Enrico Caruso with dubbed orchestra?

[Marco Gilardetti]

A new Caruso record came by (namely La Voce Del Padrone DA1665 - Musica Proibita / Addio a Napoli) and I have the net impression that the orchestra is sparkling and fizzling as in an electric recording, but then Caruso's voice comes out with that tone we know so well belonging to acoustic recordings. As a side note, there is a patent on the record dated 1943, so it had to be pressed in that year or later. Of course re-pressings of Caruso records are common, but this definitely doesn't sound like a plain re-pressing of any of Caruso's classic recordings.

Does anyone know any detail about when and how this kind of dubbed recordings were carried out? If the orchestra was indeed dubbed, it shouldn't have been so easy to get everything in synch and at the correct pitch.

[gramophone-georg]

These were done by Victor in around 1932, if memory serves, and Nat Shilkret was what we would call the "producer" of these today. They were the first example of older recordings being "updated" into a newer format. Most serious Caruso collectors find them annoying; I find them significant well- done historical artifacts given the technical limitations of the time.

I have seen these pressed on the original special "Curtain" labels all the way through postwar RCA Victor labels, so they must have been in the catalogs a LONG time.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1420

[gramophone-georg]

These were done by Victor in around 1932, if memory serves, and Nat Shilkret was what we would call the "producer" of these today. They were the first example of older recordings being "updated" into a newer format. Most serious Caruso collectors find them annoying; I find them significantly well- done historical artifacts given the technical limitations of the time.

I have seen these pressed on the original special "Curtain" labels all the way through postwar RCA Victor labels, so they must have been in the catalogs a LONG time.

viewtopic.php?f=2&t=1420

[epigramophone]

In 1935 the project was taken over by HMV with Lawrance Collingwood directing the next batch in England.
Wearing earphones through which he could hear the old recording, he had the difficult task of making the orchestra follow the original. During any lengthy orchestral passages the old recording would be shut off to reduce surface noise.

The series ended in 1939. Although most purists despise them, they were an ingenious effort to keep Caruso's records popular.
My father quite liked them, and although I prefer the originals I have kept the re-creations from his collection as well.

[Wolfe]

These were compiled on Pearl, with transfers by Ward Marston.
https://www.amazon.com/Caruso-Electrica ... B000000WN2

They are common to run across. For some years they were the only Caruso records you could buy new. The originals were deleted from the catalog, not to be seen again on 78 until the very end of the 78 era, in the late 40's.

A new Caruso record came by (namely La Voce Del Padrone DA1665 - Musica Proibita / Addio a Napoli)

This coupling was recorded in 1938 / 1927.
Spans the whole era in which these re-recordings were done. First were in '27 and last were in '38.

[Marco Gilardetti]

Thanks everyone for the very informative replies and interesting comments!

[Inigo]

Among my grandparents heirloom, three books - magazines fell in my hands, three thick numbers of a French monthly named 'Le mois' (The Month) for end 1932 and beginning of 1933. They are actual books at least 300 pages long,dealing with all sort of things happened in a month, in France: politics, arts & culture, etc. They have long reports on latest records issued, and one of them describes the first records of this type, Caruso with a modern orchestra added.
I have two of them, one made by Victor on a Spanish pressing Gramófono DB-1386, with:

ENRICO CARUSO V + O
— addio (tosti) — hmv db 1386 gvdsa — Mx. a 9747 tk?1r = 42 754 — Rec. 1932
— africana: deh ch'io ritorni (meyerbeer) — hmv db 1386 gvdsa — Mx. a 24464 ^ 1r 1 = 42 746 — Rec. 1932

And another one made in London much later, another Spanish hmv pressing :

ENRICO CARUSO V + O SFCA
— elisir d'amore: una furtiva lagrima, acto 2º (romani, donizetti) — hmv db 3903 vdsa — Mx. 2ea 8402 1 []
— rigoletto: ella mi fu rapita, acto 2º (piave, verdi) — hmv db 3903 vdsa (3815 30cm s) — Mx. 2ea 8403 1 []

I don't like them very much, but I keep them as curiosities.

[Wolfe]

AllMusic has listening samples from the Pearl CD set I linked above.
https://www.allmusic.com/album/caruso-t ... 0001800934

Some of them are listenable enough, but then you have something like Parce que (Because) and the change in tonal quality when Caruso comes in is too much. Even the original Caruso record doesn't sound that tinny. Maybe they used some kind of crude EQ on that one to make the old record get through the new orchestra sound.

[Viva-voce]

Those Caruso "re-creations" were an interesting experiment. Many of them have laughable synchronization problems. Others take the easy way out (La Donna e mobile) by just having the new orchestral accompaniment playing only in the intro to each verse and barely anywhere else. In between,, it's pretty much the original good ol' "Victor Orchestra" accompaniment haha.

Steven

[Inigo]

Another one discovered in my collection, same treatment given to Tetrazzini's Caro Nome / Una Voce Poco Fa, in this record:

hmv db 1979 grph lvdsm LUISA TETRAZZINI V SOP + O SFCA barbero de sevilla, el: una voce poco fa (acto 1º) sterbili, rossini 2B 5032 I [] 1 M6-69568 32 3864 G
hmv db 1979 grph lvdsm LUISA TETRAZZINI V SOP + O SFCA rigoletto: caro nome (acto 1º) piave, verdi 2B 5033 I [] 1 M6-69667 32 3865 G

It sounds well, but at some places you can listen to the old recording's hiss... My pressing, a french HMV from the thirties, doesn't tell which ones were the original recordings (London, Dec 20th, 1907 or Camden, March 17&18, 1911). The two Caro Nomes (or Cagonome, as VIctor Borge said) have audio files at DAHR, and I've played them both at the same time, using two instances of the browser, curious... I have to check with the record which recordings were actually used.