Customer Reviews

Italian Songs

5 star:		(13)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

Much like the Caruso 2000 CD This Italian Songs CD is a great effort to show us what The Great Caruso actually sounded like. Unfortunately no modern creations can really fix the old recordings to a great extent and give us what He really sounded like; BUT, if you suspend your disbelief, just a little bit, this is not bad at all; and in fact is very good. All the pops and static in the original recording is completely gone, its very clean in that regard, the vocals still sound like they were recorded mono, but with this clearer recording you can get glimpses of how great Caruso was. In Fact at times you just get lost in is powerful and beautiful voice and forget completely the way it was recorded. For Example O Solo Mio is just beautiful. I give this CD a 5 for effort, and for being tied for the best Caruso collection I have ever heard with Caruso 2000. I only wish we could go back in time with Digital recording equipment and record Caruso, then we would all know if he really was the greatest or not. But, I will tell you this, even with the mono sounding vocals hear, if he was not the best, he sure was one of them, the power and emotion are still evident even without being recorded by modern technology. This is a must have for any Caruso fan and any Opera fan as well.

I have been an avid fan of Enrico Caruso for over forty years. I have heard just about every gimmicky process that has ever been attempted to make his recordings more modern sounding (read "electrical"). Each has its own virtues and inadequacies. I had not planned on purchasing this disc because, quite frankly, Caruso 2000 had been a disappointment. Caruso's voice almost always seemed to have a lid on it.

A certain fact has to be faced here. Caruso never made an electrical recording. No amount of filtering and doctoring can change that. The only way I can imagine that this barrier could ever be overcome is perhaps by computerized extrapolation of the frequencies his voice produced. A computer might some day be programmed to "figure out" from the original recordings the sound frequencies Caruso's voice produced but that the recording horn was too insensitive to record. Those frequencies could then be dubbed into the existing recording. However, it doesn't appear that technology is that advanced yet; perhaps it never will be. In my opinion, it doesn't need to be. All one really needs is a schooled ear to be deeply moved by the gifts, art, and technique Caruso exhibited on his original acoustical recordings.

Incidentally, I am both amused and appalled by individuals who doubt that he was the greatest male singer in the history of recording, perhaps of all time. Anyone who would suggest Mario Lanza's, John McCormack's, or anyone else's singing as more satisfactory isn't listening. Lanza wanted to be the next Caruso, but he was not Caruso, not even a pale imitation. Even Pavarotti willingly acknowledges that he idolizes Caruso. And McCormack was a completely different kind of singer.

The best way to enjoy Caruso, Italian Songs and even Caruso 2000 is to set them aside as seperate works of art, rather than expect them to be improvements over the original recordings. They're not. Caruso's voice is not reproduced as accurately as it is on original recordings played on the proper equipment in the proper environment, especially on Caruso 2000. But the beauty of his art and technique remains intact. It seems the recording engineers did less manipulation of the voice on this new CD; the voice is more faithful to the originals, but still not the same. It occurs to me that perhaps these recordings are best for those who cannot tolerate surface noise and Victor's almost exclsive use of wind instruments for the orchestra.

That said, the digital accompaniment added unexpected emotion, power, and drama to every piece. I was caught completely off-guard. The music on this disc had me in tears. Music is about emotions, and this disc overpowered mine. If the degree of emotion induced by a performance is the standard for its evaluation, then this disc rates five stars without question. And if this is the way more modern ears than mine must be introduced to the artistry of this great singer, let it be! The instrumentation and arrangements fit every selection, and the synchronization with Caruso's stylizing is nearly always perfect. I highly recommend this disc to budding opera and classical voice lovers as a worthy introduction to Caruso's artistry. And for the seasoned aficionado of classical voice, it is a refreshing, yet emotionally moving collection of great singing in its own right. Neither type of listener would be disappointed.

Purists, say what you will about blending old and new recordings, but I loved this disc. I've got a number of original Caruso 78s and RCA's "Complete Caruso" CD collection, but never has he sounded so good as on this CD. The mixing of a digitally-recorded stereo full orchestra with Caruso's acoustically-recorded mono voice does at first sound very unnatural, but after a time, the effect takes shape and I'm able to get a better feel for what Caruso must have sounded like in person. The restorations of Caruso's original recordings are marvelous, I hear no surface noise or serious distortion, and the blending of the orchestra with his voice is spot-on. It's refreshing to hear him sing with a full orchestra behind him, not a small studio orchestra as in the original recordings. Naturally, Caruso buffs will want to have the original untouched recordings, but for casual listening, this disc is an excellent buy. I'm particularly impressed with "Ideale," with its beautiful, haunting melody, it's my favorite cut on the CD.

