Enrico Caruso - Tosca Recondita armonia 1904

[patriotted001]

Please, there is only one Great One, and this is him.

[MrArcaniel]

bosko

[31operafan]

I love the early Caruso recordings, because his voice sounded so youthful and nearly Gigli-like. (Once again, I know it should be the other way around.) Sometimes it's hard to tell the two voices apart!

[MrGer2295]

wow! Very Good performance!!!

[tamaz1955]

Bravo!

[wiseroldfart]

People are questioning whether or not this is Caruso's voice? Who else can display such vocal and emotional complexity and finish an aria with such an amazing resonance?

Elvis is still being imitated by many. Some are spot on. It will probably be forever impossible for an accomplished tenor to imitate Caruso. The best we can hope for is a computer program capable of restoring most of what was lost in his recordings.

[tomfroekjaer]

@wiseroldfart: hear, hear ! But then of course I'm the Caruso fan who uploaded this aria....

For me the only other great tenor of the past century comparable in voice and empathy is Jussi Björling.

Actually there is another one, but he was a "Heldentenor" - Lauritz Melchior (Danish as myself). But I never like Wagner ....

[wiseroldfart]

@tomfroekjaer: I heard about Melchior before and listened to a couple of his performances. Nice rich voice.

It's funny, but I was watching a few Roger Whitaker videos last night. I always liked his deep voice. He's entertaining on stage and can also whistle with the best of them. Quite a departure from opera, of course. And then there's Sissel on the female side of the coin. Her 'O Mio Babbino Caro' and 'Shenandoah' are among my favorite videos. Beautiful to watch and hear...

[alber6161]

Imo this version is better than the latter one of 1906. thanks for posting!

[tomfroekjaer]

@alber6161; most welcome, Al. The 1904 version is more lyrical than the 1906 version and yes, of course Recondita armonia is best sung by a lyrical tenor. Caruso's voice changed gradually to spinto/dramatic. Thanks for your observation/comment.

Tom

[wiseroldfart]

@alber6161: This recording sends chills up my spine. This is Caruso at his best. Bjorling's version equally amazes me. They're like bookends to me. I prefer them to the other great tenors, but also enjoy listening to a few others because they all have unique qualities.

[alber6161]

@wiseroldfart I agree, but this Caruso's recording sounds coming from Haven and i can't stop listening.

B/ regards

[wiseroldfart]

@alber6161: I can't choose between Caruso and Bjorling because they equally impress me for different reasons. For example, I think Bjorling's recording of 'O Holy Night' in German will remain unmatched for many centuries. When Bjorling died, the era of the Supertenors ended.

I don't see another Caruso or Bjorling on the horizon. I'd settle for an emerging Corelli, Gigli, or Pavarotti. No, Bocelli and Potts ain't it.

[alber6161]

@wiseroldfart I again agree with you: Bjorling remains one of my favourite tenors, although some commenters wrote that his voice ''wasn't so huge''. True or not ? I don't know. What is strange is that most part of immortal ''monsters'', tenors, baritones and bassess including also the female singers, were concentrated in a period of time rather reduced, starting from the end of 1800 up to early 1900. After that very very few...

[wiseroldfart]

@alber6161: It doesn't matter to me whether or not Bjorling had a huge voice. Some say it was big enough. Like Caruso, he had a few benchmark recordings. If not huge, Bjorling had an amazingly resilient voice that seemed to easily handle demanding notes over a span of 30 years despite his battle with the bottle and heart disease. I get the impression that Caruso had a huge voice when he opened up.

[rpilkin]

If it is he, it is certainly a different recording than that posted by twilightzonewar. It might have been an earlier recording.

[osdelced]

It's Caruso's voice. I have the original victrola record (one-side recording), and this vocals are exactly the same, but on the original recording the accompaniment are only with a sad piano. This new combination (antique mono acoustic vocals, new Hi-Fi stereo digital orchestra) sounds strange, but optionally i'ts so good idea for Caruso's remasterization. Thanks and regards!. :)

[normannielsen]

@osdelced: I fully agree. Couldn't be anyone else! The voice is unmistakable.

[HadrienB]

Wow! Nice work!!!

[jnuci]

i have an original 78 hard thick vinyl recording of this song. It has a lovely nymph on a large seashell on the label and i right now cant recall the record company. I remember it has one very very large groove in the beginning that carried the needle across the record until the end. My grandfather taught me the beauty of opera when i was small and left me all these wonderful recordings. What memories, a voice like that, a man touched by God. Thank you !

