became an agent, banker and tenor impresario, organized Enrique's collaboration with record company"Victor Talking Machine", which lasted until the end of his life. In February 1904, the first collection of songs was released, which brought good income to the performer. “Santa Lucia” was also recorded there, one of the most famous songs from the repertoire of the great tenor.

Enrico Caruso performs the song "Santa Lucia"

In addition to regular engagements in New York, Caruso gave solo concerts in cities in America and Europe. He toured Europe before the outbreak of the First World War, returning to the Covent Garden stage several times as part of a British tour. In 1906, during a tour of the Metropolitan Opera artists in San Francisco, Enrique found himself in the epicenter of an earthquake. Fortunately, he and his colleagues were not injured, but the theater lost a significant part of its costumes, props and scenery.

In his mature years, the timbre of Caruso's voice became lower, and he moved from lyricism to performing heroic operatic roles. The singer toured the countries of South America - Argentina, Uruguay and Brazil, gave a concert in Mexico City, he received $ 10 thousand for his only performance in Cuba in 1920. In September 1920, Caruso completed work on a studio recording, which became the last of his life.

Personal life

In 1904, Caruso purchased a luxurious villa in Italy, near Florence. There he rested between performances. In New York, the singer lived in a suite at the Knickerbocker Hotel in Manhattan. Having overcome financial difficulties, Enrico ordered a gold medal decorated with his own profile from the famous jewelers Tiffany & Co, which he presented to his agent and friend Pasquale Simonelli.

An unpleasant incident happened to Caruso in 1906. He was charged with indecent exposure for pinching a married lady at a New York zoo. The tenor blamed it on a monkey in a cage nearby, but was still arrested and fined $10. This situation almost put an end to the singer’s career, but thanks to his extraordinary voice and talent, he managed to retain the love and devotion of the public.

Before the outbreak of World War I, Caruso had connections with the Italian opera singer Ada Ghiachetti, who was married to the manufacturer Gino Botti. During their relationship, the woman gave birth to Enrico four children, two of whom died in infancy. The diva left her husband and settled in the house of the famous tenor, but did not become his wife. 11 years after the start of the affair, the couple broke up, and Ada tried to get a significant part of Caruso’s fortune through the court.

In 1918, Enrique arranged his personal life by marrying a young socialite Dorothy Park Benjamin. A year later, the couple had a daughter, Gloria. During the tour, husband and wife exchanged romantic letters, some of which were included in the memoirs written by Dorothy after Caruso's death. The musical film “The Great Caruso,” directed by American director Richard Trope in 1951, is dedicated to their relationship. The role of the tenor was played by an actor and singer.

Death

A sedentary lifestyle and passion for smoking strong Egyptian cigars weakened Caruso's health. By 1920, his health left much to be desired. In addition, during one of the concerts, a set fell on Enrique, breaking the singer’s left kidney and injuring his back. After this incident, the tenor was diagnosed with intercostal neuralgia and acute bronchitis.

After some time, Caruso started bleeding from his throat, and the singer canceled a number of performances. In 1921, purulent pleurisy and empyema were added to the list of diseases discovered in the singer. He underwent 7 operations to pump out fluid from the chest cavity and lungs, after which temporary relief came.

In the summer of 1921, Enrique suffered from unbearable pain in his side, and after being examined by a local Neapolitan doctor, his health condition deteriorated sharply. After consultation with Roman surgeons, it was decided to remove the singer’s left kidney.

Caruso stopped at the Vesuvio Hotel in Naples on his way to a hospital in the capital in early August 1921. Suffering from insomnia, he took morphine and went to rest. The tenor did not survive the night; he was found dead on August 2, 1921. Probable cause Doctors considered death to be peritonitis, which arose against the background of a subdiaphragmatic abscess.

Farewell to the great Italian and his work took place in the Royal Basilica of the Church of San Francesco di Paola. His embalmed body was preserved in a glass sarcophagus in the Neapolitan cemetery of Del Pianto. About 15 years later, Caruso's coffin was closed and the grave was decorated with an image of a mourner.

