At the end of the two-thousandth year the journalists that are inclined to sum up, analyze and generalize, have proclaimed Enrico Caruso the best opera singer of the twentieth century. The opinion and generalizations of journalists are important for assessment of the place occupied by Caruso in the historical retrospective of vocal, but one is to acknowledge that opinions of professional singers of the level of Caruso are evidently more valuable.
The famous impresario Julio Gatti-Casazza, has invited a celebrated opera singer F. Shaliapin to perform the leading part in the opera "Mefistofele" by Arigo Boito in the theatre alla Skala in Milan. The part of Faustus was to be performed by Enrico Caruso. It was their first meeting and subsequently they became close friends. After the performance, Caruso heard from the celebrated singer one of most agreeable complements:
-"Your voice is that ideal, which I so vainly sought for".
After nearly a century since Caruso met Shaliapin for the first time, an incident occurred with an eminent tenor of our time Luciano Pavarotti that characterizes his attitude to Caruso.
A film with Pavarotti in the starring role had to be produced in the native city of Enrico Caruso, - in Naples. The picture crew headed by a producer has arrived in Naples, picked the shooting place, the vista, have designated mise en scene and then directed towards hotel, where Luciano forespoke a room, to wait for his arrival. After the picture crew has settled down in hotel, the hostess told to the producer that there was a museum of Caruso in the hotel. The producer was strongly agitated and asked her not to tell that to Pavarotti before the shootings are over.
When Pavarotti arrived at the hotel, the hostess approached him and told:
- We in hotel have a museum of Enrico Caruso. In terrible excitement the producer addressed Luciano:
- Maestro! I very much ask you to postpone visiting the museum of Caruso to the time after shootings, otherwise it will get dark, and we shall not have time to carry out the intended for shooting.
- No! - was the categorical rejoinder of Luciano Pavarotti, - when the matter concerns Caruso, all is laid aside for the future.
This episode is described in the book about Pavarotti and demonstrates his attitude to Caruso, as to an indisputable deity.
Below we give several expressions of outstanding colleagues,- the contemporaries of Caruso, made after hearing of performances with his participation.
Prior to the appearance of Caruso in the "Metropolitan Opera" the king of tenors of this theatre, Jean de Rechket, told that the Neapolitan is destined to become his successor. The celebrated bass Edward de Rechket, that was as famous as his tenor brother, declared to Caruso:
- I have never heard an ever more perfect voice. You sing as the God. You are a genuine artist Е . You made me spill many tears. I was greatly touched that happens with me on very rare occasions. You have a heart, feeling, poetry, the truth Е With these qualities you will take possession of all the world Е .
After triumphant performances of Caruso in Paris a famous French singer Koklet wrote to him:
- Your voice is the miracle that has no match in the world.
In 1901 Toscanini and Gatti-Kasazza have decided to make the comic opera "The Love Drink" by Donizetti the hit of the season. They reached a consensus that suiting for this role is a young singer Enrico Caruso.
In the day of performance they all were highly agitated. And here is how Gatti-Casazza features that:
" Toscanini Е occupies his place Е . The performance of Opera is commencedЕ . The public shows no interest and is cold-shoulderЕ The things look blackЕ The time has come for appearance of CarusoЕ He is calm and conscious that the performance is in danger, he sings the answer to the Adina aria with such an emotion and voice that baffles all description. The ice is melt, he gradually gains control over the public, conquers it, takes captive Е An explosion! A storm of approving voices, applause Е All so persistently and excitedly require to sing an encore, that contrary to his dislike of encores Toscanini had to obey Е During the interval all talks were about CarusoЕ The Romance " Una furtiva lagrima ", each phrase of which is accompanied by voices of admiration, is sang an encore by him, and the public again requires to sing an encoreЕ When recalled with the actors from behind the scenes a shining Toscanini embraced Caruso and told me: "- My God! If this Neapolitan continues to sing so well, he will make all the world to speak about himself!". The prediction of Toscanini has come true... A smashing, deafening success that fell to the lot of Caruso in the beginning of the twentieth century has coincided with the beginning of his successful performances on the opera stage and invention of sound recording. For Caruso the nineteen hundredth year was marked by the first successful performance in the alla Skala Theatre at the opera "The Love drink" by Donizetti and the first gramophone record of Cavaradossi aria from the 3-rd act of the opera "Tosca" by Puccini. Joining of a unique voice, the opera and mechanical sound recording device has created that myth about the Neapolitan tenor, which subsists even now. There followed numerous records of opera arias, Neapolitan songs, romances and serenades. Special success had the records of the aria Recitar from the opera "Pagliacci", the Romance of Nemorino from the 2-nd act of Opera "L'elsir d'amore", the aria "E lucevan le stele" from 3-rd act of "Tosca", the Romance of Radomes "Celeste Aida" from the1-st act of "Aida", the "Questa o quella" from the 1-st and "La donna e mobile" from the 4-th act in "Rigoletto" and "O Lola (Siciliana)" from the Opera " Cavaleria rusticana", which were recorded by five and more times.
In his book "Vocal parallels" Lauri-Volpi (a famous tenor, musical critic, the author of a series of invaluable books on the vocal) notes "There is no a corner on all the earth, where the arioso "Laugh, Pagliacci" performed by Caruso would not sound from the gramophone hornЕ . The voice of Caruso and the Leoncavallo music seemed to be created one for the other. And the cutter of the sound recording device has squeezed in the notches of waxen disk the voice that was suitable for this purpose more than all the others, - matt-soft, spreading, juicy and elastic".
The real glory of Enrico Caruso stemmed from the records executed during his short life. There are various lists of discographic heritage of Enrico Caruso. The version of J.Freestone and H. Drummond contains the description of each of 239 issued records of the tenor (refer to the monograph "Enrico Caruso on the Stage and in Life", ћ., 2002). Caruso all along was the singer not only for the collectors; in all times his records were in keen demand by the wide circle of the vocal-lovers. To the middle of the twentieth century the circulation of his disks was over 50 millions. Then, due to the release of long-playing records, this figure has probably doubled. At present laser and computer disks with records of Caruso singing are released after computerized restoration of sound signals from the originals by means of modern numeric methods. The latters are snapped up as quick as the usual disks of Enrico Caruso were sold before. The numbers of admirers of Caruso grows.
"His voice, as well as his style remain unique in the history of vocal. Also unique and unequalled is his baritonal timbre, inimitable is the vocal manner, both intimate and human at the same time. It seemed as if his vocal ligaments were located not in the larynx, but somewhere in the depths of the heart muscle, between the auricles and ventricles, and were actuated not by air, but by the blood beating in the rhythm of pulse. A critical mind should have refrained from judgements about what the heart may say and singЕ . The sounds of violoncello gave no rest to the imagination of CarusoЕ he began to practise the concentration of sound, the voice pressurization, trying to approach the latitude and volume of the sound that are inherent in violonciello under the bow of great musicians " Lauri-Volpi.
Georgy Galechyan
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