ERÖFFNUNG DER SPRACHDETEKTIVSHOW ZUM 151. GEBURTSTAG VON ENRICO CARUSO
FEBRUARY 25, 2024
The Voice Detective alias Gyaan Lyon freut sich, heute The zu veröffentlichen Voice Detective Show: eine kostenlose monatliche Show, in der er Interviews gibt Experten aus allen Lebensbereichen zu allem und jedem, was zu tun ist mit der Stimme und der Kunst des Bel Canto, auch bekannt als wunderschöner Gesang. Was Besserer Tag, um die Show zu starten, als der 151. Jahrestag der Geburt des großen italienischen Tenors Enrico Caruso?
Enrico Caruso war eine einmalige Stimme; eine, die das eingefangen hat Fantasie von Generationen von Opern- und Popmusikfans und Künstler gleichermaßen. Und man kann mit Fug und Recht sagen, dass er dadurch zu einem wurde ein bekannter Name und eine Inspiration für jeden Tenor der Vergangenheit und Gegenwart. Der Voice Detective würdigt ihn an diesem Tag demütig.
february 25, 2025
On this day in 2024, The Voice Detective aka Gyaan Lyon launched The Voice Detective Show as a free monthly vodcast where interviews with experts from all walks of life about anything and everything to do with the Voice and the Art of Bel Canto aka beautiful singing, are presented by Gyaan. The day of the launch of the show was selected as it’s also the birthday of the great Italian tenor Enrico Caruso.
Enrico Caruso was a once in a lifetime voice; one which captured the imagination of generations of opera and popular music fans and performers alike. And it is fair to say in doing so, he became a household name and an inspiration to every tenor past and present. The Voice Detective humbly pays homage to him on this day.
Enrico was not just a great singer, but a great colleague. Recordings of his voice in duets, trios, quartets and the famous sextet show how he used his vocal skill to enhance the whole effect, generously enabling his co-singers to shine at their best. Quoting just one of many examples noted by music connoisseur and critic J.B. Stearne, when recording with Melba, ‘how gallantly (he) softens his notes so that the unearthly beauty of her high C can rise, free, like Ariel, to the elements.’ [1]
Contemporaries of Caruso, who were fortunate enough to witness his performances speak of not just the power of his voice, but above all, ‘it was a matter of quality and style, the natural beauty, the manliness of it…..They speak of the sweetness of his tone, the naturalness of his art and its sincerity.’[2] We can only wonder at what it would have been like.
Caruso died all too young. In his excellent article on Caruso, Stearne acutely remarks that ‘Caruso’s fate was a tragic portent. The new phenomenon of mass-media was largely the cause. Caruso’s records sold throughout the world, and in the brilliance of their forward, full-bodied tone, they led people to expect the impossible, most particularly a voice of ear-splitting volume. Caruso knew what was expected of him, and gave prodigiously to meet the expectations…. He gave it – the gift of song, and also a rich bounty of his generous nature – but became a victim of his own fame. The undermining of his health would nowadays be seen clearly as stress-induced, a large part of it derived from the unprecedented sale of his voice on records.’[3]
The remarkable consistency of the ‘impossible’ in Enrico Caruso’s vocal performances can be attested by none other than Giacomo Puccini, who in a letter to Tito Ricordi was able to write, ‘Caruso is the usual marvellous Des Grieux,…’[4] Just like that – how could Caruso be anything less!
[1] STEARNE, J.B., SINGERS OF THE CENTURY VOLUME 3, LONDON, DUCKWORTH, 2000, P.251
[2] IBID. P.250 QUOTING FROM JOHN VOSE, THE LANCASHIRE CARUSO (LIFE OF TOM BURKE)
[3] IBID. P.250
[4] PUCCINI. GIACOMO, LETTER TO TITO RICORDI FROM NEW YORK ON 19 JANUARY 1907 IN ADAMI, GIUSEPPE – (EDITOR), TRANSLATOR – MAKIN, ENA., LETTERS OF GIACOMO PUCCINI VIENNA HOUSE, NEW YORK 1973. P.78
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