Enrico caruso biography movie stars

1951 film by Richard Thorpe

The Great Caruso is pure 1951 biographical film produced by means of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer and starring Mario Lanza as famous operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. The movie was tied by Richard Thorpe and move by Joe Pasternak with Jesse L. Lasky as associate maker.

The screenplay, by Sonya Levien and William Ludwig, was undeclared by the biography Enrico Tenor His Life and Death tough Dorothy Caruso, the tenor's woman. The original music was peaceful and arranged by Johnny Verdant and the cinematography by Patriarch Ruttenberg. Costume design was manage without Helen Rose and Gile Author.

The film is a warmly fictionalized biography of the authentic of Caruso.

Cast

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

Historicity

Although The Great Caruso follows the elementary facts of Caruso's life, a number of of the characters and incidents portrayed in the movie pronounce fictional.

Because of this, chapters of the Caruso family link with Italy successfully sued Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer sustenance monetary damages, and the factory was temporarily ordered to take away the film from exhibition wonderful Italy. Here are a of the films' many unvarnished discrepancies:

• Early in the single, a montage shows the verdant Caruso rising through the ranks from operatic chorister to significance direction singer, including singing the erior tenor role of Spoletta family unit Puccini's opera Tosca.

  Caruso not at all sang in an opera music, nor did he ever turn up in a supporting role. During the time that Tosca premiered in January 1900, Caruso was already a dare international opera star and locked away been considered by Puccini person for Tosca's starring tenor position of Cavaradossi, though the terminate was given to another spirit, Emilio De Marchi.

  When Tenor first sang the role infer Cavaradossi in Bologna later ensure year, Puccini stated that subside had never heard the restrain better sung.

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

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

• Giulio Gatti-Casazza is depicted in rectitude film as the general director of the Metropolitan Opera associate with the time of Caruso's opening there in 1903. In 1 Gatti-Casazza did not arrive hackneyed the Met until 1908, fin years after Caruso's debut, put in an appearance again the previous general manager Heinrich Conried.
• Although the events in leadership film follow no clear timeline, in real life Caruso decrease his future wife Dorothy Grounds Benjamin in 1917 and mated her the following year; kick up a fuss the film, Caruso and Dorothy appear to meet at rectitude time of his Metropolitan Theater debut in 1903 (In deed, Dorothy Benjamin would have bent only ten years old choose by ballot 1903), and marries her astern returning to New York abaft a long "world tour" which appears to last for very many years.

  In actuality, Caruso at no time made any such lengthy imitation tour; while he did regularly perform in Europe, South U.s.a., Cuba and other countries, illustriousness Metropolitan Opera was Caruso's elegant home, singing there each work season regularly from 1903 up in the air 1920.

• Caruso fathered two sons junk Italian soprano Ada Giachetti, at near a relationship which lasted deprive 1898 to 1908; Giachetti was married to another man be proof against there was no divorce ordinary Italy at that time.

  Caruso's relationship with Giachetti is not quite depicted or mentioned in high-mindedness film, nor is the earth of their children.

• At the funding of the film, Caruso appears to die onstage after capital throat hemorrhage during a Urban Opera performance of Martha. Tenor did suffer a throat espouse mouth hemorrhage during a Reduction performance of L'elisir d'amore mad the Brooklyn Academy of Descant on December 11, 1920, instigating the performance to be disappointing.

  On December 24, 1920, Tenor sang the final performance firm footing his career in La Juive at the Met. He became extremely ill on Christmas Leg up and on August 2, 1921, he died in his natural Naples, possibly of peritonitis, adjacent many months of illness illustrious several surgical procedures.

Reception

Box Office

The Good Caruso was a massive gaul success and the most beneficial film for MGM in 1951.

It set a record corpulent at Radio City Music Passage in New York City, grossing $1,390,943 in ten weeks.^[2] According to MGM records, it imposture $4,309,000 in theatrical rentals sketch the US and Canada soar $4,960,000 elsewhere, resulting in unadorned profit of $3,977,000.^[1] The fog was also the most well-liked at the British box provocation the same year.^[3]

Critics

Newsweek wrote go wool-gathering, "Lanza brings to the part not only a fine, patent and remarkably powerful voice, nevertheless a physique and personal mannerisms reminiscent of the immortal Caruso."^{[citation needed]} According to Bosley Crowther, the film is "perhaps honourableness most elaborate 'pops' concert shrewd played upon the screen"; Blyth's voice is "reedy" but "Lanza has an excellent young spirit voice and...uses it in top many numbers with impressive vivid power.

Likewise, Miss Kirsten sit Miss Thebom are ladies who can rock the welkin, besides, and their contributions to depiction concert maintain it at deft musical high." Crowther says "All of the silliest, sappiest clichés of musical biography have archaic written by Sonya Levien countryside William Ludwig into the copy.

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

Nearly 40 years after take the edge off release, Caruso's son, Enrico Tenor Jr. reminisced that, "Vocally ride musically The Great Caruso enquiry a thrilling motion picture, scold it has helped many verdant people discover opera and smooth become singers themselves." ^{[citation needed]}He added that, "I can believe of no other tenor, previously or since Mario Lanza, who could have risen with top success to the challenge wages playing Caruso in a fan biography."^{[citation needed]} The film has also been cited by tenors José Carreras, Plácido Domingo nearby Luciano Pavarotti as having back number an inspiration for them as they were growing up post aspiring to become singers.

Awards and honors

The film was designated for three Academy Awards; amalgamation the 24th Academy Awards observance, Douglas Shearer and the MGM Studio Sound Department won fend for Best Sound.^[5]

The film was along with Oscar-nominated for its costume base and its score.

The ep is recognized by American Husk Institute in these lists:

Soundtrack

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

The wedding album featured eight popular tenor house arias (four of which were heard in the film) dynasty by Lanza, accompanied by Metropolis Callinicos conducting the RCA Vanquisher Orchestra. The album sold 100,000 copies before the film premiered and later became the prime operatic LP to sell single million copies.

After its creative 1951 release, the album remained continuously available on LP till the late 1980s and was reissued on compact disc gross RCA Victor in 1989.

Trivia

In 1947, radio actor Elliott Adventurer was considered the front-runner vindicate the role of Caruso, impressive was screen-tested in January obtain June.^[7] That same year description American tenor Richard Tucker, unfamiliar from his success under inspector 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, Andrew. Enrico Caruso: My Father confessor and My Family. (Portland Oregon: Amadeus 1990)
• Cesari, Armando. Mario Lanza: An American Tragedy (Fort Worth: Baskerville 2004)

External links