Enrico Caruso: biography, interesting facts, photo

Enrico Caruso, whose biography excites the minds of many generations, is a great Italian singer, whose name is known all over the world.

Born and raised in Naples, surrounded by scorching sun, the blue sky and wondrous nature, the opera singer fascinated the whole world with his hot, passionate vocals - a model of ideal musical art that can not be confused with anyone else. Impressive, impulsive and quick-tempered Enrico Caruso, a biography whose photo arouses genuine interest of admirers of his work, expressed all his feelings and emotions with a timbre, the charm of which consisted in the variety and richness of colors. It is for this reason that his compositions have easily crossed the borders of continents and countries, glorifying the name of the Italian tenor for many decades.

Enrico Caruso: a short biography

Born Enrico on February 25, 1873 in the area of San Giovannello on the outskirts of Naples. His parents Marcello and Anna Maria Caruso were generous and open-minded people, although poor enough. The boy grew up in an industrial district, lived in a two-story house and from the very childhood he sang in a local church choir. His education was limited only to the primary school. Later, after the sudden death of his mother, the singing talent had to be used for the purpose of earning: with his compositions, Enrico performed for quite a long time in the streets of Naples. One of these concerts became fatal: a talented young man was noticed and invited to audition by the teacher of the vocal school Guglielmo Vergine. Soon Enrico began to seriously engage in music with the famous teacher and conductor Vincenzo Lombardi, who later organized the debut concerts of the young performer in restaurants and bars in the resort towns of Naples. Gradually, Enrico came to popularity. His concerts were always attended by a large number of people, and after the speeches approached well-known representatives of Italian culture and offered the singer cooperation.

Incredible takeoff

About Enrico Caruso, whose biography is similar to an incredible rise, as a star of the Italian scene was held, when he, 24-year-old talent, performed O sole Mio - the part of Enzo from the opera of Gioconda. Such a triumphant success served as the beginning of the first ever foreign tour, and it took place in far-away Russia. Next came performances in other cities and countries. In 1900, Caruso, being already very famous, first performed in Milan, on the stage of La Scala - the legendary theater.

Leading soloist Metropolitan Opera

Speeches with his participation took place with incredible success, but the truly inimitable and magical concerts of Enrico Caruso, whose biography is presented in the article, became the Metropolitan Opera (the city of New York). Speaking here for the first time in 1903, an Italian tenor for almost two decades became the leading soloist of the famous New York theater. The artist's fee from the initial 15 lira rose to $ 2500 per performance. The appearance on the posters of the name of Enrico Caruso each time became a grandiose event in the city. The big hall of the theater could not accommodate a huge number of people. It had to be opened 3-4 hours before the performance, so that the temperamental audience could calmly take their places. When Caruso spoke, the theater management increased the prices for tickets considerably, and the bargains who bought them at any price, then resold several times more expensive.

The demand for Caruso

Enrico Caruso, whose biography is studied with interest by the modern generation, preferred to perform operatic works only in the original language, because he believed that no translation could convey to the viewer all the ideas of the composer. Very fond of the operas of French authors.

Any operatic works, mostly dramatic and lyrical characters, were given to Enrico easily, and throughout his life in his repertoire sounded traditional Neapolitan songs. For the right to work with the singer fought many composers, and Giacomo Puccini, hearing the voice of Caruso, considered him the messenger of God. Partners, who happened to perform on the stage with an Italian tenor, remained absolutely delighted with him. Curiosity is caused by the fact that Enrico did not have any acting abilities, which was repeatedly reproached by envious persons and pedants. But the singer was engaged in writing his own works: "Sweet flour", "Old Times", "Serenade".

The first gramophone records with the voice of Caruso

What is the reason for the worldwide popularity of Enrico Caruso? Biography, interesting facts confirm that the Italian one of the first performers of the world stage decided to record his performances on gramophone records: about 500 discs with more than 200 original works saw the light. Records with the operas "Pagliacci" and "Laugh, Clown!" Were sold in millions of copies. Perhaps it is this circumstance that brought Caruso world fame and made his original creativity accessible to the masses.

The Legend of Life

Already during his lifetime Caruso, who possessed the gift of a cartoonist and who knew how to play many musical instruments, became a legend of vocal art and to this day remains an imitation model for many contemporary performers. He regularly worked on the absolute possession of the vocal apparatus and the expansion of the possibilities of controlling breathing, could beautifully take a high note and hold it for a long time, which was not possible in young years.

The success of Caruso was not only in his magical voice. He perfectly knew the parties of his stage partners, which enabled the tenor to better understand the composer's work and design and organically feel on the stage.

Enrico Caruso: biography, interesting facts from life

Caruso had a subtle sense of humor. There was such a case: one of the actresses lost her lace pants during the performance and silently managed to shove them under the bed. Enrico, who saw her trick, raised his panties, then neatly straightened them and handed them with a ceremonious bow to the lady, which caused an uncontrollable attack of laughter in the auditorium. Invited to the Spanish king for dinner, the opera singer came with his pasta, believing that they are much tastier, and offered a treat to guests.

In English, Caruso knew only a few words, but it did not bother him at all. Thanks to good pronunciation and artistry, he always easily came out of a difficult situation. Only once bad knowledge of the language led to a curious case: Caruso reported the sudden death of one of his acquaintances, to which the singer joyfully exclaimed: "Fine! Say hello from me when you meet him! "

Life Caruso was not cloudless, as it seemed at first glance. During one of the performances there was an explosion in the theater, there was an attempt to rob his mansion, extortion of 50,000 dollars. On the part of the press there were constant attacks in the form of devastating articles.

The personal life of an opera artist

In his youth, Enrico for a long time was in love with the singer Adu Jacketti, with whom he was in a civil marriage. Despite such an ardent romance, the girl once exchanged Caruso for a young chauffeur, with whom she escaped. A constant companion of Caruso was a devoted Dorothy, who till the end of his days bore his name and always remained near his beloved.

The last batch of Caruso

His last batch in the Underground Caruso Enrico, whose biography was coming to an end, sang on December 24, 1920. During the speech, he felt very badly, he was feverish, in his side it was unbearably painful. The singer bravely executed his parties, holding on to the stage confidently and firmly. The audience shouted: "Bis", applauded passionately, not realizing that they were listening to the last performance of the great Italian tenor.

Enrico Caruso did not become August 2, 1921; The cause of death was purulent pleurisy. He was buried by a famous opera singer in Naples, and in memory of him, a special candle of impressive size was made to commemorate the souls ordered by American hospitals, orphanages and boarding schools, to which the singer repeatedly helped. Each year, it lights up before the face of St. Madonna, and only 500 years later (according to estimates), this wax giant will burn to its end.

Caruso left about seven million (mad at that time money), estates in America and Italy, several houses in Europe and the United States, a collection of antiques and rare coins, a large number of expensive suits, each of which was attached a pair of patent leather shoes. But the most precious thing left after the departure of the world-famous singer is a creative heritage that has become a standard for many generations. One of the modern performers - tenor Nicola Martinucci - said that after listening to Caruso's speech, you want to head against the wall: "How can you sing after it?"