* choose a star * -- Performing -- José Carreras - Spanish tenor Placido Domingo - Spanish tenor Mirella Freni - Italian Soprano Kiri Te Kanawa - New Zealander soprano Luciano Pavarotti - Italian tenor Bryn Terfel - Welsh baritone -- Retired -- Franco Corelli - Italian tenor Marilyn Horne - American mezzo-soprano Leontyne Price - American Soprano Giuseppe di Stefano - Italian tenor Beverly Sills - American soprano Joan Sutherland - Australian soprano -- Stars of the Past -- Jussi Bjorling - Swedish tenor Maria Callas - American soprano Enrico Caruso - Italian tenor Fyodor Chaliapin - Russian bass Tito Gobbi - Italian baritone Lotte Lehmann - German soprano Nellie Melba - Australian soprano Lauritz Melchior - Dutch Tenor Rosa Ponselle - American soprano Francesco Tamagno - Italian Tenor Enrico Caruso - Italian tenor 1873-1921 Born Naples Italy The Great Caruso helped to bring opera into the home with his early gramophone recordings. It has been said that his enthusiastic use of recording helped to make his name. Whatever the case, Caruso's tenor is one of the undisputed best of the late 19th and early 20th centuries. The first of 21 siblings to live past infancy, Caruso was nonetheless kicked out of his home when he refused to pursue his father's choice of career: mechanic. Not to be held back, he made his debut at Milan's Lyric Theater at the age of 25. The bulk of his career was spent at New York's Metroplitan Opera where he thrilled 607 audiences over 18 seasons. His prowess created roles for such composers as Puccini, Catalani, Giordano and Mascagni. It is suspected that this great tenor suffered from tuberculosis, a condition that eventually led to his death. Near the end he would reportedly sing even in the midst of hemorrhaging from the lungs.