Thursday, October 08, 2009

As soon as Caruso was dead, all the masters were ready to tell you how he sang...Of course you had to buy their books to find out.

As soon as Enrico Caruso was dead, there were several books out about him and his voice. None of them could tell you exactly how Caruso sang, but they would give you ideas how to sing. It was for everyone involved one way to make a little more money on the name of the great tenor.Salvatore Fucito was Caruso's coach and accompanist. He shared much of Caruso's rehearsal material and stories and caricatures. But he knew as much as I did when it came to saying why Caruso sounded as well as he did. But if he put Caruso's picture on his book and wrote about him...It meant money! Here is the 1st edition of that money maker..
Mario Marafioti was a doctor, Caruso fan, and record collector who talked of the physics of singing and of course used Caruso in his work. Caruso had known of the book and had endorsed it. But more went into it than I am sure he ever imagined. This book is still in print. But this is the 1st edition of that much reprinted book from 1922.