Francesco Tamagno heard on the stages of London and New York during the late-Victorian Era. Tamagno, however, refused to perform Wagnerian works, even in Italian translation; he believed that the tessitura of the music written for Wagner's tenor heroes lay too low to suit his vocal range. Tamagno lived long enough to witness the rise to fame of the young Enrico Caruso (1873–1921). He admired Caruso's ability, predicting as far back as 1898 that Caruso would go on to become the number-one Italian tenor of the 20th century. As M. J. Phillips-Matz observes in her 2002 Puccini biography, Tamagno and Caruso actually
Giuseppe Caruso (brigand) Giuseppe Caruso (brigand) Giuseppe Caruso, nicknamed "Zi 'Beppe" (Atella, 18 December 1820 - Atella, 1892), was an Italian brigand, the most distinguished of the Lucan banditry. He was, with Giovanni 'Coppa' Fortunato and Ninco Nanco, one of the most ruthless deputies of Carmine Crocco but, after that he was delivered to the Savoy authorities in 1863, he also was one of the responsibles of the suppression of banditry in the Vulture. According to the Crocco's sayings, Caruso killed 124 people in about four years as a fugitive. Before becoming a brigand, Caruso was a rural caretaker for the Saraceno noble