Enrico Caruso - Donizetti: Deserto in terra (1908)

[Masknick]

Great recording, thanks for the upload ;)

[Matt75003]

I have just spent half an hour listening to all the recordings of this beautiful aria currently available on YouTube. Some tenors bleat, others bray, yet others scoop and/or turn the words to mush. Caruso alone is worthy of Donizetti's genius.

[tsmlink]

How is it that a man, over a century ago, bearing his soul into a little cone, with limited accompaniment, and with technology that was primitive by our standards, could give us today such paralleled enjoyment? The more I listen to this great Maestro, the more amazed I am at his incredible talent. What would it be like to have actually heard the fullness of his great voice? I can't even imagine.

[Aetion]

Dear Tom, you channels, here and the other one, are wonderful, there is no need to tell it. But they have a serious disadvantage. Once I am in, I cannot find the way out! :-)

Caruso’s voice is really mesmerizing.

Thanks for your uploading.

[tomfroekjaer]

@Aetion: I am so glad to be able to share the "wonder" of Enrico Caruso with kindred spirits like yourself. That's why I keep uploading !

[Aetion]

@tomfroekjaer Do keep uploading. Caruso's spirto gentil certainly is thankful to you, as are we who love him.

[minnie888444]

Wonderful, thanks for posting. A great way for me to get introduced to this aria/opera, which I didn't know. Don't worry about the old recording technology, perhaps you will not believe this, but sometimes I prefer these old records, because today's technology distorts or CAN distort too much.

[tomfroekjaer]

@minnie888444: yes, Monica, these old recordings are genuine or "true" - no technical manipulation and mostly recorded in "one take."

[LordMgls]

Today, we've heard at S. Carlos Theater (Lisbon Opera House) an opera by Alfredo Keil, celebrating the centenary of Portuguese Republic. I was answering to the comments to my blog's review on the show, and I suddenly remembered this beautiful aria and rendition. Dona Branca is an opera that recalls as well to this sort of theme.

[saltburner2]

Your version plays for 4'25 and the Marston transfer to which you refer us plays for 3.25! Yet they both seem to be properly pitched, so I'm wondering if they are different takes. Can anyone help?

[racheleleeba]

Thank you so much for this, Tom. Hadn't heard it in a long time, and it's like hearing it for the first time.

[tklogan11809]

I know Caruso's supposed to be a God (and he is) but no one can touch Pavarotti in Deserto in terra. The Ds are ringing and gorgeous. Kraus, too, made an excellent recording of it.

[tomfroekjaer]

The young Pavarotti's version of this (1968) is fantastic. One can, of course, compare it with Caruso's version, if one likes, but they are 60 years apart - and 60 years of technical improvements apart.

According to people who both heard Caruso sing live at the opera and on recordings about half of the quality/overtones of his voice were lost in the recordings.

[Lovelytenor1]

You only have to hear Pavrotti's own comments on such a subject....or ask any other tenor. Believe me, I am a fan of Kraus & LP but no one has ever come close to Enrico Caruso. Perhaps in another 200 years....

[hiyadroogs]

@tklogan11809 If you prefer Pavarotti's version, it's all personal taste after all. But there is one difference; When Caruso & his contemporaries recorded into the tin horn, the aria had to be sung in one take every single time. If the singer or orchestra made a mistake, the entire aria had to be sung again. Caruso therefore may have had to sing an aria many many times before all were satisfied. It was not spliced together from many takes like modern recordings, including Pavarotti's.

[XemoeX]

This is absolutely wonderful!

Thank you again Tom! Caruso's beautiful voice really makes every day worth living. :-)

With kind regards,

emoe

[tomfroekjaer]

You are very welcome Emoe !

BTW, I tried to post our "mystery music" from the 1990 World Championships to YT asking others to identify it. But YT cut out the music because of some copyright issue - don't understand how this happens, but they did it .... No sound !

[XemoeX]

I know Tom, I had the same problem as I tried to upload the music theme in a video here on YT.

It has been cut out due to copyright issues. *shrug*

As I told you some days ago, I am also not able to open a bunch of your uploaded videos because of :

"This video is not available in your country due to copyright restrictions"

So long!

Emoe

[ShawDAMAN]

This aria is actually a favorite of mine! I hadn't heard Caruso's rendition of it though. Brilliant..

[ginodelia]

GOD BLESS THE WORLDS.

[andyrawn]

TOM ~

May it never end: the astonishment we share in hearing Enrico's voice again, and always again when he spins his golden sound into our music rooms!

A wonderful choice of an aria as well as the choice of a relatively early year from his recording career ~ Bravo!

~ ANDY

[tomfroekjaer]

Thanks, Andy. I don't know much about singing or opera for that matter, but this "simple", uneducated Neapolitan just keeps knocking me out emotionally ... a hundred years later and with miserable recording technique. Stunning !

Tom

[andyrawn]

TOM ~

Yes, absolutely, the textural warmth of Caruso's voice was and is so great, so unusually handsome and the emotion in his delivery so obvious, It does matter if we know the translation of his song or aria.

As you noted, his voice "penetrated" the old-time recording equipment and stings us with its beauty, in this case 101 years later!

~ ANDY

[tomfroekjaer]

Andy, you wrote: "It does matter if we know the translation of his song or aria." This might indeed one of Caruso's "secrets". I think he had the ability to communicate the very essence of a song/aria in his singing.

"He sang the words for themselves for their significance feeling and meaning them. Hence the pathos of his voice, and his superb enunciation, which made the audience understand and feel every word he was singing." ("Caruso's Method of Voice Production" by Dr. P. Mario Marafioti).

[meltzerboy]

One doesn't hear this aria or this opera every day (at least, I don't). And one certainly doesn't hear a performance like Caruso's every day. The melting tone, brilliant technique, and sensitive expression are all heart-warming. Thank you for posting!

[AulicExclusiva]

Gives the word legato a whole new meaning.

Pavarotti and Vargas made excellent versions of this in their youth, but neither had the velvety depth of King Enrico.

[CurzonRoad]

Listening to Caruso really can inspire wonder and awe... as it has here. Thanks to Tom for posting, and to Nate for sharing!

Doug --

[LordMgls]

Of course such a beautiful aria could only be sung by the "Portuguese king". :-P

The tone that Caruso used in this recording - which slighty remembers his 1905's recordings - is kind of ingenuous, or something alike. It is perfectly suited to D. Sebastião. He was young (remember Caruso's youth in his recording debut) and foolish. Of course he died.

LOL, we still have a legend that says he will return in his horse's back in a foggy morning.

[jfs78]

I always loved this recording. I first heard it in 1972 when i was in school. (back in the days when they had records in schools) I listened to that recording a lot and marveled at his technique. I also enjoyed the other more fancy take of this same aria recorded the same day if I recall correctly.. But as always thank you for posting, This recording has brought back memories.

[tomfroekjaer]

Yes, you are right about there being two recordings of this on the same day. The second one was not published until 1948.