22.00USD
Enrico Caruso, 1873-1921, was an Italian tenor who thrilled audiences all over Europe and the Americas. He sang in St. Petersburg for the Czar, appeared before the King of England by royal command, was 18 seasons lead tenor with the Met in New York, and was the first recording artist ever to sell a million copies of a record (an early recording of Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci).
Fame and fortune, however, did not come quickly or easily to Caruso. He came from a relatively humble background in Naples Italy, and according to a really fine Wikipedia article, he was 18 years old before he bought his first new pair of shoes with money he'd earned singing.
How do we know this card dates back to around 1905 as we suggest in this listing title? Well, apart from our amazing powers of psychic card dating :), cards published in Germany, as this one was, seldom had divided backs before 1904, and oh, we read a newspaper article taken from a 1906 New York Times which made a huge deal about a never before seen mustache-less Caruso! Such fun. Brief and amusing. You can read it too. Link below.
http://query.nytimes.com/mem/archive-free/pdf?res=990CE3DD1331E733A2575BC0A9649D946797D6CF
To hear an early recording of Signor Caruso singing the marvelous Vesti la giubba from Pagliacci (the aria he sold a million records of), follow this link to a youtube video. This is the aria that so many Hollywood styled Italian gangsters are portrayed as weeping to, but we'll let youse guys in on a little secret. You don't gotta be a tough guy. Red weeps buckets whenevah dis here song is played :) Link below.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yp3Vi1CspgE
Caruso lived a remarkable life and brought joy to millions with his gorgeous voice. In 1921, at the age of 48, he succumbed to a kidney infection resulting from undiagnosed pleurisy.
This is such a great image. Gorgeous tones and contrast. It was printed in Germany for what looks very much like a German publishing house with offices in London, Breitkopf and Haertel, and also there is a shared attribution with the Parisian music publishers, Costallat et Cie. Very nice unposted condition.
Please examine our high res scans for detail.
Postage is for first class shipping in a secure photo mailer, and we happily combine shipping on all paper goods. If you purchase two cards, we will refund the postage on the second card, and when you purchase three or more cards from us at the same time, your shipping will be entirely free, except for international orders which, because of sudden increases in international shipping rates will still be charged one card's shipping fees on orders of three or more.
And please come visit our blog at:
redpoulaine.blogspot.com
where we post biographical and historical tidbits, images of cards and photographs for sale, some already sold but remembered fondly, related images of historical interest and sometimes even images of items that have not yet arrived in the shop, but that are expected to arrive soon, as well as coupon codes, links to other related sites, and more!