I bought "Caruso 2000" a few years ago and while the effort was admirable and the Vienna Radio Orchestra was magnificent, there were just too many barriers to overcome mixing modern fidelity with the no-fidelity recordings of Caruso's voice. It sounded bizarre, like listening to Caruso singing on a small transistor radio while you were sitting in the symphony orchestra pit.
With this newer release, however, there have been some improvements. Apparently the original Caruso vocals were not stripped down as far as on the earlier CD, as you can hear more snippets of the original orchestral backings in the recordings. And on some of the songs, Caruso's voice breaks out of the "cardboard box" sound which characterizes the century-old recordings. A much better job of mixing his voice recordings based on their strengths and weaknesses has been done here. They should consider going back and remixing "Caruso 2000" to get these same results.
Songs such as "Viena sul mar", "O sole mio," "Core 'ngrato," and "Vaghissima" are sensitively and creatively mixed and result in minor masterpieces which will make anyone a believer in this effort. It sounds like Caruso is actually singing to the backing of the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra on these songs.
I still feel some improvements could be made but this is so much better than the first CD attempting this mix. And I would like to see the same effort made to the late 1940's and early 1950's Mario Lanza recordings so modern listeners can more fully appreciate his legacy as well. In the meantime, I hope the VRSO is considering work on Caruso's few English-language popular songs, his Christmas recording of "O Holy Night", and "Over There."

The Italian songs of Caruso have been a longtime favorite of mine -to hear this amazing voice - backed with a wonderful modern orchestra is just something else -I believe it is bringing 90 -100 year old recordings back to life - the voice is always clear and strong with no distortions one would expext from vintage recordings .The Vienna orchestra is wonderfully sensitive providing a lush sound behing this wonderful voice - my partner came in to see what I was playing, she said the voice was moving her to tears ," with a voice like honey" and I guess this was what the great Caruso was doing in his day to sell so many records

This was a vast improvement over the last effort. When you listen to it on a regular stereo, as background music, you could swear you are listening to something that was recorded altogether, as if the singer was there. I also like the folk approach that was put forth by it. It is not Caruso trying to be the character of the song that comes from the opera, but Caruso being Caruso, without all the operatic techniques. It sounded like he was just having fun with the recordings, and the jovial personality that he had shows through clearly. I would be interested in seeing if RCA would consider doing more.

I bought this for my Italian father-in-law. He loves it and it is a great quality CD, considering that Caruso died 90 years ago. Excellent!

DO NOT BUY CARUSO 2000, NOT MANY GOOD SONGS!
CARUSO2000 ONLY HAS ONE GOOD SONG, REAL CLASSICS ARE HERE LIKE SANTA LUCIA, O SOLE MIO RULES! ONLY THING MISSING IS EXTRA ECHO ON CARUSO'S VOICE, ORCHESTRA COULD HAVE BEEN LOUDER SOMETIMES IT SOUNDS AS IF IT WAS RECORDED ON FARM, BUT GOOD TO KNOW MAESTRO WAS BROUGHT BACK, CHISELED OUT FROM VINYL PuRGATORY! GOOD MUSIC FOR TIME TRAVEL, PAST & PRESENT TOGETHER!

CD arrived in good condition and is a wonderful Caruso rendition. wish more could be digitalized in this fashion. Reviewed the recording before purchase and this matched my expectations

My introduction to Caruso was Mario Lanza's movie 'The Great Caruso.' I watched that movie twice, back to back, as I was so enthralled with Caruso and his legend. This release was most definitely a labor of love as we have a voice almost 100 years old that still captures and inspires the hearts of serious singers and listeners alike. To re-record a new orchestral soundtrack and use it to support the voice of Caruso was pure magic. Those old recordings were focused on the voice and not the sound track supporting the artist and here we have a wonderful collaboration of both. At best those old recordings failed to record the voice as is done in today's recording studios, but to just get a glimmer of this 1900's vocal phenomenon is worth the purchase alone. To add to the value are these wonderful Neopolitan songs that have endured since they were first sung.