caruso

 

 

“Caruso" is a song written by Italian singer-songwriter Lucio Dalla in 1986. It is dedicated to Enrico Caruso, an Italian tenor.

This song is most probably a way of romanticizing Enrico Caruso's last days in Sorrento and Napoli. Enrico Caruso, a great legend of the Italian Opera was one of the greatest and most sought-after singers during the late 19th and early 20th century. He lived a very difficult and rather unhappy life having had many challenges and problems with Italian opera houses. He gained more fame and success in the United States.

 

He was born to a very poor family in Naples. He was often involved with women and had several love affairs with prominent married women in the performing arts. These love affairs often ended badly. With Ada Giachetti (his most passionate and longest love affair) who was already married, he had two sons, but in the end she left him for their chauffeur. Then he met and wed a woman 20 years his junior, Dorothy Park Benjamin, just a few years before he died, whom Lucio Dalla describes in this song "Caruso". With her he had a daughter named