Celebrating the Legendary Caruso
On August 2, 1921, the greatest operatic tenor Enrico Caruso died in Naples, at Hotel Vesuvio, when he was on the way to Rome after a vacation at Hotel Vittoria in Sorrento, with his american wife Dorothy and the daughter Gloria. The cause of the death was attributed to peritonitis as a consequence of a subphrenic abscess. Caruso’s funeral, attended by thousands of people, was celebrated in Naples at the Church of San Francesco di Paola.
Today, the tenor has been remembered in Naples by ‘Associazione Terra’ at Cemetery del Pianto, with a Mass at the Sepulchral chapel of Enrico Caruso. The rite was celebrated by Don Ciro, priest of the Church of Saints John and Paul where the great artist was baptized.
Some Points in Caruso’s Life:
- Enrico Caruso was born in Naples on February 25, 1873.
- He made his official debut in Naples in “L’Amico Francesco” at the Teatro Nuovo, in 1895.
- He sang the last time in Naples at the San Carlo, December 30, 1901 (“L’Elisir d’amore”). Very disappointed by some critics, that affected him deeply, Caruso told: “I shall not sing in Naples again! I will only come back to see my dear mother and eat ‘vermicelli alle vongole’!”
- He made his debut in New York at the Metropolitan in “Rigoletto”, in 1903.
- He made his first Victor record, “Questa o quella” from Rigoletto, in 1904.
- He gave his last performance at the Metropolitan in “La Juive”, December 24, 1920.
- He sang “Pagliacci” 76 times and “Aida” 64 times at the Metropolitan.
- He sang in Italy, Russia, Germany, France, Belgium, Portugal, Spain, Monaco, Austria, Hungary, Czechoslovakia, England, Ireland, Scotland, Argentina, Brazil, Uruguay, Mexico, Cuba, Canada and the United States.
- He spoke Italian, English, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese and Russian.
Ten things you probably didn’t know about Caruso:
1) His memory was phenomenal. He knew 67 roles, and to his repertoire of more than five hundred songs he was continually adding others;
2) He didn’t like to teach. He said: “To sing is one thing, to teach is another”;
3) Of his Neapolitan songs he liked best “’A vucchella” by Gabriele d’Annunzio e Francesco Paolo Tosti;
4) He weighed three pounds less after each performance;
5) He drank two or three quarts of bottled mineral water a day;
6) The only cocktail he liked was an Alexander;
7) He smoked two packages of Egyptian cigarettes a day;
8) He could put an egg in his mouth, close his lips, and no one would guess that an egg was there;
9) He did not chew gum;
10) He believed in the ‘evil eye’, or 'jettatura'.