Luciano Pavarotti performs the song “In Memory of Caruso”

Last days The song “In Memory of Caruso”, most famously performed by, is dedicated to Enrique’s life.

Repertoire

Musica proibita
La donna e moblie
O sole mio
Torna a surriento
Santa Lucia
Musica proibita
Amor ti vita
O soave fanciulla
Siciliana
A vucchella

- Not only greatest talent, but also a person with a unique character, the facets of which can be judged by interesting incidents that happened to the artist.

Joker and prank lover

An amazing voice, a legendary personality - Enrico Caruso is known to the public as an unsurpassed genius, but the singer's contemporaries also knew him as a person with an excellent sense of humor. And he sometimes showed it right on stage. They still remember the incident: one of the singers accidentally lost her lace pantaloons while performing a part. But no one noticed this, because the girl managed to kick them under the table. Nobody but Caruso. He slowly walked up to the table, picked up his trousers and, with an important air, presented them to the singer.

His disdain for politicians is also known. So, at a meeting with the Spanish king at his residence, Caruso appeared with his pasta, assuring that it was tastier than the royal one. His famous address to the American president is still quoted - “Mr. President, you are almost as famous as I am.”

Tenor disaster

Enrico Caruso witnessed and sometimes participated in disasters several times. Once in San Francisco, where Caruso was touring, there was an earthquake. The hotel where the singer lived was also damaged. But then Caruso escaped with only fear and again found a place for humor. When the tenor's friends met him in a dilapidated hotel with wet towel on his shoulder, he shrugged and said: “I told you something irreparable would happen if I hit the top note.” Several more times the singer’s life was in danger: once, right during the performance, there was an explosion in the theater, after which robbers entered Caruso’s mansion, and the singer was also blackmailed by scammers, extorting a large sum money.

Enrico Caruso. Photo: www.globallookpress.com

Election professional

Caruso was one of the first opera singers to record on gramophone records, and did so on a large scale. So, the singer recorded about 500 albums, each of which sold a huge number of copies. The best-selling ones were “Laugh, Clown!” and "Clown". It is also known that Caruso was extremely sensitive to compositions and preferred to perform all parts in the original language. He believed that no translation could convey to the audience all the composer’s ideas.

Bad actor

Despite his impeccable voice, which was admired by the whole world, Caruso was often reproached for his lack of acting skills. The press and envious people especially tried. But the phrase that I once uttered Fyodor Chaliapin silenced all the haters: “For those notes, that cantilena, that phrasing that the great singer possesses, you must forgive him everything.”

Faithful to the profession

Enrico Caruso knew not only all his parts, but also the parts of all his partners in the play: getting used to the character, he did not leave it until they died down last applause. “In the theater I’m just a singer and actor, but in order to show the public that I’m neither one nor the other, but a real character conceived by the composer, I have to think and feel exactly like the person the composer had in mind,” said Caruso.

Caruso performed his last performance, his 607th, when he was already seriously ill. He endured all the painful 5 acts of the opera, after which he finally fell ill. The audience shouted "Encore", not knowing that they had heard the famous tenor for the last time.

Enrico Caruso (1873-1921) - Italian opera singer. He was born on February 25, 1873 into a family of poor workers. Parents saw their son as an engineer, but since childhood he dreamed of becoming a musician. Only incredible hard work coupled with talent helped the boy get out of poverty and become famous throughout the world. Even now, people continue to honor his memory and recall the magnificent performance of his lyrical and dramatic works. The musician was especially good at traditional Neapolitan songs. It is noteworthy that Caruso had minimal musical education. He studied at evening school. The tenor's teacher was the pianist Schirardi and Maestro de Lutneau. The young man was also taught by the velvety baritone Missiano.