[tomfroekjaer]

@jnuci: Sorry for not replying already 3 months ago... I get quite a lot of mails from YouTube and sometimes I just forget to respond.

I really like these personal stories/recollections like yours! Makes it all so much worthwhile for me to continue to upload the Caruso arias and songs.

Thank you, Tom.

[BuckieBear]

Thanks for posting this. It's interesting and nicely redone (scratches taken out, orchestra rerecorded). Nice to be able to hear what Caruso probably sounded like - I think that Pavorotti had a certain similarity in tone.

[tomfroekjaer]

@BuckieBear: thanks for listening, Sherrie. Maybe this was indeed how Caruso sounded. His son (deceased by now) said that the old 78's were how his papa sounded. - But I don't have any of those ....

[athos1669]

the twilightzonewar is a difrent version. Go to Victrrolaman for this original record. By the way, thank you both for posting it.

[mondoconvenienzapaol]

ASINI!! QUESTE E' CARUSOOOO !

[Socratc]

Ma Caruso aveva l'erre moscia?????

[sesamo54]

QUESTO NON E' CARUSO!

[creedgodwithus]

twilightzonewar - CARUSO!!Voice not the same!!! I`m an expert in this sphere!

[tomfroekjaer]

Well, in that case you should sue the Austrian Broadcasting Corporation in Vienna for fraud.

They have produced it with the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra directed by Gottfried Rabl between 1999 and 2001. The set of 3 cd's is called Enrico Caruso The Digital Comeback.

[Aetion]

Who is then this if not Caruso? I think the voice is unmistakable.

[creedgodwithus]

THIS IS NOT CARUSO!!! IT NOT TRUE!!

[tomfroekjaer]

The orchestra was redone and Caruso's voice digitally extracted and put in. And this IS the voice of Neapolitan legend Enrico Caruso in a recording from 1. February 1904. See More info.

[tomfroekjaer]

Please compare this to the version uploaded by twilightzonewar. Same voice. Here the scratchings were removed and a new ochestra, but the voice if the same.

[tenorenchanted]

OMG! makes me wanna Hug my computer when I hear this caruso version...Brought chills down my spine. So rich and so beautifully done! Thank you for posting this!

[Danman917]

To think English speakers had to go hundreds of years not understanding these opera and it wasn't until the 20th century subtitles happened

[tomviolenceisadream]

i preffer the recondita by  gigli

[tomfroekjaer]

The Gigli 1938 version is really spectacular!

I find it difficult to compare the two versions as the recording techniques in 1904 were a world apart from those of 1938.

Caruso had no microphone, but had to sing into a funnel. Also there was no way of editing it afterwards.

People who heard Caruso live said that half of the nuances were lost in the recordings.

Best to you,

Tom

[alber6161]

REMEMBER: recorded on 1904!!!! Stunning!!

[ytertyu]

yeah , when your great -grandfather was a kid or not even born yet . how cool is this

[LordMgls]

Very good.

Digitally remastered versions :-(

[gianninoviola]

Grande Caruso, ma la bellezza della voce di Gigli, fa che tutte le altre interpretazioni appaiano un tantino inferiori. Ma a questi livelli non si può affermare che uno sia migliore dell'altro (infatti non sono bravi, semplicemente sono artisti e quindi non sono classificabili secondo normali categorie), quindi la preferenza, in questo caso, e per me, è dovuta alla voce, che ritengo la più bella in assoluto e al condividerne la scelta interpetativa del tenore.

[alber6161]

The translation is perfect!! Tks for posting this recording i never heard before

[tomfroekjaer]

Thanks for checking the translation ! - Sorry, I overlooked your response for so long...

[wowyourgaiy]

What a delight this is. Such a simple voice... funny that the simplicity of it makes it perfect.

[tomfroekjaer]

All great performances or truths are always simple. - Take Mozart ...

[EmilyGreene1984]

Well Mozart wasn't so "simple" as Enrico Caruso. At least, judging by what operas he created. But I agree, Enrico Caruso's beauty and genius comes from the fact that he sang both healthily and he always brought his heart to the pieces that he would sing and roles he'd play. :)

[tomfroekjaer]

Of course Mozarts operas are very elaborate, but I think "his greatest" hits are almost always simple, but ingenius tunes - take La ci darem la mano.

[OettingerCroat]

awesome! i love caruso!

[sebreathnach]

De er deiligt Tomfroekjaer... tak for Recondita!

[tomfroekjaer]

You are welcome !

[tomfroekjaer]

I don't speak Italian, so maybe the timing or even the English translation is faulty. If you find errors, please let me know !