Enrico Caruso (born Errico Caruso; February 25, 1873 – August 2, 1921) was an Italian opera singer and one of the greatest tenors in history. Caruso was also the most popular singer in any genre in the first two decades of the 20th Century and one of the most important pioneers of recorded music. Caruso's popular recordings and his extraordinary voice, known for its mature power, beauty and unequalled richness of tone, made him perhaps the best-known operatic star of his era.
'By Heaven! If this Neapolitan continues to sing like this, he will make the whole world talk about him.' Toscanini
'You don't have a voice" - "It's like gold at the bottom of the Tiber ... not worth digging for.' his teacher
'36 years later that voice still rings in my ears, the memory of it will never die.' McCormack
'I have seen him sob for five minutes in his dressing room after the first act [of Pagliacci]; I have seen him fall on the stage, faint from emotion; and I have also seen him come off whistling gaily and joking with the chorus. Whatever his own emotions were, his audience was invariably overwhelmed. I asked him to explain the secret of this power. He said, "I suffer so much in this life, Doro. That is what they feeling when I sing, that is why they cry. People who felt nothing in this life cannot sing.'
Dorothy Caruso
'Caruso was not a tenor, not a baritone, not a basso; he was a singer who had the vocal characteristics of all three combined.
He had a voice which did not recognize scholastic, conventional classifications of registers, and ignored all limitations in its range.
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.' Dr. P. Mario Marafioti
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