Alberto FRANCHETTI 1860–1942
1 Germania – Studenti, udite 1.57
Giuseppe VERDI 1813–1901
2 Rigoletto – Questa o quella 2.20
3 Aida – Celeste Aida 3.24
Jules Massenet 1842–1912
4 Manon – O dolce incanto 2.43
Gaetano DONIZETTI 1797–1848
5 Lucia di Lammermoor – 3.23
Una furtiva lagrima
Arrigo BOITO 1842–1918
6 Mefistofele – 3.13
Giunto sul passo estremo
Alberto FRANCHETTI
7 Germania – Ah, vieni qui… 2.50
No, non chiuder gli occhi
Arrigo BOITO
8 Mefistofele – 2.32
Dai campi, dai prati
Giacomo Puccini 1858–1924
9 Tosca – E lucevan le stelle 2.39
Pietro MASCAGNI 1863–1945
10 Iris – Serenata: Apri la tua finestra 2.32
Umberto GIORDANO 1867–1948
11 Fedora – Amor ti vieta 1.54
Amilcare PONCHIELLI 1834–1886
12 La Gioconda – Cielo e mar! 2.26
Ruggero LEONCAVALLO 1857–1919
13 Pagliacci – 2.14
Recitar!…Vesti la giubba
Pietro MASCAGNI
14 Cavalleria rusticana – 2.28
Siciliana: O Lola
Luigi DENZA 1846–1922
15 Non t’amo più 2.23
Francesco Paolo TOSTI 1846–1916
16 La mia canzone 2.22
Francesco CILEA 1866–1950
17 Adriana Lecouvreur – 2.35
No, più nobile
Redento ZARDO 1850–1910
18 Luna fedel 2.22
Rocco TRIMARCHI 1861–1936
19 Un bacio ancora 3.03
Georges BIZET 1838–1875
20 Les Pêcheurs de perles – 3.29
Mi par d’udir ancor
Ruggero LEONCAVALLO
21 Mattinata 2.09
Giacomo MEYERBEER 1791–1864
22 Les Huguenots – 2.07
Qui sotto il ciel
Antonio PINI-CORSI 1859–1918
23 Tu non mi vuoi più bene 2.23
The ten sides the Italian tenor Enrico Caruso cut at the Grand Hotel, Milan, on 11 April 1902 are among the most historic of historical recordings.
As John Steane notes in a wide-ranging essay that ideally complements this collection, these are legendary recordings by a legendary tenor. Indeed, Caruso’s fame, according to the old HMV catalogue, was perhaps the greatest ever attained by a singer.
Steane sifts fact from fiction in the story of the producer Fred Gaisberg, wowed by Caruso at La Scala and determined to secure him for his company, agreeing the then huge fee of £100 for the ten arias and then receiving a cable from London that said ‘Fee exorbitant, forbid you to record’.
Whatever the truth of that, the recording went ahead. Caruso came to the Grand Hotel that Friday afternoon ‘dressed like a dandy, twirling a cane’ with his accompanist Salvatore Cottone, and all was completed within two hours in the improvised studio Gaisberg had rigged up.
Again, the new remastering by Abbey Road 78 expert Andrew Walter improves greatly on the recordings’ previous appearance on Références.
Awards: Diapason d’Or, Timbre de Platine d’Opéra International, FFFF de Télérama
