When Enrico Caruso recorded popular songs, he wasn't "crossing over." There was no producer telling him to go for the "youth market." The greatest opera star of his (or maybe any) time simply liked the stuff, in fact, he even wrote pop songs, as did many of his classical-composer contemporaries. And whether the tunes came from the opera, a Sicilian folk song, or American vaudeville, Caruso's response was the same, delivered in his colossal, golden tenor with a sincerity and enthusiasm that seemed to flow right out of the Victrola horn.
CARUSO IN SONG shows the variety of material Caruso tackled outside opera, with songs by Rossini, Tchaikovsky, and Sullivan (without Gilbert,) and a selection of popular songs, including two he wrote himself, "Tiempo antico" and "Dreams of Long Ago." Among the special highlights are a bilingual version of George M. Cohan's "Over There," which has enough brio to bowl the listener over, the favorite "O sole mio," and "Mattinata," a song by Ruggiero Leoncavallo with the composer himself at the piano.