Enrico Caruso Jr. (his SON) - Che gelida manina (1938)

[ONeirda]

Hmmm, very very interesting recording - if this is really Enrico Caruso Jr. ... I would like to state my "diagnosis" that Jr. was of a baritone tessitura and not really a tenor. Many baritones (including myself) can sing tenor arias, including high C's, even without falsetto or "false mixed falsetto" (= a forced falsetto). The question is only: 1. is it healthy for the respective voice over a long time (= for all time)?, 2. do these baritones really sound like tenors? Jr. was a baritone, I say.

[kgarmaker123]

I am with those who find his raw talent extremely impressive.. I do too.. He needed a good voice teacher and a good conductor.

[Manxypop]

Quite an impressive voice , with an obvious love of the language and the music. It is nice and warm, but needs some polishing - particularly in dynamics; he is a "belter" and needed a lot more sensitivity. I like the dark colors , and suspect he had a great baritone-like strength. Wish he would spin the tone more. Better than a lot of today's singers and the voice seems robust and strong and capable of much more. I think he could have grown into something pretty great.

[schipa456]

Thats funny how people listen to this and still forget to compare to all of the entire last 10 years of any tenor singing at Aspen Music Festival and they don't, never will come near this. Duh

[Masknick]

good voice, better than the most tenor voices these days.

[SteveBell1942]

What is worth noting is that he does infact sing it in key and rise to the high C. His father never put a chest high C on record and in his recording of the aria it is transposed down so - Caruso Snr's high note is only B. He did same with 'Di quella pira'.

[klokheten]

There was never a Jussi Björling Jr. or a Beniamino Gigli Jr. but I must pay my greatest respect to Enrico Caruso Jr, his splendid voice and his respectful way of commemorating his fathers immortal legacy.

[jgraif]

he just sounds like he is yelling all of the time. sorry.

[REDWINGNUT1927]

Voice very untrained and not very good ,his father he was not.The occasional high C thrown in doesn't make a even good singer.

[operataste]

His top notes remember me the voice of Giacomo Lauri-Volpi, but the center is so similar to his father that we can think that the record was the great Caruso (the father) singing.

[operataste]

His mother, Ada, lived here in Rio de Janeiro, and was a voice teacher. It's natural to think that, since she had a son (I really didn't know that) he should had had voice lessons with his mother (listening to the records of his father, of course, like every tenor of that time).

I knew here in Rio that Caruso used to visit, furtively, his ex-wife Ada.

He used to send money every month (a pension) to Ada, according to the Dorothy's book.

By the way, my first teacher studied with Ada Giachetti.

[Michaelbos]

No bad at all. Not his father, BUT he didn't fall far from the tree. Very nice.

[petrof4056]

yes, he has something from his father but it is not a great voice although it's a rare and beautiful attestation.

thanks for posting

[65attila]

Doug

Historically interesting.

Thanks-John

[lpvcrcd]

Nice resonace and obviously the voice is well trained. I beleive he is singing in original key which can be difficult for anybody He places hs notes, especially the top ones well which shows he has rather good technique His style may not be to all people's liking but you cannot deny his similar vocal sound to an older lauri volpi -and that is saying something

[tagliavini]

This sounds like Caruso slowed down.

[tomfroekjaer]

I'm actually quite impressed with Junior's voice. Of course he cannot rival his father, but there certainly are similarities. Problem is that one immediately compares with Enrico ...

I recently corresponded with an 18 year old kid from Canada who claims to be the grand grand son of Enrico Caruso. He says that his fathers voice (and temperament) is very similar to Enrico's. No singing carrier attempted, though...

[EmilyGreene1984]

@tomfroekjaer It is very possible. Enrico Caruso had three children - his two sons, Roldolfo and Enrico Jr. as well as his daughter Gloria.

[tomfroekjaer]

@EmilyGreene1984: yes, Emily. I have no reason to doubt the Canadian kid (but then again I'm quite a gullible person anyway..). - But no idea what the relation might be....

[MUSICALLAN]

@tomfroekjaer Yes, I'm impressed too. Had no idea this guy made any reordings at all. And I don't need a DNA test to be convinced this is Caruso's son. I think some of the negative comments here are based on the fact that the recording set-up is not very flattering.

[leadoffeohippus]

Lol this basically sounds like Titta Ruffo singing boheme...

What a huge voice the older Caruso must have had. And just imagine how big Ruffo's voice was!!!

[GermanOperaSinger]

'Voce del leone' wasn't just a figure of speech. They said when Titta Ruffo opened up on the top notes he literally sounded like a lion roaring. Too bad he roared his glorious voice to pieces in a few short years. The greatest natural baritone voice of all time squandered so idiotically.

[Savoyard36]

Thank you for posting this it is very interesting to hear, I also enjoyed the bio of his father.

[Ruffiello]

Thank you for posting this! Very interesting document. Enjoyed his biography of his father very much.

[Pawelp]

I do think the timbre is quite similar and the mannerisms for sure as well. But the recording is quite awful in quality, and I think the pitches/intonations are distorted.. also the piano. Lastly, I suspect the recording method adds resemblance to Caruso (cracks etc.) which MIGHT just fool us a tiny bit regarding the resemblance.

[moorfan1]

Wow...I've heard recordings of him before, but never did I hear him have so much of his father's timbre! Bravo Enrico Jr.!

[GermanOperaSinger]

If I remember he was about 84, heart attack.

[VinylToVideo]

I had heard him before and thought he was lighter (or maybe it's just the awful laptop-like speakers on this computer I'm using and can't really tell). Not the best voice although a hell of a lot better than I could ever expect from myself. Quite interesting; thanks.

[macciboma]

Il buon sangue non mente grazie per questa rarità

del figlio del grande Caruso. Walter.

[ShawDAMAN]

Thanks for posting, I had heard him once or twice before and thought the same thing- fine tenor. I imagine recordings of him are pretty rare though....?

My memory tells me he didn't pursue much of a career?

[GermanOperaSinger]

Recordings of him are not common. I wouldn't say rare but I don't think they print his records anymore. I think he was a professional singer actually, at least for a period of time. Needless to say he did not achieve the fame of his father.

[ConnonTenor]

I remember hearing of a baritone son rather than a tenor. Maybe he just had two sons but I could swear that the baritone was called Enrico Caruso Jr. which would mean that there was three Enrico Caruso's in the same household and I know that can't be right.

[GermanOperaSinger]

He had 2 surviving sons, Enrico and his older brother Rodolfo.

[sospello]

Right. As you mentioned Jr. was born 1904 and Rodolfo was about 6 years older. Two others, I think, died in infancy.

[phantom4087]

This is wonderful, though his father seemed to produce his tone more easily.

[sospello]

A very interesting commentary on the son's vocal production--how old was he at the time this was recorded?

[GermanOperaSinger]

He was born in 1904 so that would make him 34 or 33 in 1938.

[alber6161]

@GermanOperaSinger Who is taken in this picture? I guess Enrico Sr. or not?

[GermanOperaSinger]

@alber6161 Enrico Sr. Read the description in the info box.