The bond between Enrico Caruso and the Bellosguardo Hill above Lastra a Signa was a love one, born after the relationship with Ada Giachetti. They visited the ruined country house together, bought it and lived there more uxorio. Caruso invested a huge amount of money in the re-building of the house, giving work to the locals in a time when the major source of income -the straw manifacturing- had a strong crisis. The result was a beautiful mansion, in a dominant position above the Arno valley, with a majestic Italian garden and agricultural estate.
Enrico Caruso was the very first Italian divo, a tenor who knew how to use all the tools belonging to that age, from the (silent) cinema to the recording on vinyl to amplify his voice over and over, in addiction to the stage exhibitions. The exposition is in the rooms of the noble floor of the mansion, including the tenor bedroom, with original furniture. In another room there are Caruso's drawings, mostly caricatures that Caruso used to draw to relax. There is also a collection of gramophones of the first years of XX century, all working, to testify the importance of recording his works. You will see then photos, both private and of shows and colleagues, shedules of the numerous theatres where Caruso performed all over the world, and scenes costumes, that will be exposed in rotation.
The museum also boasts special visual and audio effects, the sonor gushes, that you can enjoy in the music room: as if Caruso's voice invests the vistor who comes closer to the showcase. The Enrico Caruso Museum is in Villa Caruso Bellosguardo, above Lasta a Signa.
Museo Enrico Caruso
Via Bellosguardo, 54 Lastra a Signa
