Enrico Caruso is an internationally renowned Italian opera singer, tenor. He was born the third child in a poor family, where six more children were raised with him. Only thanks to his talent and hard work, he was able to get out of poverty, surrounding himself and his loved ones with the luxury of a rich life.
Biography
Enrico was born in a poor industrial area of Naples on February 25, 1873 in a family of workers in a two-story house. After graduating from elementary school, the boy did not want to study further, he went to the church choir of a small local church. He liked to sing so much that he did not become an engineer, as his parents Marcello Caruso and Anne-Marie Caruso desired. Enrico wanted to study music.
When the young man was 15 years old, his mother died suddenly and the young man was forced to share financial worries about his family with his father. He got a job as a worker in a workshop where Marcello worked, but did not stop singing. Church parishioners admired his beautiful voice and sometimes asked to perform serenades for loved ones. Wealthy customers paid generously for such services.
Success spurred the young man to look for new ways to earn money and he began to perform church songs right on the street. For a long time it was a good help to a large family.
Caruso received a minimal musical education. He enrolled in evening school and began to study with the pianist Skirardi and the maestro de Lyutno. Missiano's velvet baritone also taught Enrico how to play several parts.
Way to success
Enrico Caruso’s songs were accidentally heard by vocational school teacher Guglielmo Vergine. This happened during the production of “Briganti” by Michele Fasanaro, where Caruso performed the part chosen by his teacher Bronzrtti. The opera was held in a small church theater, where the young man continued to go.
Vergine, seeing the young talent, persuaded the boy's father to give his son to the Neapolitan school of singing (it was called the Belcanto Temple, "bel canto" - "beautiful singing"). Father did so, but did not particularly hope for success. Now he did not need to feed the extra mouth, and his son joyfully began to study music science.
After some time, Vergine showed the young man the famous and influential opera tenor Masini (Masini). The singer appreciated the range and strength of young talent, but warned that a lot of work needs to be done on the natural gift. Caruso wanted fame, recognition, wealth and he worked hard and hard all his life, thanks to which he became one of the greatest tenors of his time.
The main stages of the biography
- 1894 - the first performance in the Naples Nuovo (Teatro Nuovo);
- from 1900 during the year he appeared on the stage of Milan's “La Scala” (Teatro “La Scala”);
- 1902 - debut in London, in the "Covent Garden" (Theater "Covent Garden");
- since 1903, for 17 years, he performed solo parts at the Metropolitan Opera in New York;
- since 1898 has made many tours around the world.
The best parties
The legendary tenor was easily given any part. Enrico Caruso's work reveals it both as a lyricist and as a tragedian. He was the first to play roles: Federico (Federico) in the “Arlesian” (“L'arlesiana”) Francesco Cilea (Francesco Cilea) in 1897, Lorisa (Loris) in the “Fedora” (“Fedora”) Umberto Giordano (Umberto Giordano) in 1898, Johnson (Johnson) in “Girl from the West” (La fanciulla del West) Giacomo Puccini (Giacomo Puccini); in 1910
The best parties are rightfully considered:
- The Duke of Rigoletto Giuseppe Verdi;
- Manrico (Manrico) from the "Troubadour" ("II trovatore") Verdi;
- Radames (Radames) from the "Aida" (Aida) Verdi;
- Nemorino (Nemorino) from the "Love drink" ("L'elisir d'amore") Gaetano Donizetti (GaetanoDonizetti);
- Faust from Mefistofele by Arrigo Boito;
- Canio from the Pagliacci by Ruggero Leoncavallo;
- Turiddu from Cavalleria rusticana by PietroMascagni;
- Rudolf (Rudolf) from the "Bohemia" ("La Bohème") Giacomo Puccini (GiacomoPuccini);
- Cavaradossi (Cavaradossi) from the "Tosca" ("Tosca") Puccini;
- De Grieux (desGrieux) from "Manon Lescaut" ("Manon Lescaut") Puccini;
- Jose (José) from "Carmen" ("Carmen") Georges Bizet (Georges Bizet);
- Eleazar from La Juive by Fromental Halévy.
At concerts, the Neapolitan songs sounded especially touching and gentle in his performance.
