John Mccormack 1924 the Gramophone Company Ltd
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ADD THE McCORMACK EDITION • 11 8.111402 John MCCORMACK 1924 The Gramophone Company Ltd. & Victor Talking Machine Company Recordings MOZART BRAHMS RACHMANINOV R. STRAUSS BERLIN New restorations by Ward Marston The Gramophone Company, Ltd. ! RACHMANINOV: 15 Romances, Op. 26: Appendix: ™ HIRSCH, Louis: The O’Brien Girl: The following are alternative takes which 1 BRAHMS: 6 Lieder, Op. 97: No. 10: Before My Window 2:02 Learn to Smile 3:20 were not issued on earlier Naxos volumes. No. 5: Komm bald 2:24 with Fritz Kreisler, Violin 17th June 1921; B-25351-3 (unpublished on 78 rpm) 19th September 1924; Bb5094-1 24th September 1924; Bb 5116-3 (Take 4 can be heard on Volume 9 (unpublished on 78 rpm) (unpublished on 78 rpm) The Gramophone Company, Ltd. [Naxos 8.111385], track 11) @ RACHMANINOV: 15 Romances, Op. 26: 2 BRAHMS: 6 Lieder, Op. 97: ) No. 7: To the Children 3:09 ROSSINI: Les Soirées Musicales: £ SANDERS, Alma: Little Town in the No. 5: Komm bald 2:20 No. 11: La Serenata: Mira la bianca luna 3:49 19th September 1924; Bb5094-2 (HMV DA635) with Fritz Kreisler, Violin Ould County Down 3:30 24th September 1924; Bb 5117-2 (HMV DA 680) with Emmy Destinn, Soprano 17th June 1921; B-25353-1 3 BRAHMS: 6 Lieder, Op. 86: 3rd July 1911; 5130f (unpublished) (unpublished on 78 rpm) # LARCHET, John: Pádraic the Fiddler 2:59 No. 2: Feldeinsamkeit 3:09 (The published take, matrix 5203f, can be found (Take 2 can be heard on Volume 9 with Fritz Kreisler, Violin 19th September 1924; Bb 5095-1 (HMV DA 635) on Volume 2 [Naxos 8.110329], track 20) [Naxos 8.111385], track 12) 24th September 1924; Bb 5118-2 (HMV DA 636) 4 MOZART: Ridente la calma, K. 152 3:10 $ Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, NJ. Tracks 1-3, 8: sung in German 19th September 1924; Bb 5096-1 LARCHET, John: Pádraic the Fiddler 2:59 with Fritz Kreisler, Violin Tracks 4-5, 20: sung in Italian (unpublished on 78 rpm) ¡ 24th September 1924; Bb 5118-3 PIANTADOSI, Al: Tracks 6-7, 9-19, 21-23: sung in English 5 MOZART: Ridente la calma, K. 152 3:11 Send Me Away with a Smile 2:45 (unpublished on 78 rpm) Tracks 1-16 with Edwin Schneider, piano 19th September 1924; Bb 5096-2 (HMV DA 645) 7th September 1917; B-20546-2 % Tracks 17-19 with Orchestra MOORE, Thomas (arr. HUGHES): (unpublished on 78 rpm) 6 BRIDGE, Frank: Oh! That It Were So! 2:26 conducted by Nathaniel Shilkret I Saw from the Beach 2:23 (Takes 1 and 3 can be heard on Volume 7 19th September 1924; Bb 5100-1 Track 20 with Orchestra conducted by Percy Pitt with Fritz Kreisler, Violin [Naxos 8.112018], tracks 21 and 22) (unpublished on 78 rpm) 24th September 1924; Bb 5119-1 (HMV DA 636) Track 21 with Orchestra conducted by Edward King Tracks 22-23 with Orchestra 7 RACHMANINOV: 12 Romances, Op. 21: ^ MOORE, Thomas (arr. HUGHES): conducted by Josef A. Pasternack No. 7: How Fair this Spot 1:56 I Saw from the Beach 2:29 19th September 1924; Bb 5101-1 (HMV DA 680) with Fritz Kreisler, Violin 8 R. STRAUSS: 4 Lieder, Op. 27: 24th September 1924; Bb 5119-3 No. 4: Morgen! 2:52 (unpublished on 78 rpm) with Fritz Kreisler, Violin Victor Talking Machine Company, Camden, NJ. 24th September 1924; Bb 5115-3 (HMV DA 644) With thanks to John Bolig, Lawrence Holdridge, Jeremy Meehan, and Jeffrey Miller & 9 RACHMANINOV: 15 Romances, Op. 26: BERLIN: Primrose: All Alone 2:58 No. 10: Before My Window 2:04 17th December 1924; B-31523-1 with Fritz Kreisler, Violin (unpublished on 78 rpm) 24th September 1924; Bb 5116-1 (unpublished on 78 rpm) * BERLIN: Primrose: 0 All Alone 2:50 RACHMANINOV: 15 Romances, Op. 26: 17th December 1924; B-31523-2 (Victor 1067-A) No. 10: Before My Window 2:01 ( with Fritz Kreisler, Violin FRIML: Rose Marie: 24th September 1924; Bb 5116-2 (HMV DA 644) Rose Marie 2:52 17th December 1924; B 31526-3 (Victor 1067-B) John McCormack (1884-1945) of during the heyday of the Great Neapolitan. The next time life his success was tremendous; “I got such an ovaaation!” they met, Caruso was quick to congratulate his Irish colle- he wrote to his manager in New York after his Il mio tesoro at The McCormack Edition Vol. 11 ague’s singular feat. As he turned to go, the Italian paused, the 6 December Paris concert. John McCormack has often been described as the most attempts to gain a foothold there only repeated his Italian ex- smiled, and said in a tone not entirely sweet, “But please, Our single Mozart example in the present set does not versatile of singers, and the present set of his final acoustic periences. It took the direct