A Song, and a 5-star hotel, for the Ages
The Grand Hotel Victoria Excelsior is truly a marvel, poised above the Bay of Sorrento and hidden by acres of private gardens. The hotel harkens back to an era of white gloves and top hats and has been run by the Fiorentino family since its founding in 1834. Enter the bright, airy lobby, and you’ll feel as if you’ve stepped into a Hemingway novel as a pianist serenades visitors day and night.
The Grand Hotel Victoria Excelsior
The hotel is a meeting place for royalty and a magnet for artists who were inspired to create groundbreaking works here. The enchanting view was also prized by the rich and famous of ancient times. The ruins of Roman Emperor Augustus’ villa are said to lay beneath the property.
Today the hotel is still personally managed by Guido Fiorentino, and his mother, Senora Florentino. She, and her husband built the hotel into its success today. With a commanding view of the bay, the property has long attracted the rich, famous, brilliant, and creative—Richard Wagner composed here. Oscar Wilde wrote here. Marilyn Monroe frolicked on the beach here, and Lucio Dalla penned his masterpiece here; the beloved song “Caruso” (1986) dedicated to the tenor Enrico Caruso; one of the greatest and most sought-after Italian Opera singers during the late 19th and early 20th century.
Caruso loved Sorrento and resided at the Grand Hotel Excelsior Vittoria so often that the city commemorated a plaque recognizing him at the entrance to the hotel just off Piazza Tasso.
The hotel effortlessly blends a modern aesthetic with the old word glamor and a sprinkling of liberty-style architecture. The suite where Enrico Caruso stayed and Lucio Dalla composed “Caruso” has been restored to its original 1920s condition, along with the piano he used to write the beloved song.
Owner Guido Fiorentino says, “The Caruso Suite is decorated in the same style as when the famous tenor Enrico Caruso stayed in the room in 1921. The suite is also home to his piano, writing board, and some of his letters and photographs.”
The Caruso may not be the hotel’s largest suite, but it’s the most famous. Draped in pale greens, the bright, sun-filled space features antiques collected by the Fiorentino family. Black-and-white photos and caricatures of Caruso adorn the area around his original piano which sits next to tall french doors that open up to a breathtaking panorama of the Bay of Sorrento. Countless versions of Caruso are floating around, but few compare to the sheer virtuosity of this “Caruso-Luciano Pavarotti,” which sold over 9 million copies. Like many songs that resonate across generations, “Caruso” was inspired by unrequited love and personal tragedy.
The Caruso Suite
The Plaque Commemorating Caruso
Enrico Caruso was born to a poor family in Naples. Although he had innate singing talent, he was shunned by Italian opera houses. So when his wife left him unexpectedly, Enrico moved to the United States to escape his pain. Suddenly, the success and fame he sought found him, and Caruso returned to Italy, hailed as a national treasure.
Enrico fell ill with throat cancer and stayed at the hotel while he convalesced and taught singing lessons to young women. As the story goes, Enrico fell madly in love with one of these students, and the song “Caruso” spins the tale of his final nights of longing for the girl who did not love him back.
The Song “Caruso”
The song “Caruso”romanticizes his final hours as it narrates the drama of his last concert, sung not to an intimate audience but the entire Bay of Sorrento as he brought the piano from his suite onto the patio. While his student, the object of his affection, listened intently, he sang so passionately a declaration of love and suffering that even the fishermen returned to the port below to listen. Two days later, Caruso died in Naples, but “Caruso,” penned more than 60 years later, lives on. It reminds us of the power of love over death that reverberates even today over the sea, the stars, the fishermen, and the elegant halls of the Grand Hotel Vittoria Excelsior.
Caruso Lyric song by Luciano Pavarotti and Lucio Dalla
Caruso Lyrics
There where the sea shines
and wind blowing strong
in the old terrace facing the gulf of Sorrento
a man embraces a girl who had cried
then clears his throat and starts singing
I love you very much
but so much
so much love
you know
It’s a chain by now
that melts the blood inside veins
you know
Watching the lights in the sea
he remembered the nights over there in America
but were just fishing boats
and the white wash of a helix
He felt the pain in the music
and came down from the piano
but when saw the moon peeking through the clouds
it seemed to him sweeter even the death
He looked the girl into her eyes
those eyes as green as the sea
then a tear suddenly slid down
and he believed to drown
I love you very much
but so much
so much love
you know
It’s a chain by now
that melts the blood inside veins
you know
Power of the Opera
where every drama is a fake
why with a little bit of makeup and mime
you can become someone else
But two eyes looking at you
so close and true
make forget the words
and confuse your mind
Thus everything becomes so far away
also the nights over there in America
and looking back
see your life
as the wake of a helix
Yes, it’s life that ends
but he didn’t think about much
indeed he already felt happy
and began to sing again
I love you very much
but so much
so much love
you know
It’s a chain by now
that melts the blood inside veins
you know
