BAM Affiliation One of the first global media celebrities, due to the tremendous popularity of phonograph records, Enrico Caruso performed at BAM over a dozen times with the Metropolitan Opera between 1908 and 1920. A versatile tenor, Caruso and contralto Ernestine Schumann-Heink were the leading artists in BAM's 1908 presentation of Faust, which was the first grand gala production in the opera house at 30 Lafayette. On December 11, 1920, while performing Donizetti's L'elisir d'amore at BAM, Caruso suffered a throat hemorrhage, filled several handkerchiefs with blood, and quit the stage mid-performance. It would prove to be one of the last performances of his career.