Enrico Caruso (February 25, 1873 - August 2, 1921) was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from
Enrico Caruso (February 25, 1873 - August 2, 1921) was an Italian operatic tenor. He sang to great acclaim at the major opera houses of Europe and the Americas, appearing in a wide variety of roles from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. His 25 year career, stretching from 1895 to 1920, included 863 appearances at the New York Metropolitan Opera. Thanks in part to his tremendously popular phonograph records, Caruso was one of the most famous personalities of his day and his fame has endured to the present. He was one of the first examples of a global media celebrity. Caruso made more than 260 extant recordings in America for the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA Victor) from 1904 to 1920, and he earned millions of dollars in royalties from the retail sales. A fastidious dresser, Caruso took two baths a day and liked good Italian food and convivial company. He was superstitious and habitually carried good-luck charms with him when he sang. He was a heavy smoker of strong Egyptian cigarettes. This bad habit, combined with a lack of exercise and the punishing schedule of performances that he undertook season after season at the Met, may have contributed to the persistent ill-health which afflicted the last months of his life. He died in 1921 at the age of 48. Doctors attributed the likely cause of death to peritonitis arising from a burst subphrenic abscess. Photographed at the Laveccha Studio, November 7, 1910.
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