Personal life
The magic voice of a short, strong man with a chic mustache made an indelible impression on women. At the dawn of his career, Enrico nearly married the daughter of the director of the theater in which he worked. But the wedding did not take place, the groom escaped from under the crown with a ballerina of the same theater.
The first civil wife for Caruso was the opera singer Ada Giachetti, she was 10 years older than her husband. Ada gave the wife four sons, but only two survived: Rodolfo (Rodolfo) and Enrico (Enrico), they were named in honor of the main characters of the opera "Rigoletto" ("Rigoletto"). Giachetti laid her career on the altar of family happiness, but restless Enrico did not want to be an exemplary husband.
He did not make close acquaintances with other ladies, but continued to flirt right and left. After 11 years, Ada fled from her husband with the driver of their family. Enrico was terribly angry and began to meet with the younger sister of the unfaithful wife. But instead of returning, Giacetti sued Caruso, demanding the return of the "stolen" jewelry. The case ended in peace, the former spouse has committed to pay the family a good monthly allowance.
The first official price of 45-year-old Caruso was the daughter of an American millionaire 25-year-old Dorothy Park Benjamin.
The girl’s father did not recognize the son-in-law and after the wedding, deprived the daughter of an inheritance. But Enrico loved Dorothy, who soon gave birth to his daughter Gloria. According to friends of the family, Caruso quite seriously asked his wife to get fat so that not a single man would look at her again.
Death
A year later, in 1920, the happy father became very ill after the accident, he had to return to Italy. August 2, 1921 he could not resist the disease and died of pleurisy. He was buried in the church of San Francesco di Paola (San-Francesco di Paola). The doors of the church basilica were opened for the deceased by the king himself. The funeral procession of the legendary singer totaled more than 80 thousand people. The maestro was put in a crystal coffin and for 15 years, fans could see the great singer after his death. Then the body was interred. A huge candle made of wax was cast with the money of admirers of the singer’s talent, which they promised to light annually in memory of the deceased in front of the Pompeian Madonna. According to calculations, candles should be enough for 500 years.
Interesting Facts
- Enrico's parents, besides him, had 18 more children, 12 of them died in infancy.
- At birth, the mother and father gave the boy the name Errico, so it was consonant with the Neapolitan dialect. The teacher Verzhine advised the young man to rename himself to Enrico.
- After the death of her mother, Caruso sang daily in the church choir, sincerely believing that only from there would she be able to hear him.
- After the old man’s father’s part in “L'Amico Francesco” directed by Giuseppe Morelli performed by Caruso (son of the tenor who was already 60 years old), a promising young man was invited to tour Cairo. There he earned his first big money.
- Sometimes he had to sing his parts without rehearsal, he fastened a sheet of words on the back of the partner in front of him and sang.
- The first earnings were spent in an entertainment institution for girls and wine. The young rake returned to the hotel in the morning, riding a donkey, hung with mud. He fell into the Nile, it is not clear how to avoid meeting with the crocodile.
- On a tour in Sicily, Enrico appeared before the audience in a state of intoxication. He did not read the words “fate” correctly and instead sang “gulba” (they are similar to Italian), which almost crossed out his career.
- Singer Enrico Caruso smoked a lot. A pair of packs of Egyptian cigarettes per day was his norm throughout his life. The maestro was not even embarrassed that because of his addiction he risked losing his wonderful voice.
- The voice of Enrico Caruso was the first voice of the opera recorded on phonograph records. The main part of the repertoire, thanks to records on 500 discs, has survived to this day.
- Once on a tour in Buenos Aires (Buenos Aires) Caruso became the cause of the fake musicians of the orchestra. They could not hold back the tears caused by the penetrating performance of the tenor.
- The singer has 607 opera performances and more than 100 opera parts in different languages (French, Spanish, English, German).
- In addition to ear for music and voice, nature awarded Caruso the talent of the artist. His cartoons of loved ones were published in New York, in the weekly edition of Follia since 1906.
- After the death of her husband, his widow Dorothy wrote two books about the life of her talented husband. They were published in 1928 and 1945 and contained many tender letters from Caruso to his beloved wife.
