Enrico Caruso as Bass in La Bohéme: Vecchia zimarra

This is Caruso singing the BASS of the “Coat Song“ in La Bohéme, Act IV. It was never intended for public release and only distributed to a few of Caruso’s friends. Recorded on the 23rd of February 1916. Here’s the story: the MET was performing the opera in Philadelphia with the soprano Frances Alda, the baritone Antonio Scotti, the bass Andrés De Segurola and Caruso as tenor, of course. When Andrés de Segurola was about to sing the aria, he whispered: “I lost my voice, I can’t sing.“ Caruso said: “D