A voice that even Luciano Pavarotti would envy? The famous Italian opera tenor to this day Enrico Caruso sings Gaetano Donichetti’s aria ‘Una Furtiva Lagrima’ (A Fugitive Tear) in 1904 in a digitally restored audio document.

The Italian tenor impresses, somehow “surpassing” even the poor recording media of the time, giving an idea why he became a star of the early 20th century. And this, even though the recording at the time was not possible to record the full range of its sound capabilities.

Caruso (Enrico Caruso, February 25, 1873 – August 2, 1921) sang with great success in the great operas of Europe and America, performing a wide variety of roles from Italian and French operas, a repertoire that ranged from lyric to drama. Caruso also made approximately 290 recordings from 1902 to 1920. All of these recordings, covering most of his career, are available today on CD and digital downloads.

Caruso came from a poor, but not destitute, family. Born in Naples, in Via San Giovannello agli Ottocalli no. 7 on February 25, 1873. He was baptized the next day in the adjacent church of San Giovanni e Paolo. He was given the name “Errico” according to the Neapolitan dialect, but later adopted the official Italian word for the name, Enrico.