Enrico Caruso sings the opening Siciliana from Mascagni's opera 'Cavalleria Rusticana'. I believe that he's singing it in a Sicilian dialect since these aren't the words one usually reads in the score.
Turlough O'Carolan was one of the last harpers in the Irish bardic tradition. Living from 1670-1738, he was instrumental in fusing traditional song with Baroque sensibility.
No getting away from it- this is the man who did more than any other artist to popularize the nascent gramophone industry. Here he sings the Neapolitan favorite 'Santa Lucia'. Even today the name holds a special cachet- these records that sold for $2.00 new, command prices at flea markets that capitalize on the Caruso name no matter what condition the disk is in.
Ernestine Schumann-Heink sings Schubert's song 'Erlkönig'. A father and his feverish, young son ride late at night through the wind. The son hallucinates a willow tree to be the Earl King whose daughters entice the young lad to come with them........
![Feodor Chaliapin- Siberian Prisoners\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/duXreNSb_os/2.jpg "Feodor Chaliapin- Siberian Prisoners\")
![Carolan\](http://img.youtube.com/vi/I066W7i7xTY/2.jpg "Carolan\")
