Caruso 2000

The idea behind Caruso 2000 is actually not new. In the early '30s, RCA rerecorded some of the legendary tenor's acoustic recordings with newly added orchestral accompaniments, to rather crude results. With today's computer know-how, one can carry out this concept with infinitely more finesse and musicality, as the present release proves. What we have are some of Caruso's most famous and memorable sides, with the voice's overtones pretty much intact, minus the shellac surface noise. Likewise, the blatty orchestras are virtually rubbed out, replaced here in new performances by the Vienna Radio Symphony. It's amazing how accurately conductor Gottfried Rabl pinpoints accompaniments around Caruso's very personalized rubatos. In fact, Rabl sometimes anticipates the singer's special effects rather than reacts to them. The basic problem is that you don't get a tangible sense of Caruso's projection. Compare, for instance, the 1907 "Vesti la Giubba" from I Pagliacci (track 17) to its reconstituted counterpart (track 13). The unadulterated recording reveals the voice in proportion to the blatty orchestra in a finite space, with no dial twiddling or body miking to beef things up. In the new version, voice and orchestra are miraculously matched, yet don't blend. A vocalist will normally adjust his or her voice to the environment, but singers can't do such things when they're dead. Still, a release like this will surely instigate Caruso awareness among budding opera fans, just as Ted Turner's colorized films make classic movies palatable to viewers allergic to black and white. --Jed Distler Amazon.com

Caruso soars over orchestra

The biggest problem with hearing Caruso on 78s is not the surface noise. It's the feeble orchestras that, due to engineering constraints, were the best that could be used. Because Caruso's voice was big and golden and soared over the orchestra in the cavernous Met. And this miraculous recording allows you to hear that! Yes, the voice sounds like it's in a box at times. But when the orchestra is playing along, it is surreal. Caruso singing with the organ in Manon! The strings in Le Cid! And other heavenly moments.
Probably the most extraordinary moment of all is hearing the original Pagliacci at the end. However it is a tad misleading. CDs exaggerate the stratchiness and feebleness. On a Victrola, the orchestra didn't sound that feeble. You heard the voice in the foreground, the orchestra (such as it was) in the background, and balance and tone were more or less accurate. Didn't Enrico Caruso, Jr., say, "I don't listen to the CDs. When I hear the 78s -- that's Papà." January 14, 2008

Five stars for a brave endeavour

As in the earlier attempts, made from 1927 to 1939, the graftings of new accompaniments around Caruso'd voice are not uniformly successful throughout the present series of (so far) three CDs

However, they represent a worthy endeavour, and one that i hope will be supported by good sales of these CDs. BMG and the Austrian Radio are to be commended for trying again to make the original recordings of the voice more acceptable by providing fresh and respectful accompaniments. Indeed, it seems to me that there is an atmosphere of reverence and affectiion surrounding these new presentations.

It would be most unfortunate were potential listeners and CD buyers to be discouraged from hearing them because of negative and subjective comments made by some reviewers. All reviewers are surely entitled to make their opinions available, but it should be clearly understood that they are opinions and not necessarily facts. The truth in this matter lies somewhere in the middle ground between uncritical enthusiasm and horrified repugnance. Please hear them with open ears and as far as possible with objectivity - and then several times. September 29, 2007

Caruso 2000 - The world's greatest Tenor ever...

Tenor Enrico Caruso - who died in 1921 - in the year 2000?!? YES, if you like Caruso or if you just like opera and would like to hear Caruso, this is a good starter. It is Caruso's voice with a new recorded orchestra. Almost 100 years between!
I find this CD VERY entertaining. For Caruso specialists this might be of lesser interest, because it is so different from the originals - being the scratchy old 78s recorded acoustically.

Use this CD as you would use any other music CD, listen and enjoy. I have to rate this as a 5 star release.

I love it!
René January 11, 2007

Simply Disgraceful

What they have done to Caruso's voice for the sake of fitting his voice to the modern orchestration is simply disgraceful and offensive. The producers of this CD clearly must have assumed that anyone listening to it, would not have heard the original recordings on '78. But I have--all of arias compiled on the CD. And the Caruso voice is so distorted in most of the arias that it is almost unrecognizable. It is as though the producers sped up or slowed down the tempos of the Caruso original recordings to best fit the orchestration. If you want to hear Caruso's voice as it really sounded, don't buy this CD. Stick to the original '78's. April 12, 2005

a wonderful effort

After reading the lastest negative reviews of this cd. I am compelled to answer the critique. Ok the cd is not perfect. But we are talking about recordings almost a century old. To be able to sit and listen to Caruso without annoyance is marvelous. The reviewer starts his dialogue by saying the Caruso's voice is over rated and this is where he is coming from. I have heard and seen the best and they are all compared to Caruso. November 24, 2002

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