The Damnedest Finest Ruins - with Restored Recordings
In the link at the bottom of the page are two Caruso arias restored by a sound engineer at the famous Lucas Film Studios using the latest digital audio computer technology (restored: Verdi's Rigoletto "La donna é mobile" and Bizet's Carmen "Il fior che avevi a me tu dato" - the latter performed by Caruso few hours before the 1906 San Francisco earthquake - on Wednesday, April 18, 1906.
The clip is part of a documentary called "The Damnedest Finest Ruins" created by author and screenwriter James Dalessandro who also wrote the book "1906" based on which a Hollywood movie is being produced (scheduled for 2012).
As a principle I have never made any advertisement for CD's/DVD's on my website, but this time I'll make an exception (absolutely no personal gain for myself !!!).
I find James Dalessandro's documentary exceptional, thrilling and definately worth the few dollars it costs:
http://www.amazon.com/Damnedest-Finest-Ruins-Peter-Coyote/dp/B000FDK732/ref=sr_1_2?ie=UTF8&s=dvd&qid=1261694229&sr=8-2
Also his book "1906" I think is really good. Great writing, great command of the English language, haunting story.
And James is a very likeable fellow, too. I corresponded with him on e-mail and he sent me the DVD "The Damnedest Finest Ruins" for free as I couldn't order it from Denmark.