New York City Opera presents Caruso and His Songs on Wednesday, February 21, 2024 at 7:30pm at Zankel Hall at Carnegie Hall, 881 7th Ave, NYC. Tickets are $10 for students, $35 for general admission, and can be purchased online at https://www.carnegiehall.org/calendar/2024/02/21/caruso-and-his-songs-0730pm.
150 years after his birth, tenor Mark Milhofer and pianist Marco Scolastra pay homage to one of the most famous singers of all time with a recital made up of songs written by and for Enrico Caruso, taken from their new double album. A 90 minute program that shows an unknown side of the tenor along with examples of how he influenced and inspired his friends, colleagues and admirers to write for his incredible voice. Caruso was really the first “cross-over” artist, the first international celebrity, bringing to a wider audience his stage roles alongside the Neapolitan songs of his homeland. He was either the first international operatic superstar to leave behind an extensive aural legacy, or he was the first singer to be propelled to that status as a result of his recordings. Either way, he became a household name, his recordings reaching an audience beyond any previous singer’s dreams.
Mark Milhofer has discovered at least ninety songs written for and dedicated to him. But what most people don’t realize is that Caruso himself also composed, writing a handful of songs. Sometimes he just wrote the tune, sometimes just the words and just once he wrote both. The inspiration for many of the songs was his colorful and sometimes tragic love life, dominated by his partner Ada Giachetti. Caruso’s life was full of drama, great wealth, generosity and a lot of hard work.
Mark and Marco had the incredible opportunity to perform these songs in Caruso’s house, his villa just outside Florence, around the time of the 100th anniversary of his death. Their new album, Enrico Caruso – His Songs, is made up of his nine songs, along with 39 of the 90 songs written for him, was recorded in Caruso’s house, and is available now, to coincide with the 150th anniversary of Caruso’s birth on February 25th 1873.
PROGRAM:
Enrico Caruso/Riccardo Barthelemy, Adorables Tourments
Ruggiero Leoncavallo, Mattinata
Francesco Paolo Tosti, Seconda Mattinata
Caruso/Calogero Adolfo Bracco, Serenata (Souvenirs d’un Concert)
Pier Adolfo Tirindelli, O Primavera
Mario Ferrarese, Portami Via
Raoul Gunsbourg, Le Moment Qui Passe
Luigi Denza, Vieni
Caruso/Earl Carroll, Dreams of Long Ago
Gaetano Calamani, Fiore Gentile – O Night Divine
Tirindelli, Amore e Fede
Caruso/Vincenzo Billi, Campane a Sera
Mary Helen Brown, Thoughts of You
Arturo Buzzi-Peccia, Lolita
Caruso, Tiempo Antico
Gabriele Sibella, Sotto il Ciel