Italian Americans (founded in 1880), but it was the arrival of impresario Giulio Gatti-Casazza in 1908, who brought with him conductor Arturo Toscanini, that made the Met an internationally known musical organization. Many Italian operatic singers and conductors were invited to perform for American audiences, most notably, tenor Enrico Caruso. The premiere of the opera La Fanciulla del West on December 10, 1910, with conductor Toscanini and tenor Caruso, and with the composer Giacomo Puccini in attendance, was a major international success as well as an historic event for the entire Italian American community. Italian Americans became involved in entertainment and sports.
Girolamo Caruso Girolamo Caruso Girolamo Caruso (September 18, 1842, Alcamo, province of Trapani – January 2, 1923, Pisa), was an Italian agronomist and university teacher. He was born in Alcamo and graduated in Agriculture at the university of Naples in 1861. After spending some years in the army, first as a volunteer and later as commissioner of Military engineering, in 1864 he was appointed as teacher of agriculture at the agrarian provincial school of Corleone (Palermo), and its director until 1867, when he moved to Messina to teach at the Technical Institute. Nel 1862, aged only 20, Caruso started to deal with