Italian Songs: The Digital Recordings

Editorial Reviews
Amazon.com
As a follow-up to its Caruso 2000 release, RCA here offers us a remastered, implemented selection of Neapolitan songs recorded by Enrico Caruso between 1906 and 1920. The gimmick is again that the old recordings have been digitally stripped of their oompah, blaring instruments. In their place, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra has provided modern accompaniment. It's still anachronistic--the voice remains in another acoustical era from the orchestra--but this time, the balance is a little better, and conductor Gottfried Rabl is amazingly sensitive to Caruso's style and phrasing. Moreover, of course, the pops and clicks of the old pre-electrical shellacs are gone. The voice retains its timbre and quality, thank goodness, and one can still marvel at the way the sound grew over the 14 years recorded here. It's always magnificent, but it became more baritonal and muscular with age, without losing any of its thrills. The "Ideale" from 1906 remains an exquisitely tender piece of singing; elsewhere, the sheer visceral excitement of the voice dazzles. Purists may not approve. Those unfamiliar with the Caruso phenomenon should hear him under any circumstances, and this is as good a chance as any. --Robert Levine

Tracks:

Vieni sul mar
'O sole mio
Tu can nun chiagne
Santa Lucia
Pecche?
L'Alba separa dalla luce l'ombra
Fenesta che lucive
Mamma mia che vo' sape
Musica proibita
Core 'ngrato
Luna d'estate
Ideale
'A vucchella
Vaghissima sembianza
Tarantella sincera
Senza nisciuno
L'addio a Napoli

Amazon.com

As a follow-up to its Caruso 2000 release, RCA here offers us a remastered, implemented selection of Neapolitan songs recorded by Enrico Caruso between 1906 and 1920. The gimmick is again that the old recordings have been digitally stripped of their oompah, blaring instruments. In their place, the Vienna Radio Symphony Orchestra has provided modern accompaniment. It's still anachronistic--the voice remains in another acoustical era from the orchestra--but this time, the balance is a little better, and conductor Gottfried Rabl is amazingly sensitive to Caruso's style and phrasing. Moreover, of course, the pops and clicks of the old pre-electrical shellacs are gone. The voice retains its timbre and quality, thank goodness, and one can still marvel at the way the sound grew over the 14 years recorded here. It's always magnificent, but it became more baritonal and muscular with age, without losing any of its thrills. The "Ideale" from 1906 remains an exquisitely tender piece of singing; elsewhere, the sheer visceral excitement of the voice dazzles. Purists may not approve. Those unfamiliar with the Caruso phenomenon should hear him under any circumstances, and this is as good a chance as any. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews:

An interesting abomination................2007-07-22

This recording is a technical marvel...the producers have taken the acoustic recordings of the greatest tenor that ever lived, digitalized them, "cleaned them up", whatever that means, and added a modern orchestra for background. God help us.

In Caruso's day, the performer sang into a large horn of the type shown in the old RCA ads, the microphone not being invented till 1925, four years after Caruso died. The sound was recorded on a wax disk, which was then used as a master. All of our attempts to listen to ancient records are, to some degree, artificial...I haven't seen a hand crank Victrola since I was a small child, well over 50 years ago. But this?!?....

I admit that this isn't like painting over an old master...the original recordings still exist. And I've already admitted that this is well done, in a technical sense. And about the voice of The Great Caruso there can, of course, be no question. Maybe I'm a traditionalist; I prefer to watch "It's a Wonderful Life" in black & white, I think pretty girls look prettier in dresses, and I'd rather see baseball played on grass. This isn't even like Richard Harwell abridging the works of Douglas Southall Freeman; that at least allows the reader with limited time and money to learn from the master. The original versions of these recordings are readily available, and take the same time to listen to.

We can play "what if" forever...could a modern doctor have cured George Washington? Of course. What would Bobby Jones do with modern golf equipment?? Sorry, Tiger. The originals of these landmark recordings represent the way listeners of Caruso's day heard him. It was state-of-the-art AT THE TIME.

Look, we live in America; the producer of this recording has an absolute right to make it, and you have an absolute right to buy it, enjoy it, and write a five star review of it, stating that I'm a stupid fool. That's the glory of America. Buy, and like, this record if you wish, but know what you are buying.

Caruso....re-emerged...or....re-submerged.......2007-02-15

I have been listening to Caruso recordings, necessarily periodically, for close on sixty years, though I didn't learn anything about music until in my mid twenties. Whilst thrilling hysterically to those top notes one couldn't help being more than a little aware, even as a child, that the trumpet-like noises, as Caruso himself once described it on hearing someone playing one of his records, emanating from the playback equipment, hardly represented a human being. Thanks to the digital restorative efforts of Thomas G Stockham we can appreciate the real art that conceals art, as C again put it, on the twelve CD edition previously published by RCA; since much of the artificial peakiness [ distortions ] has been alleviated - a tribute to the success of these may be concluded from the fact that some notes that previously sounded like he had a throatful of phlegm are simply revealed as record wear; as well as the more important sense of straining for effect being eliminated; far from it as we then appreciate how (apparently) effortlessly he puts those spectacular phrases across. As far as I can discern they have used these registrations here; so far so good. For the sake of this review attempt I listened again to this CD, for the first time since I bought it, probably well over a year ago. My humble opinion is that the orchestrations are too loud, tending to drown him out. Well done no doubt, if crass at times then, but providing little advantage over the Stockham 'recreations'. Maybe that's due to me being one of that army of Caruso lovers, or of any of a myriad of great artists' recordings for that matter, to whom the singing is paramount; the orchestra is merely lucky to be there. Is all that fuss regarding the minutiae of recent orchestral arrangements not just a bit patronising and condescending, with more accent on their problems rather than giving tribute to the singer who had no benefits of any post editing whatsoever; never mind the terribly restrictive recording environment and session period in which to do it ? I guess, like all hero worshippers, I'm possibly waxing unnecessarily defensive at this juncture. What if we could hear Caruso recorded now, as a contemporary of, say, Andrea Bocelli; would we be at his feet ? Maybe that's where this compilation really comes in, reaffirming the legend, dressed up to the nines. Does giving a monochrome phantom flash clothes, like those colourised photos, really make him more visible ?

On a personal note; it would have been an improvement had they NOT included "Vieni sul mar"; "L'Alba separa dalla luce l'ombra" and "Luna d'estate". "A Dream" would have been nice; also "I' m'arricordo e Napule" or, what I think is one of the best recordings of Caruso - Denza's "Si vous l'aviez compris" [ also Massenet's "Elegie" ], albeit they have piano/violin accompaniment, which would have presented a challenge to the engineers.

amazing technology.......2005-05-20

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

An Unexpected Pleasure.......2004-12-19

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.

I was floored.......2004-02-14

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.

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