Enrico Caruso & Geraldine Farrar - O Soave Fanciulla (1912)

[madisonelectronic]

Farrar fara.

[madisonelectronic]

Farrar makes me horny.

[JackRance1910]

Toscanini = vainglorious metronome

[schlusnus]

A 1912 recording...can you believe it...better than todays..or is it the singers !!

They deserve all the praise...just so good.

[paulostroff99]

Lovely singing.TY t f a for posting.

[fcorelliano]

Caruso did not have a High C, so Toscanini's conducting was a good excuse to avoid it

[UncleNathan]

@fcorelliano: I beg to differ! Caruso DID have a high C and made records from Faust, La Favorita, and Madama Butterfly (duet) in which it is very much in evidence!

[hobo1975]

@fcorelliano so what?

[wispera]

@fcorelliano To be more accurate, Puccini did not write the C for the Tenor. This isnt the moment to show off - Caruso knew this and sang it as it is meant to be sung.

[richardpetty1000]

just beautiful I have to many tears in my eyes to wright any more

[grossoerectus]

el gran maestro puccini, como amo sus obras que lastima que se fue tan pronto al menos ha dejado en la tierra bellas marcas como la que aqui ejecuta esta ya leyenda

[tomfroekjaer]

Unsurpassed. Nothing to add.

[kidd32888]

I like this version the most. Caruso expressed the lyrical aspect of this duet better the others but it is like pick bone from an egg.

[blueMmb1]

wrongly pitched recording

[goodboybuddy1]

This is so amazing! Their vibratti coincide almost perfectly. He is amazing, as always, and Farrar is just so beautiful. Thank you for posting this lovely duet.

[VivaRenata]

I am of the opinion that Caruso's recordings are so dated that they will give his admirers an approximation of his voice, but never serve to establish the reputation he has earned. As for Farrar, I am mainly curious since she was the commentator for the Feb. 2, 1935 broadcast from the Met where Flagstad made her debut. Wish I could hear that recording, where she dropped her manuscript and told all who listened what was happening. Good for her!

[katieboyd1]

god she looks beautiful on that photo! absolutely perfect

[jmccracken1963]

I don't know whether the problem is in the speed of your turntable or in the speed of your "source material," but this duet is a half-step SHARP on this posting. Caruso and Farrar certainly did NOT record this in the key of Bb, but in A, as Puccini wrote it - please check and make the correction!

[ipmoic]

Farrar was 30 here. Clearly a bit young to match Caruso's richness.

Still, so good to hear this, regardless of the reason it was not released.

[Cantormatis]

Farrar was one ravishingly! beautiful lady!

[katieboyd1]

@Cantormatis

it's a wonder she even needed to sing. surely she could just sit there and people would be entertained!

[bramoditrionfar]

is that really Caruso? perhaps the speed is wrong...

[dodacon]

Perhaps this wasn't the best few minutes in either career, and that's why it didn't appear in the catalog... singers had kill rights... I recommend Farrar's duets with Edmond Clement, if you like Farrar...

[Isidore98]

Farra may have been great too look at but she is one of those "American Idols" whose actual singing qualities do not bear great scrutiny. To be fair the Victor recording system did no favours for her type of voice or sopranos in general. As for Caruso for once he seems surprisingly crude at times in the opening passage - not like him: perhaps that's why he didn't like the recording. Of course he gets back into his glorious best but the opening seems odd.

[ILuvEdwardCullen1724]

You'll note that his voice has a lot of similarities to Bjoerling. The clarity of their voices really set them apart.

[tomfroekjaer]

@ILuvEdwardCullen1724: don't quite understand the point you want to make? I don't think Björling's voice is similar to Caruso's. If one want's to compare these two great tenors, Björling would be lyrical and Caruso spinto. And if anyone of them attempted to copy the singing of the other, it could only be Björling copying Caruso since Caruso had died several years before Björling started his singing career.....

[paulostroff99]

Astounding singing! A joy to behold.

[vstasov]

Just beautiful. Thank you.

[Kievest]

Caruso and Ferrar are pure rapture together!! They are the incarnation of

truth, beauty and love. Thank you for

posting such a treasure!

[CurzonRoad]

And to think wasn't published until decades later. Thank you, Kievest, for sending my way. Cheers, etc. Doug --

[svjatazarov]

шикарно!

[CanadaPisces]

Yes, Paul, this is a lovely performance!

[paulostroff99]

A very lovely performance! Bravo! Brava!

[rococallas]

Lo admirable de estas voces es que este dueto lo hacían en una tonalidad más alta que lo acostumbrado hoy en día.

