Concert for the 150th birthday of the tenor Enrico Caruso.

Works from the repertoire of Enrico Caruso

On the occasion of Enrico Caruso's 150th birthday, Opera Classica Europa is organizing a gala concert in honor of the legendary tenor, who was born on February 25th, 1873 in Naples.

At the "Gala Night of the Tenors", visitors can look forward to well-known artists such as B. Gioacchino Lauro Li Vigni (Metropolitan Opera New York), Irakli Kakhidze, (Nationaltheater Mannheim), Sung Min Song (Komische Oper Berlin) or Azer Zada ​​(Teatro Nacional de São Carlos, Lisbon).

The excellent Thuringia Philharmonic Gotha-Eisenach was engaged as the orchestra. The international guest conductor of the Opera Classica Europa, Hans-Friedrich Härle, will conduct the musical direction. With a lot of expertise and background knowledge, Claudia Grundmann will guide you through the evening's program and provide visitors with some interesting details.

At the beginning of the 20th century, Caruso, who came from an extremely poor background, rose to become the most famous and important tenor in the world. He owes his huge success not only to his incomparable operatic arias, but also to his beautiful, folk songs from the repertoire of the "Canzone napoletana", including in particular "O sole mio" by Eduardo Di Capua, who achieved worldwide fame through Caruso's interpretation.

Enrico Caruso sang in the church choir in Naples as a child and received professional singing lessons at the age of 16 from the renowned teacher Guglielmo Vergine and later from Vincenzo Lombardi. Although he had his first engagement at the age of 19 at home in Naples, Caruso did not achieve his breakthrough until 1898 (at the age of 25) in Milan. From 1903 Caruso's unstoppable career as a lyric tenor began at the major theaters, including the Metropolitan Opera in New York. He fascinated the opera world with the unique beauty and radiance of his warm, for a tenor very dark, baritone voice and his artful singing with technical perfection. He also impressed with his extraordinary stage presence and his great acting talent. Enrico Caruso's repertoire included 67 operatic roles, some of which were highly demanding, and hundreds of songs. At the Met he holds the record of 863 appearances in 17 years (between Nov. 1903 and Dec. 1920).

Enrico Caruso has lost none of his popularity to this day. Lovers of great tenor arias and Neapolitan melodies should not miss the gala concert.
(Opera Classica Europe)