Enrico Caruso Naples in the via Santi Giovanni e Paolo n° 7 on 25 February 1873, he was baptised the next day in the adjacent Church of San Giovanni e Paolo. His parents originally came from Piedimonte d'Alife in the Province of Benevento (now called Piedimonte Matese), in the Province of Caserta in Campania, Southern Italy. Called Errico in accordance with the Neapolitan language, he would later adopt the formal Italian version of his given name, Enrico ("Henry" in English). This change came at the suggestion of his singing teacher Guglielmo Vergine. Caruso was the third of seven children and one of
Enrico Caruso His successful debut at Covent Garden occurred on 14 May 1902, as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi's "Rigoletto". Covent Garden's highest-paid diva, the Australian soprano Nellie Melba, partnered him as Gilda. They would sing together often during the early 1900s. In her memoirs, Melba praised Caruso's voice but considered him to be a less sophisticated musician and interpretive artist than Jean de Reszke—the Met's biggest tenor drawcard prior to Caruso. In 1903, Caruso made his debut with the Metropolitan Opera in New York City. The gap between his London and New York engagements had been filled by a series