Enrico Caruso

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Yes, this is THE Enrico Caruso, the famous operatic tenor, not some Old West ranch hand of the same name. But obviously there is a story here which is not known to the general reader.

We need only to give a brief summary of the life of Enrico Caruso. You can fill in the details from many available sources.

Born in 1873 and raised under modest circumstances he was first apprenticed to a construction engineer. But his singing ability made a professional musical career almost inevitable. After 1895 when he appeared in his first opera, the now obscure L'Amico Francesco, he landed increasingly important roles. His performances soon took him around the world. On April 17, 1906, he had performed in San Francisco in Bizet's Carmen.

The next morning at 5:00 o'clock the whole city began to rock. Everyone who could ran from the houses and buildings into the streets. The photographer Arnold Genthe was asleep in his house which although badly damaged did not collapse. He went into the streets and eventually made it to the still-standing St. Francis Hotel. In the lobby he came across Enrico who was in a bathrobe and pajamas. "'Ell of a place! 'Ell of place!" Enrico said. "'Ell of a place! I never come back here." Enrico and his valet made it to Oakland where they took a train to New York.

In addition to his lucrative performing career, Enrico garnered extremely lucrative recording contracts. One source mentioned $4000 per session plus 40 % royalties although the $4000 may have been an advance on the royalties. The one frustration is that Enrico's recordings were all made during the "acoustic" era before the use of electric recording equipment. Even with digital enhancement we can't really hear Enrico at modern quality.

Enrico was on stage on January 12, 1910 - a most notable date - for the first radio broadcast of an opera. During the first World War he had a hit with his rendering of George M. Cohan's "Over There". His performing and recording career continued until his premature death in 1921 at age 48.

During the 20th century there were plenty of opera stars that were known to the general public and were popular celebrities. But over the years even the modern megastars have faded from memory and today it's rare to see an opera star on a talk show or as member of a celebrity quiz panel. And yet after a century Enrico's fame endures.

But for all his fame then and now, there was only one opera that was written specifically for Enrico and with his specific vocal powers in mind. And it was written by the famed composer, Giacomo Puccini.

And what was this opera was it, you ask. La bohème? Tosca? Madame Butterfly?

No, none of those. It was The Girl of the Golden West.

Eh? (To quote Shakespeare translated into Italian.) Did you say The Girl of the Golden West?

Yep. The Girl of the Golden West. And it's exactly what it sounds like.

The Pucinni opera written for the Great Enrico Caruso was a Western.

So pardners, if'n you've a hankerin' to learn about one of the strangest operas ever put to the staves - and which featured one of the most improbable arias ever performed - you don't need to get riled up and slappin' leather. All you have to do is head-'em-up, move-'em-out, and click 'em here.