Enrico Caruso & Alma Gluck - Libiamo

Ah, the best laid plans of mice and men are…I think you know the rest.

Due to unforeseen medical setbacks…not to mention a few irritating technical issues…Dead Tenors’ Society will not be presenting the full array of videos I had planned to offer this week. Usually in a situation such as this, I simply post one of my own videos. I will not be doing that THIS time, however, for the following reasons…

1. Videos of me singing seem to annoy and upset some people.
2. I’m not in the mood to be compared to the great tenors of the past.
3. I REALLY want to hear more Caruso.

It was my intention to continue our salute to Enrico Caruso by featuring several more of the wonderful duets he recorded with his illustrious colleagues. Obviously, that isn’t going to happen, so, for your listening pleasure, I would like to post the one and only video I was able to complete before the aforementioned issues overtook me. From April 20, 1914, here is Caruso with Romanian soprano Alma Gluck (1884-1938) singing the brindisi, “Libiamo, ne’ lieti calici” from Act I of Verdi’s La Traviata. Caruso’s lighthearted approach to this music is delightful. His inflection on the phrase “s’inebrii a voluttà” is absolutely charming. The rubato Caruso takes on the very next line, “Libiam ne’ dolci fremiti”, and again on “poiché quell’occhio al core onnipotente va”, would be considered an indulgence by today’s conductors…not the sort of thing an Alfredo would be allowed to do. This is a real shame, for I enjoy Caruso’s “indulgences”, modern tastes be damned. And is that a trill Caruso inserts on the F before the final B flat? This is a very fine recording, with some unusual but effective syllabification from Gluck and a very nice blend between the singers. When one listens to Caruso’s mastery of this music, it makes it all the more heartbreaking that he never recorded any of the other great moments from this opera.

With a bit of luck, Dead Tenors’ Society (and I) will be running at full steam next week. Until then, thank you all for your continued viewership.