During his career, Enrico Caruso made nearly 260 recordings and made millions of dollars from the sale of his 78 rpm records. While Caruso sang at many of the world's great opera houses including La Scala in Milan and Covent Garden in London, he is best known as the leading male singer at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City for seventeen years. Conductor Arturo Toscanini, who conducted some of the operas that Caruso sang in at the Met, considered him one of the greatest artists he had ever worked with.
Caruso was baptized in the Church of San Giovanni e Paolo on February 26, 1873, having been born in Naples, Italy, one day earlier. He began his career in Naples in 1894. The first major role that he created was Loris in Giordano's Fedora, at the Teatro Lirico in Milan, on November 17, 1898. At that same theater, on November 6, 1902, he created the role of Maurizio in Cilea's Adriana Lecouvreur.
In 1903, with the help of his agent, the banker Pasquale Simonelli, he went to New York City, and, on November 23 of that year, he made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's Rigoletto. The following year Caruso began his lifelong association with the Victor Talking-Machine Company; his star relationships with both the Metropolitan and Victor would last until 1920. Caruso himself commissioned Tiffany & Co. to produce a 24 kt. gold medal with his profile, as a memento (PER RICORDO) for his friends of his Metropolitan performances.
Caruso was one of the first star vocalists to make numerous recordings. He and the disc phonograph did much to promote each other in the first two decades of the 20th century. His 1902 recording of Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci was the world's first gramophone record to sell a million copies. Many of Caruso's recordings have remained in print since their original issue a century ago.
On December 10, 1910, he starred at the Met as Dick Johnson in the world premiere of Puccini's La Fanciulla del West. His last performance at the Met was as Eléazar in Halévy's La Juive on December 24, 1920.
Caruso died in 1921, from what is thought to be complications of pleurisy, apparently not diagnosed in time to save him. He was 48. He is buried in Naples.
Caruso was portrayed by Mario Lanza in a highly fictionalized Hollywood motion picture, The Great Caruso, in 1951.
In 1987, he was posthumously awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
Lolita
Enrico Caruso Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
la sua canzon ti vuol cantar
e ti vo' dir i suoi martir
le pene che lolita puo sol calmar
ah vien che i baci che ti vo dare
le stelle in ciel non le potrian contare
e le carezze ed i sospir
tu sola o bella li potrai ridir
senza il tuo ben dimmi commi fai lolita
olezza il fior e dolce invita
o mia lolita vien all'amor
ah vien diletta piu tardare
che al seno stretta ti vo baciare
ah mia lolita vieni
che morire mi farai se tu non vieni.
The lyrics of Enrico Caruso's song "Lolita" tell a story of a man deeply in love with a woman named Lolita. He expresses his love and desire for her through his song, promising to sing of his own sufferings and the pains that only she can alleviate. The man promises Lolita an immeasurable number of kisses, caresses, and sighs that only she can speak of.
The man implores Lolita to come to him, asking her how she could stand to stay away from him. The scent of the flowers is sweet, and they beckon her to come to him as he pleads for her to indulge in love with him. He desperately wants to hold her close and kiss her as she prolongs coming to him. If she does not come to him, he claims that it will be the end of him.
The lyrics of "Lolita" are an expression of a man's ardent love and his plea to the subject of his affection to give in to the desires of love. Caruso's delivery of the lyrics conveys a sense of longing, passion, and desire that adds to the depth and meaning of the song.
Line by Line Meaning
amor amor che langue il cor
Love, love that moves the heart.
la sua canzon ti vuol cantar
His song wants to sing to you.
e ti vo' dir i suoi martir
And I will tell you his suffering.
le pene che lolita puo sol calmar
The pains that only Lolita can calm.
ah vien che i baci che ti vo dare
Oh come, so I can give you the kisses I want to give.
le stelle in ciel non le potrian contare
The stars in the sky couldn't count them.
e le carezze ed i sospir
And the caresses and the sighs.
tu sola o bella li potrai ridir
Only you, oh beauty, could repeat them.
amor s'en vien e l'ora gradita
Love is coming and the desired hour.
senza il tuo ben dimmi commi fai lolita
Without your love, tell me, what can I do, Lolita?
olezza il fior e dolce invita
The flower smells sweet and invites.
o mia lolita vien all'amor
Oh my Lolita, come to love.
ah vien diletta piu tardare
Oh come, beloved, don't delay any longer.
che al seno stretta ti vo baciare
So I can hold you close and kiss you.
ah mia lolita vieni
Oh my Lolita, come.
che morire mi farai se tu non vieni.
Because you will make me die if you don't come.
Contributed by Sophia G. Suggest a correction in the comments below.
Tom Frøkjær
Thank you ! It is the first time I have seen Armenian in writing!
Tom Frøkjær
Thanks for listening!
rosaponselleart
Thank you for upload!
Tom Frøkjær
Yes, I know. I would have been fired on the spot. Caruso was a very orderly man. galtakean wrote in Armenia something like this: "Wonderful. Words are not enough to express HIATSMUNKE ... AS ALWAYS ... Genius ..." - that's what Google translate says. It did not tell me, though, what HIATSMUNKE is or is like....
Paul Sisson
I have this album and a few others with RCA Italian album case.
Tom Frøkjær
Well, I am glad !