Italy
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Errico 'Enrico' Caruso
Naples (Campania), Italy
Archival Overview
Legendary Italian operatic tenor whose baritonal warmth, thrilling high notes, and passionate Italian delivery in Pagliacci (Vesti la giubba) made him the world's first global gramophone recording superstar.
Biographical Record
Enrico Caruso (1873–1921) was born the eighteenth of twenty children in a working-class quarter of Naples. Possessing a tenor voice of unprecedented baritonal richness, effortless ringing acoustic power, and crying sobbing passion (*singhiozzo*), Caruso rose to become the most celebrated singer in human history.
Caruso changed the trajectory of the modern entertainment industry in 1902 when he recorded ten operatic arias in a Milan hotel room for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company. His 1904 recording of Canio's sobbing aria 'Vesti la giubba' from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci became the world's first phonograph record to sell over one million copies. For eighteen consecutive seasons, Caruso was the supreme leading man at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, singing 863 performances.
Key Life Milestones
Historic Gramophone Recording Session in Milan
Recorded ten acoustic wax discs in Milan, proving that the phonograph was a serious medium for fine art.
Recording of 'Vesti la giubba' (First Million-Selling Record)
Recorded his heartbreaking rendition of Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci, the first million-selling record in history.
Memorial Guestbook & Tributes
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Final Resting Place
Perpetual MemorialNaples, Italy