Enrico Caruso (1873-1921)

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ENRICO CARUSO (1873-1921) Birth Name: Enrico Caruso Place of Birth: Naples, Italy Career Highlights: Enrico Caruso was widely considered the greatest international opera star of his day. He was not American – Caruso was born and died in Naples, Italy – but he spent many years living in New York as a leading star at the Metropolitan Opera, and was the United States’ first recording superstar, issuing almost 300 recordings with the Victor Talking Machine Company (later RCA). While much of his recording focused on operatic works, Caruso recorded many popular songs, including the Neapolitan (southern Italian) song “O Sole Mio,” in the language of his native Naples. (In 1960, Elvis Presley had a No. 1 hit with the song “It’s Now or Never,” sung to same tune as “O Sole Mio.”) In 1918, Caruso recorded the patriotic American World War I song “Over There.” Recording: “O Sole Mio” (traditional Italian song), 1916 Recording: “Over There” (patriotic World War I song), 1918 Questions to consider: What cities are the newspapers below from? What does the size and placement of the articles about Caruso’s death suggest about his popularity in the United States? What are some of the terms used to describe Caruso in the headlines to these articles? Why might American audiences have been interested in listening to recordings of popular Italian songs? What does Caruso’s recording of a song like “Over There” suggest about his attitude toward the United States? About Americans’ attitudes toward him? Why might it have been easier for an Italian to find success as an opera star in the United States during this period than in another field? How might Caruso’s success have helped paved the way for singers of Italian descent who came after him?.

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Time 1925 1930 1935 1940 1945 1950 1955 1960 1965 1970 1975 1980 1985 1990 1995 2000 2005 2010
Giulio Gatti Casazza 1926 Director, Metropolitan Opera Arturo Toscanini Leopold Stokowski 1926 1930 Conductor Conductor Pietro Mascagni Lucrezia Bori James Cæsar Petrillo 1926 1930 1948 Composer Singer Head, American Federation of Musicians Richard Strauss Alfred Hertz Sergei Koussevitsky Helen Traubel Charles Munch 1938 1927 1930 1946 1949 Composer and conductor Conductor Conductor Singer Conductor Ignace J Paderewski Geraldine Farrar Joseph Deems Taylor Marian Anderson Cole Porter 1939 1927 1931 1946 1949 Kirsten Flagstad Pianist, politician Singer Composer, critic Singer Composer 1935 Lauritz Melchior Giulio Gatti-Casazza Ignace Jan Paderewski Yehudi Menuhin Singer Artur Rodziński Gian Carlo Menotti Maria Callas 1940 1923 1928 1932 1947 1950 1956 Artur Rubinstein Edward Johnson Singer Director, Metropolitan Opera Pianist, politician Violinist; 16 years old Conductor Composer Singer 1966 1936 Leopold Stokowski Pianist Johann Sebastian Bach Nellie Melba Mary Garden Lawrence Tibbett Singer Arturo Toscanini Mario Lanza & Enrico Caruso Leonard Bernstein 1940 1968 1927 1930 1933 1948 1951 1957 Jean Sibelius Conductor Dmitri Shostakovich Composer (1685–1750) Singer Singer Singer Conductor Singers Composer, conductor 1937 1942 Beverly Sills Richard Strauss Rosa Ponselle Arturo Toscanini Composer Composer Benjamin Britten Patrice Munsel Renata Tebaldi Rudolf Bing Luciano Pavarotti 1971 1927 1931 1934 1948 1951 1958 1966 1979 Sergei Koussevitsky Sir Thomas Beecham Leontyne Price Singer Georg Solti Composer, conductor Singer Conductor Composer
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Hemsing Associates, Inc
Hemsing Associates, Inc. 401 East 80th Street, Suite 14H New York, NY 10075-0650 Tel.: 212/772-1132 Fax: 212/628-4255 HEMSING ASSOCIATES Public Relations for the Arts Josephine Hemsing Managing Director Dan Cameron Managing Director Vanessa Meiling Haynes Publicity Associate Ellen Churui Li Publicity Associate Joanna Malinowska Graphics Designer www.hemsingpr.com FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE MUSICIANS FOUNDATION TO RECEIVE $25,000 GRANT FROM THE NATIONAL ENDOWMENT FOR THE ARTS Funds To Be Used To Organize NYC Conference Slated For Fall 2021 To Focus On Performing Artists’ Needs in Time of Crisis June 29, 2020, New York City—The Musicians Foundation is honored to announce that it has been granted a generous Art Works award of $25,000 from the National Endowment for the Arts. Funds are to be used to organize a national conference of organizations that assist professional performing artists in times of need and crisis. The conference, which gains urgency and a new significance in the COVID-19 pandemic, is currently slated to take place in New York City in the fall of 2021 and will address the situation in which performing artists have suffered extreme loss of income as current and future engagements have been cancelled. (Depending on COVID-19 government guidelines, the conference might be postponed till spring 2022.) The conference will be organized by the Musicians Foundation in tandem with a Steering Committee of national and regional organizations, including the Actors Fund, MusiCares, Jazz Foundation, and Episcopal Actors Guild. Founded in 1914 by the Bohemians, a group of musicians and music lovers, the Musicans Foundation was first led by such important figures as Frank Damrosch, Franz Kneisel, Rubin Goldmark (teacher to Aaron Copland and George Gershwin,) and Rudolf Schirmer.
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Enrico Caruso
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with A concert bAnd, And he was immediately taken with the unique sound of the THE CRANE WIND ENSEMBLE ensemble. This encounter proved to be the beginning of his long and fruitful relationship with the wind bAnd, resulting in dozens of works thAt hAve become Program Notes • 25 November 2019 the cornerstone of the ensemble’s repertoire. In 1918, the same yeAr he Attained his U.S. citizenship, he composed his first original work for band, titled C HILDREN’ S M ARCH Children’s March, “Over the Hills and Far Away.” O VER THE H ILLS AND F AR A WAY Most of his works from this period were built upon the folk tunes GrAinger hAd Percy Aldridge Grainger so diligently collected, And the melodies of Children’s March seemingly spring from the same source. However, the work is built entirely upon originAl materiAl Although Percy GrAinger was born An AustrAliAn, he spent the mAJority of his and makes full use of the sonorous cApAbilities of the bAnd, with special Attention professional life in England And AmericA. He was An only child, And when his given to the double reeds, saxophones, And piAno. In fact, Children’s March is parents separated in 1890, he developed an inextricable bond with his mother thAt believed to be the first original work for concert band with an integrated piano lasted until her deAth in 1922. She traveled And lived exclusively with Percy, part, complete with the unusual instruction At the very end of the piece thAt the acting as his caretaker, business manAger, And closest confidAnt.
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