CARUSO E GLI EMIGRATI (Racconto italiano)

CARUSO Y LOS EMIGRANTES - Traducción al español
Corría el año mil novecientos quince. Ya toda Europa estaba en llamas y también Italia estaba por entrar en el primer conflicto mundial. Enrico Caruso se encontraba en América, y hacía visibles las audiencias del Metropolitan.
Un día se le presentaron cinco jóvenes emigrantes italianos.
-Señor Caruso -le dicen-, no dejamos América, regresamos a Italia porque no queremos ser considerados desertores. Al Metropolitan no hemos podido poner pie, como usted puede muy bien imaginarse. Somos pobre gente, nosotros. Pero no queremos ir a la guerra sin haber nunca escuchado cantar a Caruso. Aquí está. Hemos recogido doscientos dólares.
Y uno de ellos, el que hablaba, extendía a Caruso, con sus manos rudas y toscas, un montón de billetes de pequeño valor.
-Mis muchachos... -decía Caruso, empujando con la palma aquella mano encallecida.
-¡No! -insistía el joven que había tomado la iniciativa, suponiendo un rechazo del famoso tenor- déjenos hablar y luego nos dará su respuesta. Son pocos doscientos dólares, lo sabemos, pero más no podemos. Quisiéramos que, por esta suma, usted, una de estas noches, la noche que usted quiera, nos cantara una canción, ¡una sola canción! Pero quisiéramos que fuera "da Titina", una cantina italiana no lejos de aquí.
La garganta de oro de Caruso se bloqueó con un nudo de llanto.
-Mis muchachos..., no una, sino cuantas canciones quieran. Y los doscientos dólares llévenlos a Italia, llévenselos a sus madres. Conozco "da Titina". Nos vemos mañana por la noche a las nueve.
Caruso pasó toda una noche, toda una noche cantando canciones no sólo para esos cinco italianos: la cantina no pudo contener a la multitud, que llenó todas las calles adyacentes.
MARIO SOLOMONOFF, bass baritone, reciter, actor.
Born in Buenos Aires, Argentina, Mario Solomonoff began his musical education with classical guitar, and later turned to singing. After abandoning his architecture studies, he was accepted by audition to the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón, and subsequently performed in several institutions throughout his country before moving to Europe, where he resided for almost nine years.
In 1964, he won First Prize in Voice at the Conservatoire National Supérieur de Musique de Paris, and made his professional operatic debut as Don Basilio in Rossini's "The Barber of Seville", sung in French at the Théâtre Municipal de Rennes (France). He was a finalist in the Geneva singing competition, and in 1965 he received the Diploma di Benemerenza at the "G. Verdi" competition in Busseto (Italy). That same year, he was chosen by conductor Gianandrea Gavazzeni to sing the role of Colline in Puccini's "La Bohème", after winning his category at the competition in Reggio-Emilia (Italy). He performed the role in various Italian cities and in the former Yugoslavia, alongside renowned artists such as Luciano Pavarotti and Mirella Freni.
As a soloist with the Camerata di Cremona, he performed at the Piccola Scala in Milan, and later portrayed the King in Verdi's "Aida" and Pascual in Arrieta's "Marina" at the Gran Teatro del Liceo in Barcelona. He was again contracted by the Liceo for the "Festivales de España 1968".
Mario Solomonoff gave numerous concerts with the RAI orchestra in Milan, the Camerata Philarmonica in Frankfurt, and the Maison de l'ORTF in Paris.
From 1973 to 2006, he performed uninterruptedly for thirty-four consecutive seasons at the Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires as a member of the soloists ensemble, as well as in various cities throughout Latin America.
In 1991, he set a true record by performing fifty-one performances of "The Barber of Seville" in Buenos Aires, and was the soloist in the Homage Concert to the Teatro Colón, which had been declared a National Historic Monument. He bid a final farewell to the stage in 2011, after a career spanning fifty-two years. In addition to his artistic activities, he has taught at the Universidad del Salvador de Buenos Aires, the Instituto Superior de Arte del Teatro Colón, and the Teatro Argentino de La Plata. He has served on juries for the selection of singers and voice teachers, and in 2009 he was invited to France to give master classes.
Solomonoff is the author of the book "MUSICAL JOURNEY THROUGH SINGING" (Ed. 2018), a text on the history of the human voice in music, rich in anecdotes, which includes an appendix on the correct pronunciation of French in operatic singing.

[@14Aymara]

Hermosa historia, recitada en un perfecto italiano a pesar de no ser esa su lengua materna.. Su larga trayectoria en el bel canto , por cierto notable, hace que su voz la vuelva más emotiva aún. Gracias por este regalo inesperado.! 🌹

[@MarioSolomonoff]

Muchísimas gracias por sus palabras hacia mi persona. Me alegra su consideración. Cordial saludo.