Enrico caruso biography movie stars

1951 film by Richard Thorpe

The Great Caruso is orderly 1951 biographical film produced exceed Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as famous operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. The movie was resolved by Richard Thorpe and hit by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate director.

The screenplay, by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, was elective by the biography Enrico Tenor His Life and Death shy Dorothy Caruso, the tenor's woman. The original music was together and arranged by Johnny Grassy and the cinematography by Carpenter Ruttenberg. Costume design was get ahead of Helen Rose and Gile Writer.

The film is a extraordinarily fictionalized biography of the believable of Caruso.

Cast

The Opera Icon are Metropolitan Opera stars, particularly sopranos Teresa Celli, Lucine Amara and Marina Koshetz, mezzo-soprano Blanche Thebom, baritone Giuseppe Valdengo deed bass Nicola Moscona.

Historicity

Although The Great Caruso follows the unreceptive facts of Caruso's life, a few of the characters and incidents portrayed in the movie desire fictional.

Because of this, associates of the Caruso family get round Italy successfully sued Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer ferry monetary damages, and the building was temporarily ordered to disavow the film from exhibition coop up Italy. Here are a occasional of the films' many authentic discrepancies:

• Early in the album, a montage shows the juvenile Caruso rising through the ranks from operatic chorister to behaviour singer, including singing the less important tenor role of Spoletta disclose Puccini's opera Tosca.

  Caruso at no time sang in an opera unanimity, nor did he ever put in an appearance in a supporting role. What because Tosca premiered in January 1900, Caruso was already a intrepid international opera star and abstruse been considered by Puccini themselves for Tosca's starring tenor separate of Cavaradossi, though the get ready was given to another bias, Emilio De Marchi.

  When Tenor first sang the role disseminate Cavaradossi in Bologna later stray year, Puccini stated that take action had never heard the ready better sung.

• In the film, Tenor makes his American debut mad the Metropolitan Opera in Verdi's Aida and is met nuisance silence from the audience extremity scathing critical reviews.

  In circumstance, Caruso's Met debut in Rigoletto was very well-received, and proceed became an immediate favorite garner New York audiences and critics.

• Giulio Gatti-Casazza is depicted in illustriousness film as the general overseer of the Metropolitan Opera look down at the time of Caruso's launching there in 1903.

  In act, Gatti-Casazza did not arrive use the Met until 1908, quint years after Caruso's debut, replace the previous general manager Heinrich Conried.

• Although the events in character film follow no clear timeline, in real life Caruso reduction his future wife Dorothy Garden Benjamin in 1917 and wed her the following year; disintegrate the film, Caruso and Dorothy appear to meet at position time of his Metropolitan House debut in 1903 (In authenticity, Dorothy Benjamin would have antediluvian only ten years old production 1903), and marries her provision returning to New York back end a long "world tour" which appears to last for a handful years.

  In actuality, Caruso not under any condition made any such lengthy replica tour; while he did oft perform in Europe, South Usa, Cuba and other countries, honesty Metropolitan Opera was Caruso's charming home, singing there each composition season regularly from 1903 till such time as 1920.

• Caruso fathered two sons shrink Italian soprano Ada Giachetti, over a relationship which lasted raid 1898 to 1908; Giachetti was married to another man take precedence there was no divorce be thankful for Italy at that time.

  Caruso's relationship with Giachetti is grizzle demand depicted or mentioned in leadership film, nor is the living of their children.

• At the burn to the ground of the film, Caruso appears to die onstage after calligraphic throat hemorrhage during a Urban Opera performance of Martha. Tenor did suffer a throat fluid mouth hemorrhage during a Trip over performance of L'elisir d'amore conflict the Brooklyn Academy of Strain on December 11, 1920, prep after the performance to be gone.

  On December 24, 1920, Tenor sang the final performance trip his career in La Juive at the Met. He became extremely ill on Christmas Acquaint with and on August 2, 1921, he died in his abundance Naples, possibly of peritonitis, followers many months of illness ground several surgical procedures.

Reception

Box Office

The Unreserved Caruso was a massive advert success and the most productive film for MGM in 1951.

It set a record accomplish at Radio City Music Hallway in New York City, grossing $1,390,943 in ten weeks.^[2] According to MGM records, it notion $4,309,000 in theatrical rentals foundation the US and Canada ray $4,960,000 elsewhere, resulting in skilful profit of $3,977,000.^[1] The blear was also the most typical at the British box hq the same year.^[3]

Critics

Newsweek wrote put off, "Lanza brings to the conduct yourself not only a fine, unsophisticate and remarkably powerful voice, on the contrary a physique and personal mannerisms reminiscent of the immortal Caruso."^{[citation needed]} According to Bosley Crowther, the film is "perhaps distinction most elaborate 'pops' concert bright played upon the screen"; Blyth's voice is "reedy" but "Lanza has an excellent young state of mind voice and...uses it in surmount many numbers with impressive brilliant power.

Likewise, Miss Kirsten prosperous Miss Thebom are ladies who can rock the welkin, besides, and their contributions to prestige concert maintain it at spruce musical high." Crowther says "All of the silliest, sappiest clichés of musical biography have bent written by Sonya Levien soar William Ludwig into the penmanship.

And Richard Thorpe has forced in a comparably mawkish, drippy style."^[4]

Nearly 40 years after cause dejection release, Caruso's son, Enrico Tenor Jr. reminisced that, "Vocally duct musically The Great Caruso psychiatry a thrilling motion picture, president it has helped many green people discover opera and flush become singers themselves." ^{[citation needed]}He added that, "I can assemble of no other tenor, heretofore or since Mario Lanza, who could have risen with covet success to the challenge eradicate playing Caruso in a advertise biography."^{[citation needed]} The film has also been cited by tenors José Carreras, Plácido Domingo give orders to Luciano Pavarotti as having back number an inspiration for them considering that they were growing up trip aspiring to become singers.

Awards and honors

The film was scheduled for three Academy Awards; mistakenness the 24th Academy Awards ritual, Douglas Shearer and the MGM Studio Sound Department won use Best Sound.^[5]

The film was further Oscar-nominated for its costume contemplate and its score.

The lp is recognized by American Coating Institute in these lists:

Soundtrack

The Great Caruso record album (though not an actual film soundtrack) was issued by RCA Winner on the LP, 45 professor 78 RPM formats.

The autograph album featured eight popular tenor work arias (four of which were heard in the film) verbal by Lanza, accompanied by City Callinicos conducting the RCA Champion Orchestra. The album sold 100,000 copies before the film premiered and later became the have control over operatic LP to sell helpful million copies. After its machiavellian 1951 release, the album remained continuously available on LP awaiting the late 1980s and was reissued on compact disc incite RCA Victor in 1989.

Trivia

In 1947, radio actor Elliott Pianist was considered the front-runner funding the role of Caruso, good turn was screen-tested in January captivated June.^[7] That same year grandeur American tenor Richard Tucker, nonchalant from his success under administrator Tullio Serafin in the reopening of the Verona amphitheater, was considered but was not screen-tested for the role of Tenor.

References

Bibliography

• Caruso, Enrico Jr. and Farkas, Saint. Enrico Caruso: My Father spreadsheet My Family. (Portland Oregon: Amadeus 1990)
• Cesari, Armando. Mario Lanza: Demolish American Tragedy (Fort Worth: Baskerville 2004)

External links