Did Caruso really sound like this? (Donna non vidi mai)

Apparently this a recording from 1909 (didn't know it existed - or is it the 1913 version?). Caruso's voice sounds more powerful and intense than in other restored versions I've heard. E.g. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=W-dQUXaJZHM

Possibly closer to how he sounded live than the others?

BTW, I've extracted it from http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mP-AsgcYd8M with the title MANON LESCAUT - FRANCO CORELLI & ENRICO CARUSO in " DONNA NON VIDI MAI " PUCCINI. It was uploaded by magegu - http://www.youtube.com/user/magegu

Category:

Music

Tags:

• puccini
• italian
• opera
• Manon
• Lescaut
• enrico
• caruso

[Ruffiello]

What someone called "drags his notes" is actually known as portamento when moving downward, or portere la voce when moving from a lower note to a higher one. It was a fundamental part of legato singing in Italian music, not a flaw. It could be overdone, however.

[tomfroekjaer]

@Ruffiello Thanks for your well-founded clarification of "drags his notes". Makes perfect sense to me. I uploaded this, but I don't know much about singing at all. I just experience it. - And it sounds good to me. Full of emotion and life (despite it having been recorded more than a century ago).

[tomfroekjaer]

@RudySunseeker - for me too, Caruso, Gigli and Björling are the "Real Three Tenors." Just listened to Björling's 1960 recording: absolutely breathtaking!

[GravitasEntoForte]

Bravo Caruso !! This is a spectacular of an early recording !!

Thankyou for uploading =)

[MrCafiero]

Well, Rosa Ponselle said he could have passed as a dramatic baritone and no one would have known. Tom, I am not sure if you have the book by Favia-Artsay where she documented the correct speed at which all Caruso records were recorded, but if you don't you should get it. When you play them back at the right speed his voice is much heavier.

[adamsgirlfriend1]

@tomfroekjaer -- My feeling here is that, not having been around at the turn of the last century, we can't possibly know how opera was performed. Recording itself was in its infancy, so some of what you're hearing can be blamed on technical issues. And again, as I said elsewhere, it's impossible to compare Caruso and Pavarotti -- a dramatic tenor and a lyric.

[outtaker]

@Docdogs1 He was a marvel. His voice was proof, and while none ought make the boast that he was the greatest ever, none dared to say he was less than great. One cannot be subjective on the art of singing, that "each to his own"...singing is nothing less than the meeting of souls, for man, when e'er he honestly sings, is sending emotional messages...A man's personality goes into his singing. Also, the gift of voice is just that. We are given raw materials to work on. Caruso great instrument!

[retroflow44]

But Pavarotti also had the benefit of being recorded on modern equipment that Caruso did not. Caruso was dead before the actual use of electric recording in studios, let alone magnetic or digital. Electric was developed near the end of his life but not available until the latter 1920s. Meaning that any "restoration" or re-master is still going to be limited to the technology with which it was recorded and cannot really re-create what a live audience heard from Caruso.

[Docdogs1]

@outtaker I'm sure if you read ALL my comments, you would see I have said much the same.

What i was originally objecting to was just more of the 'same' - pomp tradition and ceremony on Caruso being the greatest ... as more and more of us are beginning to realize, he may have been the greatest IF one is to measure his performance from certain aspects, but if one is to measure greatness from other aspects of music and the human being as a whole, others showed their superiority :)

[Docdogs1]

@qklq42 Give it time ... and give it Place

You will discover the big wide world ;)

[outtaker]

@Docdogs1 Let the dead rest in peace.  Both worked hard. Both sang beautifully. Even though I dislike Pavarotti's voice, I know his singing spoke to others. Clearly both men were successes unparalleled. Acknowledge this and move in.

[qklq42]

@Docdogs1

Mon cher. You are infatuate to Pavarotti. It must be possible to open your ears for other singers. At least give it a try, and perhaps you can enjoy the music of thousands of other singers. It will enrich your life.

Your very best friend,

Hans NL