Enrico Caruso was the Neapolitan tenor whose 1902-1920 acoustic recordings — most famously his 1907 'Vesti la giubba' from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, the first record to sell a million copies — effectively invented the commercial market for the recorded solo voice. His sustained, full-throated bel canto delivery set the international standard against which nearly every subsequent popular tenor, including Brazil's radio-era 'bel canto' singers, measured a powerful high register.

the sound in question

1907

Vesti la giubbaEnrico Caruso