The Great Caruso sings Lensky's aria from Eugene Onegin. 1916. (In French)

[mombobombo]

YOU ARE THE GREATEST!!!! Thank You GOD for this singer!!!

[MrGer2295]

MOLTO BELLO!!! Thank you Sir Edmund for sharing this Wonderful and Rare Performance of Great Italian Tenor ENRICO CARUSO (1873-1921).

[EdmundStAustell]

@MrGer2295 Thank you very much.

[Jarosby]

I like Caruso, but it isn't cool.

Lemeshev and Sobinov the best in this role))

[EdmundStAustell]

@Jarosby I absolutely agree with you. I posted this for historical interest only. My vote would go to Sergei Lemeshev, who by the way, adored Sobinov, to such an extent that when Lemehev was a student at the Moscow conservatory he intentionally copied Sobinov's phrasing, prounciation, dynamics, everything. When his teacher heard him, he lowered the boom, and told him to concentrate on being Lemeshev 1 instead of Sobinov 2 !! Good advice for any singer:-)

[oniks8074]

@EdmundStAustell invite you to listen to this version)

Денис Королёв (Ария Ленского) Опера "Евгений Онегин"

[EdmundStAustell]

@oniks8074 Я посмотрел видео. Вы правы! Он отлично! Спасибо за рекомендацию!

[oniks8074]

@EdmundStAustell Thank you for Caruso)

[oniks8074]

@EdmundStAustell I still like Fritz Wunderlich, he sang a very in Russian

[paulostroff99]

Unusuall to be sure.TY Edmund for posting.

[MrGer2295]

Superbo!!! Thank you for posting.

[MrWolfring]

It's not Lensky. This man could kill Onegin anyway. )))

But Caruso's voice is perfect.

[EdmundStAustell]

@MrWolfring Good comment! I know what you mean:)

[angelartiz]

@MrWolfring :)

[ekszentrikful]

Шансон какой-то!

[EdmundStAustell]

@ekszentrikful Да, это красивая ария, на любом языке:) Спасибо за комментарий.

[RoyKa2010]

Wow! I was just thinking have heard Lenski's aria in Russian, German, Italian & Swedish. Let's see if there is French version, too. But of all the tenors I had in mind, to see a Caruso recording pop up as the first search result... well, this is quite a curiosity! I agree with meltzerboy, though, Caruso's French was quite good for an Italian.

TY

[EdmundStAustell]

@RoyKa2010 Yes, Lensky's aria is so popular, and so few people in the West can understand Russian, that it lends itself to many translations. Thanks for comment!

[LisaandFranksMom]

Thanks for posting...I have no idea where you're finding this stuff!! (Wouldn't Mr. Caruso be amazed by all this!)

[EdmundStAustell]

@LisaandFranksMom Yes, he probably would:-) I've been collecting records--including Caruso records, for over 55 years. It all starts to add up after while. Thank goodness for Youtube. It gives me something to do with them:-) Thanks for commenting.

[paulostroff99]

@EdmundStAustell -Please keep doing it.

[paulostroff99]

Superb singing! TY Edmund for posting.

[EdmundStAustell]

@paulostroff99 My pleasure. Thank you for the comment.

[FarfalloneAmoroso]

Caruso = beyond categorization. Yesterday (25th) was his birthday, his 137th!

[EdmundStAustell]

Buon compleanno, Enrico!

[meltzerboy]

My only criticism of this performance is the fast tempo. I know there is a time constraint for these old recordings, but I doubt it has to be this fast. Otherwise, Caruso's voice is rich and golden as ever and his French passable, better than that of many other Italian tenors. (Caruso, like Chaliapin, was never satisfied with his singing in French.) I do prefer the performances of Gedda and Bjorling; however, Caruso is always good to her. Thanks for posting, Edmund!

[meltzerboy]

That should be, "good to hear." A Freudian slip, if ever there was one!

[Bivolari]

Not quite the dream laden poet Lensky. Maybe he should have sung it in Italian. Vocally he is superb. Much like Mario del Monaco singing the Duke in Rigoletto. All wrong.

[Bivolari]

Addendum. Checking the Caruso discography, it seems that the next take after this was the same aria sung in Italian. It was "held" and never issued. I would have loved to hear him sing this in his native Italian.