Classical Court From Perotin to Prokofiev (and beyond), performed by Caruso to Khatia, it's all here.

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Enrico Caruso's first marriage ended when she ran off with the chauffeur...

Posted by John Marks on May 25, 2022 at 12:45:53

Enrico Caruso's first marriage ended when she ran off with the chauffeur... which brings to mind the politically-incorrect joke about the two inner-city youth walking past a synagogue.

Enrico eventually bounced back, marrying someone 20 years younger.

Caruso did not do a great job of taking care of himself (eating, drinking, smoking); he was injured by a falling opera-set pillar, and some of his doctors were not up to the task.

He died at age 48.

Decades later (1986), Italian songwriter Lucio Dalla happened to spend the night in the exact same hotel room in Sorrento, Naples that was the last place Caruso had stayed before attempting to journey to Rome for better medical care.

There was a piano in the room, and Dalla was inspired to write a song ("Caruso") as if he were the dying Caruso, singing goodbye to his second wife:

Here where the sea shines,
And the wind blows strong
On an old terrace
In front of the Gulf of Surriento
A man hugs a girl,
After she cries
Then he clears his throat,
And starts to sing again.

I love you very much
Oh so very much, you know
It's now a chain [reaction]
That melts the blood inside our veins, you know

He saw the lights in the middle of the sea,
He thought of the nights there in America
But it was only the fishing lights
In the white wake of a propeller
He felt the pain in the music,
He got up from the piano
But when he saw the moon come out from behind a cloud
Even death seemed sweeter to him
He looked the girl in the eyes,
Those eyes as green as the sea
Then suddenly a tear fell,
And he thought he was drowning

I love you very much
Oh so very much, you know
It's now a chain [reaction]
That melts the blood inside our veins, you know

Of course, Pavarotti made that song a hit...

But it's not opera, it is in the tradition of Neapolitan popular love songs.

So, the other night, I was watching my Guilty Pleasure "Britain's Got Talent," and a young man who scraped by, by singing for pocket change on the streets of Sheffield, gave it his best shot.

I urge everybody to check it out!

john

• https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EaWo3hxR_yU   (Open in New Window)

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