Enrico Caruso is considered the greatest tenor ever, even 103 years after his death. Caruso died August 2, 1921, in Naples, Italy. He was 48.
Caruso was one of the first singers to record his music. His records sold worldwide.
He made more than 260 recordings between 1904 and 1920. He toured the world with the New York Metropolitan Opera company, and on his own.
He received $15,000 to play in Mexico City, the equivalent of $235,000 today. He was making $500,000 annually, just in performance fees (equivalent to almost $8 million today), at the peak of his popularity.
He might have worked too hard. He became ill after a long concert tour. His son blamed the start of his health problems to a stage mishap, when a column fell on his back during the opera “Samson and Delilah.”
He began hemorrhaging in his throat during a performance in December 1920, and he would never perform with the New York Opera company again. Doctors diagnosed him with purulent pleurisy and empyema .
He returned to Naples in May 1920 to recuperate from several surgeries. He died on his way to see doctors in Rome about having a kidney removed.
Eduardo di Capua wrote “O Sole Mio,” in 1898. The title in English means “My Sun.”
Capua was thought to be the only composer, but in 2002 an Italian judge ruled that Alfredo Mazzucchi should receive a co-credit.
Neapolitan Lyrics
Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole,n'aria serena doppo na tempesta!Pe' ll'aria fresca pare già na festa...Che bella cosa na jurnata 'e sole.
Refrain:
Ma n'atu sole cchiù bello, oi ne',[10] 'o sole mio sta nfronte a te! 'o sole, 'o sole mio sta nfronte a te, sta nfronte a te!Lùceno 'e llastre d''a fenesta toia;'na lavannara canta e se ne vantae pe' tramente torce, spanne e canta,lùceno 'e llastre d''a fenesta toia.
(Refrain)
Quanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne,me vene quasi 'na malincunia;sotto 'a fenesta toia restarriaquanno fa notte e 'o sole se ne scenne.
(Refrain)
English Lyrics
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!
The air is serene after a storm,
The air is so fresh that it already feels like a celebration.
What a beautiful thing is a sunny day!
But another sun, even more beauteous, oh my sweetheart,[10]
My own sun, shines from your face!
This sun, my own sun,
Shines from your face; It shines from your face!
Your window panes shine;
A laundress is singing and boasting about it;
And while she's wringing the clothes, hanging them up to dry, and singing,
Your window panes shine.
When night comes and the sun has gone down,
I almost start feeling melancholy;
I'd stay below your window
When night comes and the sun has gone down.
The first English translation was in 1915. The song’s melody has lived on. Tony Martin recorded “There’s No Tomorrow,” using the melody in 1949.
Elvis Presley heard the song a decade later and turned it into “It’s Now or Never,” which reached number one on the Billboard singles chart.
Song of the Day is created by Sheldon Zoldan, and produced by Pam James for WGCU. To receive the Song of the Day in your inbox every day, email shzoldan@comcast.net with the subject line ADD ME TO SOTD.
