Enrico Caruso US Stamp

This articles features the Enrico Caruso US stamp from 1987 and its use on a stunning cachet. Musicians appear regularly on US stamps, especially since the Legends of American Music series. However, only a handful of those musicians on US stamps were born outside of the country. This select list includes musicians across genres from Igor Stravinsky to The Beatles. Make sure to look at my full checklist of musicians on US stamps. Among that small group is the operatic tenor Enrico Caruso. He was the most famous tenor of his generation and became immensely popular throughout the world. Caruso appears on stamps from countries across the world. The choice of Caruso for a US stamp, of course, is due to his immense popularity within the country.

Enrico Caruso

Born in Naples, Enrico Caruso came from a poor Italian family. His father was a mechanic and also worked in a foundry. At the age of eleven, Caruso was placed in an apprenticeship with a mechanical engineer. However, his mother made sure that Caruso also went to school. For that reason, Caruso had a basic education and could read and write. His musical education took a back seat and as a teenager he only sang in his church choir. However, as his voice matured, his talent began to be recognized.

To help his family, Caruso found work as a street singer in Naples, performing at cafes and parties. It was only at the age of twenty-two that Caruso made a debut on a professional state, at the Teatro Nuovo in Naples. This began a period of time in which Caruso sang at provincial Italian opera houses, while he took lessons from the voice teacher Vincenzo Lombardi.

Finally, in 1900, Caruso made a debut at the famed La Scala opera house in Milan. On December 26th, he sang the role of Rodolfo in Puccini’s La bohème with Arturo Toscanini conducting. This was during a critical part of his career when he was rapidly building his reputation as a tenor. The following February, he sang once again at La Scala in a grand memorial concert for the death of Giuseppe Verdi.

Recordings and International Career

In April of 1902, Caruso was hired by the Gramophone Company to make a set of recordings for a fee of 100 pounds sterling. The ten discs became immediate best seller. They made the twenty-nine year old Caruso famous throughout the English-speaking world. This led to the Royal Opera House at Covent Garden to sign him for a season in which he appeared in eight different operas. Then, in 1903, Caruso made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera in New York. Soon after, he made another record deal with the Victor company. He recorded his first American records on February 1, 1904. Over the next fifteen years, Caruso would appear with The Met 863 times (including on tour). He appeared at opera houses across Europe and in 1917 went on a South American tour to Argentina, Uruguay, and Brazil. In 1920, for a single performance in Havana, Cuba, Caruso made $10,000.

Caruso was injured on a lengthy American concert tour in 1920. During a performance at the Brooklyn Academy of Music on December 11th of that year, Caruso had a throat hemorrhage. His health deteriorated and he sang only a couple of more times before becoming mostly bedridden for many months. He died on August 2, 1921 at the age of forty-eight.

Caruso was one of the first musical artists of any genre to capitalize on recording technology. He made more than 260 recordings for the Victor company alone (in addition to his earlier records for Gramaphone). These records made him immensely famous, he was one of the first global celebrities. In turn, audiences who heard his recordings clamored to buy tickets to his live performances. The result is that his fame as one of opera’s great tenors continues well into the twenty-first century.

The Stamp

The US stamp depicting Enrico Caruso became available on February 27, 1987 and bears a 22 cent denomination. The colorful portrait depicts Caruso in his role as the Duke of Mantua in Verdi’s Rigoletto. The design for the stamp was by Jim Sharpe and the ceremony releasing the stamp took place at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

A Beautiful cachet

I have a beautiful cachet from the first day ceremony that took place at The Met. It includes both the Caruso stamp and the 1983 stamp depicting The Metropolitan Opera House. The envelope has a full decoration with Caruso depicted as the clown from Pagliacci holding a large bass drum.

The hand painted cachet is by Lois Hamilton, whose signature “Ham” can be seen in the lower right corner of the envelope. Hamilton began decorating cachets around 1969 and continued until 2009. Her beautiful cachets are rather rare and sought after by cachet collectors.

Of course, make sure to check out some of Enrico Caruso’s recordings. Here, listen to his 1916 recording of “Santa Lucia.”