intervention of a wealthy patron Giovanni, not to let it happen again, yes?” Even between ar- call for the spectacular singing we have encountered in Il mio recordings amply illustrates this singular fact. His Mozart of the arts, Sir John Murray Scott, to arrange for his London tists with genuine admiration for each other, competition is tesoro and this makes more than one point about McCormack singing was legendary [his definitive Il mio tesoro from Don opera debut, which took place on 15 October l907. The role never far away. the musician. As we listen to Ridente la calma, sung in Mc- Giovanni may be found on Naxos 8.111316], and thanks to was Turridu in Cavalleria rusticana, a part just as inappro- The World War I years were spent in the United States, Cormack’s flawless Italian, we are reminded of how quickly his diligence and continued study, German Lieder became a priate as his debut role in L’amico Fritz. At twenty-three, where the singer’s national popularity was such that by war’s he learned his second language upon his arrival in Milan in constantly evolving part of his repertoire. He was also a ma- McCormack was the youngest principal tenor ever to sing end he and his wife decided to declare American citizenship. 1905. We note that, with this charming Mozart song, there is ster of the modern art song, and, not surprisingly, he was a at Covent Garden. The critics were kind, but because their They were not prepared for the international reaction that no attempt to go beyond the composer’s intentions. As the peerless interpreter of Irish music. praise was so clearly muted, the singer knew there was more followed. People in the British Isles and throughout the Em- eminent English critic Ernest Newman once observed, he John McCormack was born in Athlone, Ireland, on 14 work to do. What followed was a two-year period of intense pire felt betrayed by this perceived act of disloyalty. During never knew McCormack to produce an effect for an effect’s June l884. He was nearly twenty when he arrived in Dublin, study, time that included close observation of other singers at a 1920 concert tour of Australia, demonstrations against him sake. Every recording McCormack made is a testament to this supposedly to study for a civil service examination. Inste- Covent Garden. After reviewing the recordings made by the were so virulent that McCormack had to cancel the tour and fact: this tenor always served the music never using his voice ad, he found himself drawn to singing, and by the time he tenor between 1907 and 1909, one English observer judged return to England. It would not be until 1924 that the singer to demonstrate any inappropriate vocal gymnastics. joined the choir of the city’s Roman Catholic cathedral, all this vocal maturation to be the greatest artistic leap in the dared to sing in London again. On the welcoming Continent, Almost from the beginning of his career, McCormack ex- thoughts of a civil service job had faded; music would be history of the gramophone. McCormack gave important recitals in Paris, Berlin, and Pra- pressed great admiration for German music, even announcing his true calling. Private singing lessons with Vincent O’Brien, Almost immediately after his return from Italy, and still gue. These years also witnessed his last appearances in opera, in a 1917 magazine interview that the role of Tristan “might the choir’s talented director, followed, and it was not long waiting for his chance at Covent Garden, McCormack sang performances that took place in Monte Carlo. The most no- tempt” him. The singer went so far as to make two recordings before the Dublin maestro decided to enter the young man numerous concerts in London and in the provinces. At one teworthy production was a 1923 “creation” of a newly revi- of the Prize Song from Die Meistersinger; his second attempt for the upcoming Feis Ceoil competition, an important lo- of these appearances, a London Boosey Ballad Concert in sed Mussorgsky opera, La foire de Sorotchintzi freshly edited was published in 1916 [Naxos 8.112018]. Fortunately for his cal musical event. When the nineteen-year-old tenor won the March 1907, his performance of Samuel Liddle’s A Farewell for the occasion. vocal longevity, he never sang Wagner on stage. German Lie- gold medal at that l903 Feis, the direction of his career was created a sensation [McCormack’s 1912 recording can be he- Three years later the singer went on a concert tour of the der, however, was another matter. German songs (in English) confirmed. Serious preparation for that career began in l905 ard on Naxos 8.110330].