Enrico Caruso (tenor) - Dreams of Long Ago (Carroll & Caruso) (1912)

I recently uploaded Mario Chamlee's version of this waltz song composed by Caruso, so I thought we should hear the song sung by the great tenor himself. 'Dreams of Long Ago' was recorded at Camden on 8 April 1912, with orchestra probably conducted by Walter Rogers.

I haven't bothered to set out the words, because Caruso's English - although virtually non-existent at this stage, requiring him to be coached as to pronunciation and to write out the words phonetically - is remarkably good.

From Wikipedia: Enrico Caruso (25 February 1873 – 2 August 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 (74) from the Italian and French repertoires that ranged from the lyric to the dramatic. One of the first major singing talents to be commercially recorded, Caruso made 247 commercially released recordings from 1902 to 1920, which made him an international popular entertainment star.

I transferred this recording from Victrola 88376.

[hrbooksmusic]

An extraordinary singer who happened to be a wonderful person as well... Not that the latter is important in the world of great singers, but it does count for something in the world of great human beings - and that‘s how I SEE Caruso whenever I HEAR him... ✨✨✨
Thank you for sharing this lovely song! 🙏🍀

[Lily-kyew]

이 노래를 들으며 제가 어렸을 때를 생각했어요. 그 때는 어떤 꿈이든 이룰 수 있을거라고 생각했는데~~~

[denispowell]

When I hear any record by Caruso I'm reminded of the time Puccini auditioned him for a production of La Boheme. His verdict was "Who sent you to me, God?".