[jucameron]

dinkipooxa, I think you ARE mistaken. The pitch and pace are perfect. I cannot understand why this was not released. It is far and away the best version I have ever heard. I absolutely agree with wop999. It is a fabulous climax with Farrar at the exciting top of her range.

[crooner62]

Gorgeous voices!

And yet the recording technology was primitive. It makes me wonder what they'd have sounded like with electronic recording equipment... Any thoughts on this? Is the voice more purely captured or diminished by the limitations of the technology?

[rezila]

only in his early years. but if you able to sing like him, that´s absolutly no problem!

[rezila]

he didn´t have the high C.

[tomfroekjaer]

Yes, he did (e.g. celestre aida and others). But it wasn't his cup of tea and often it was transposed.

But so what? Singing is not about registers, but emotional expression.

[adriano104]

Sorry, there is no high C in Celeste Aïda. The final note is only a Bflat, but I agree that reaching a high C is not the most important thing for a singer. Some voices have that quality, others have other qualities.. and yes, the important thing is to sing well, musically and with expression. But of course, having a broad range is one good quality among others. Each singer has a sum of qualities, and is better is some aspects, less in others...

[tomfroekjaer]

No, you're right - no high C in Celestre Aida; I think I meant La donna è mobile - isn't there one there?

I'm actually not able to recognize it :-)

But I know he on occasion did perform it.

[uws524]

La donna è mobile has a high B

[tomfroekjaer]

Well, then maybe Faust Salut! Demeure chaste et pure ? :-)

That's a high C, isn't it?

[smemr]

Indeed it was one of only two High C's I have found by Caruso, both recorded at the Feb 1906 session (the other was Spirto gentil). He recorded a couple of C's that were more or less in falsetto but these were not. With or without he ranks among the greatest. Ciao.

[tomfroekjaer]

Thanks, smemr ! I'm really not an expert on registers and singing techniques ...

But who cares ? Singing is not really about the alphabet, but about moving the soul :-)

[billyguns2]

Is this recording playing at the correct speed? I've never heard Caruso sound as light and lyric.

[disgrl4]

Geraldine Farrar was beautiful then...she looks like she could also play "Christine" in "The Phantom of the Opera".

[johnclones]

her daughter played in the 1943 version of Fantom of the Opera with Nelson Eddy and Claude rains.

[RosaB61]

love it!

[libetta]

didn't he have the high c back then?

[UncleNathan]

A unisono "c" at the end of the duet is not what is written (the tenor sings the "g" beneath it); sadly, the piece is usually spoiled by whichever tenor insists on joining the soprano on the final note.

[wop9999]

Puccini wrote an E not a high C and Caruso did not sing the high C because Toscanini conducted this performance, and as he conducted the premiere in 1896, he knew the music did not contain that blasted high C (He also knew Puccini). This is a tender moment in the opera, which should not be spoiled by a screaming tenor.

Momma Mia

[121omePiet]

i totaly agree

[tklogan11809]

@wop9999 please, the tenor "screams" for the entire opera, why not here? and if it's supposed to be tender why is there a C for the soprano? Truth is, Puccini wrote an E instead of a C because Caruso was the first Rodolfo and he had trouble with the note. He almost cut the C from Che gelida manina too. Until Caruso mastered it in that particular aria.

[jhb134]

@tklogan11809 - (screams) - Good points! ... and at THAT time, Caruso and others were singing-into the old, purely-acoustic recording horns of their days ... before even the electric-type recordings of afterwards. ... Occasionally, esp. at the end, he and Farrar seem to be overtaxed and almost-resort to screaming ... but there's enough "meat on the bones" of the aria, to recommend it to anyone who would want to KNOW what the great past of singing could have.

[VocalMechanics]

@wop9999 I can't agree more. Thanks for speaking and posting.

[guyfawkesistaken]

@wop9999 Haha, I love your Youtube screen name. I think Dago sounds better though.

[mishabjelic]

Because the piano overshadows the singing.

[petrof4056]

yes hobo197 but It's difficult to compare. Perhaps this recorded but caruso was younger than this recorded.

[hobo197]

i prefer this recording to the one with melba

thanks so much!!

[ih8spam07]

This recording was likely not released because of the "breakup" which occurs when Farrar first comes in (about 0:35 from start of record);

also this sounds a little "sharp" as if whoever reissued it played it at 78 rpm figuring HMV corrected the speed when they released it.

[8Micky4]

R u sure she's Farrar?

[CurzonRoad]

Yes, there is full, well known documentation of this session. It is indeed Farrar.

[8Micky4]

She's wonderful, you're right. I've just bought La Bohème with Gigli and Licia Albanese. It's special!