Enrico Caruso 'Deh! Ch'Io Ritorni' (Lead me toward the vessel) Meyerbeer's L'Africana (1920)

This is from Caruso's final session on September 16, 1920.

The tenor died a year after this session.

Enrico Caruso

"Deh! Ch'Io Ritorni" ("Lead me toward the vessel") from Meyerbeer's L'Africana

From Act IV.

Eugène Scribe wrote the libretto.

Caruso lived from February 25, 1873, to August 2, 1921.

He was born in Naples, and at the end of his life he returned to Naples, hoping to recover from illness but instead dying there. He did not live in Naples during his adult life. Caruso purchased the Villa Bellosguardo, a palatial country house near Florence, in 1904. Caruso's real home during his years of greatest fame was a suite at Manhattan's Knickerbocker Hotel.

The tenor made more than 260 recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company. A sensation in opera houses and on concert stages, he is still famous because his records were incredibly popular during his own life and remained popular long after the tenor's death. Many singers of the twentieth century said they learned much while listening to Caruso's voice.

He was loved as the lead tenor in "warhorse" works--that is, in operas that stand the test of time, being produced often. But he also took risks, gambling on newly created roles (with no guarantee that the new opera would succeed) and also helping revive forgotten operas. He excelled in Italian and French roles. His voice was not suited for Mozart or Wagner.

The tenor's first recording session was in a hotel room in Milan on April 11, 1902.

One month earlier, Caruso enjoyed a triumph in the premiere of Franchetti’s opera Germania. This led to the tenor making records.

On April 11, 1902, Caruso was paid by the Gramophone & Typewriter Company’s Fred Gaisberg to sing ten numbers into a recording horn in a Milan hotel room. The fee was 100 pounds sterling.
The story about the company saying the fee was too high is apocryphal.

The tenor sang to piano accompaniment provided by Salvatore Cottone.

Gaisberg (either Fred or his brother Will) wrote “Carusso” on early wax blanks.

You could say this session as giving birth to a new era. Before 1902, opera recordings aroused little enthusiasm since voices on discs and cylinders were distant, often drowned out by surface noise. Early opera recordings gave little satisfaction.

Caruso helped make gramophones respected because his voice recorded well (in addition to the tenor being a master of interpretation and having a voice that thrilled audiences when he sang in opera houses). Before 1902, recording officials had difficulty convincing celebrities to make records since the final product was crude. Some celebrities did make recordings in 1902 (Plançon, Van Rooy, Calvé, Scotti, Bispham, Renaud)--partly to earn large fees for little work, partly to satisfy curiosity about how they sound. But Caruso’s success inspired many others.

With the first Caruso discs available in the summer of 1902, the gramophone was suddenly more than a toy. That was Caruso’s contribution to the infant industry. Lovers of great singing realized that recording devices could capture and preserve great singing. Caruso’s voice on his early discs came across clearly enough to be satisfying, Caruso’s interpretations compelling.

Caruso had other Milan sessions. The next one (again for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company) was on November 30, 1902, with some titles recorded a day or two later (in December 1902).

Will Gaisberg (Fred’s brother--Fred himself was touring, making records in exotic locations) produced most of the Milan recordings of the November-December sessions. B. G. Royal recorded four of the recordings, and these have "-R" embossed next to the matrix numbers, indicating Royal as producer.

On April 19, 1903, Caruso made seven recordings in Milan for the Anglo-Italian Commerce Company. These were released as blue-label Zonophone discs. These are the first Caruso recordings to open with spoken announcements.

In late October 1903, three more titles were recorded in Milan for the Anglo-Italian Commerce Company. These were issued by Pathé in two formats: cylinder and disc. Opening spoken announcements on these three items are longer than on Zonophone since the company is cited.

Next, Caruso cut two titles for the Gramophone & Typewriter Company--the last Milan session.

Thereafter Caruso recorded only for the Victor Talking Machine Company.

Caruso’s records helped make him a star in opera houses, and Caruso’s success in opera houses helped record sales. Discs brought wealth and fame to the artist, and tenor's name brought prestige to the Victor Talking Machine Company.

On September 16, 1920, the ailing tenor visited a recording studio for the last time (at Trinity Church at Camden, New Jersey).

In 1921 he was diagnosed with purulent pleurisy and empyema.

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This was not recorded on August 2, 1920; It is from Caruso's final session on September 16, 1920.