Enrico Caruso – a great singer whose name is undoubtedly known all over the world. Caruso is one of the outstanding representatives of Italian bel canto, a legendary opera artist. He had an exceptionally beautiful voice and virtuoso vocal skills. Deeply and powerfully expressing human feelings and passions, creating dramatically rich tragic images, the singer achieved high expressiveness and character development. The singer fleshed out his characters. His enchanting voice is an example of the highest musical mastery.

Having already won international fame, Caruso in 1903 became a soloist of the New York Metropolitan Opera and continued to tour to the best theatres in America and Europe. His repertoire included more than eighty operas; most often the singer turned to the works of Italian authors (Gaetano Donizetti, Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini and Pietro Mascagni). Neapolitan songs were a decoration of Enrico Caruso's concert programmes. Caruso appeared twice in the famous Guinness Book of Records – as the world's highest-paid opera singer and as the first performer in the history of recording whose records sold millions of copies.

On the birthday of Enrico Caruso, the prominent singer, the ‘king of bel canto’, the owner of a magnificent 2.5 octave voice, we bring to your attention an issue of the series ‘Museum Stories’, which tells about little-known details of his life and creative work.

The museum Collection section “Sculptures” features the sculptural portrait of Enrico Caruso as Dick Johnson in the opera “La Fanciulla del West" (A Girl from the West) by Giacomo Puccini. The opera premiered on December 10, 1910 at the Metropolitan Opera, New York. Arturo Toscanini conducted it. Caruso performed the role of Dick Johnson (Ramerrez). The sculpture was created in 1912.

On the cover: Sculptural portrait by Paolo Troubetzkoy "Enrico Caruso as Dick Johnson.

The sculpture was made at a time when both masters - Enrico Caruso as a tenor and Paolo Troubetzkoy as a sculptor - were at the height of their careers.