Enrico Caruso was the first singing superstar, famous all over the globe, his every move reported by the newspapers, his death mourned by millions.

Operatic tenor Mark Milhofer has sung his entire life, from winning local singing competitions at the age of seven to performing in the world’s greatest theatres. He was inspired to become an opera singer by the music of Enrico Caruso, Mario Lanze and The Three Tenors - a world filled with remarkable music, as well as glamour and hardship.

In The Great Caruso we are treated to all of the great tenor’s passion and virtuosity, repertoire including Neapolitan songs Santa Lucia and O Sole Mio, and classic operatic arias such as Vesti la Giubba (I Pagliacci) and La Donna e Mobile (Rigoletto) with piano accompaniment from Nigel Foster.

After a quarter century of singing in professional opera productions around the world, Mark Milhofer is at the peak of his vocal powers. Able to switch comfortably from Monteverdi to Mozart, from Rossini to Lehar and Britten to Eotvos, career highlights include working with Franco Zeffirelli on his production of Pagliacci, performed in the historic amphitheatre in the shadow of the Parthenon; a hilarious Dario Fo production of Il Barbiere di Siviglia which involved spinning around the stage using two side tables as roller skates; learning magic tricks from a professional magician for Menotti’s The Consul; and rising up into the gods in a pink carriage in Cenerentola in Bern. Champs Hill will, hopefully, pose fewer direct challenges…