Hard childhood

Enrico was the third child in a poor family; after his birth, Marcello and Anna Maria Caruso had four more children. As you know, the mother gave birth to 18 children in her life, but only 12 of them survived. The family lived in one of the poor industrial areas of Naples. After graduation primary school the boy refused to study further, although his parents saw him as an engineer. He wanted to follow his dream, to devote his life to music, so he joined the choir of a small local church.

At the age of 15, the future singer lost his mother. After her death, he got a job in his father's auto repair shop. At the same time, Enrico began to earn extra money, performing at church holidays in San Giovanello. Caruso believed that in the church dead mother will be able to hear him sing, so he devoted all his time to this activity. Parishioners admired his tenor, sometimes even offering to sing for their lovers. For this they generously paid the talented guy.

Later he began performing on the streets. It was then that teacher Guglielmo Vergine heard Enrico. He invited the young man to audition, and he soon became a student famous conductor Vincenzo Lombardi. The teacher supported his student in everything; it was he who organized the first concerts for Caruso in local bars and restaurants. In addition, the teacher advised changing the name Errico (given at birth) to a more harmonious pseudonym.

First appearance on stage

On November 16, 1894, the performer made his debut on the stage of the Teatro Nuovo. He performed the role in Morelli's opera "Friend Francesco", the singer managed to immediately attract the attention of audiences and critics. After some time, he sang in the opera “Honor Rusticana”, then performed the title role in “Faust”. In 1895, Enrico went on tour abroad for the first time.

One of the first countries that Caruso visited was Russia. After that he performed in many populated areas, winning an army of fans around the world. In 1900, the musician first appeared on the stage of the legendary La Scala theater, which is located in Milan.

Worldwide success

After touring in Europe, the singer performed for the first time in London, this happened in 1902. A year later, he repeated his success in New York, performing the role of the Duke of Mantua on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera. The audience highly appreciated the tenor's talent, and from that time on he became the main star of the American theater. Enrico regularly sang parts from French and Italian operas. His repertoire included a huge number of works.

The singer spent his first serious fee on entertainment venues. Later, he appeared on stage drunk several times, and because of this he almost ruined his career. In addition, Enrico smoked two packs of Egyptian cigarettes every day. He risked his health and voice for the sake of an addiction, without thinking about the consequences.

It was Caruso who became the first opera performer who agreed to record his voice on gramophone records. Thanks to this, his repertoire has been preserved long years. Now there are about 500 recorded discs of the singer.

Personal life

Enrico made an incredible impression on women. When his career was just beginning, the young man intended to marry the daughter of the theater director. But in last moment he changed his mind and ran away from the ceremony with the ballerina. After some time, the musician met his colleague Ada Ghiachetti. She was ten years older than him, but the age difference didn't hurt whirlwind romance.

Soon after they met, the lovers began to live in a civil marriage. Over the course of 11 years, the wife gave birth to four sons. Of these, only Rodolfo and Enrico, named after the characters in Rigoletto, survived. The woman sacrificed her career for the sake of her family, but Caruso did not want to settle down. He flirted regularly, although he did not cheat on Ada. As a result, the wife couldn’t stand it anymore and ran away with the family’s driver.

The tenor got angry with his lover, and in revenge he started dating her younger sister. Ghiachetti filed a lawsuit demanding the return of the stolen jewelry, she was not going to put up with ex-husband. This story ended with Ada managing to get her husband to pay her a monthly allowance.

At the age of 45, Enrico met his first official wife. She became the daughter of American millionaire Dorothy Park Benjamin. She was younger than spouse for 20 years. The father refused to give his blessing to their union, he even disinherited his daughter. At this time, the musician was going crazy with jealousy. He wanted to fatten his wife to such a state that other men would not consider her attractive.

Caruso's last appearance on stage dates back to December 24, 1920. He became very ill due to the accident, so he returned to Italy. The tenor died of pleurisy on August 2, 1921, and was buried in Naples. The funeral took place in the Church of San Francesco di Paola. After her husband's death, Dorothy published two books about his life. They were written in 1928 and 1945 and consisted mainly of love letters from the singer to his beloved wife.