Luisa Tetrazzini

Caruso and Tetrazzini on the Art of Singing (Dodo Press) Luisa Tetrazzini

Enrico/Errico Caruso (1873-1921) was an Italian opera singer. As has been stated repeatedly in print by reputable critics, biographers and musicologists, he was one of the greatest and most influential tenors in history. Caruso was also one of the most significant singers in any genre in the first two decades of the 20th Century and one of the most important pioneers of recorded music. Indeed, Caruso's popular recordings and his extraordinary voice, known for its youthful beauty, mature power and unequalled richness of tone, made him perhaps the best-known operatic star of his era. Luisa Tetrazzini (1871-1940) was an Italian dramatic coloratura soprano. She enjoyed a tremendously successful operatic and concert career in Europe and America from the 1890s through to the 1920s. Her final years were marred by poverty and ill-health. In 1907 Tetrazzini made a sensational debut as Violetta in La Traviata at Covent Garden in London, where she was completely unknown, and from that point on she was an international operatic superstar, commanding the highest fees and selling out opera houses and concert halls wherever she performed.