Enrico Caruso, the quintessential Italian tenor, was the most beloved singer of his day. Critics agreed that he was also probably the best. Known throughout the Western world for his interpretations of operatic roles, he also captured the popular imagination with Neapolitan songs, sentimental period ballads, and that patriotic favorite of World War I, Over There, rendered in his unique variant of the English language. The emergence of the phonograph made Caruso an entertainer as well as an artist, and he, perhaps more than anyone else, demonstrated its potential as a creative medium.

Born in Naples near the end of Europe's most placid century, Caruso was one of 18 children of working class parents. At considerable financial sacrifice, he studied voice with Vergine, a noted Neapolitan teacher, who, nevertheless, envisioned for him only a modest future. Singing first in provincial theaters and later with touring...