John McCormack (Tenor)
John McCormack ( born June 14, 1884 in Drumsna, Ireland, † September 16, 1945 in Dublin) was an eminent Irish singer (tenor ).
Life
John McCormack received his first training from Vincent O'Brien as a member of the Palestrina Choir of the Cathedral of Dublin. In 1902 he won a singing contest in Dublin and sang in 1904 at the Louisiana Purchase Exposition, the World's Fair in St. Louis. After further studies with Vincenzo Sabbatini in Milan in 1906 he made his debut as an opera singer under the name Giovanni Foli in Savona ( Italy) as Fritz in L' Amico Fritz by Pietro Mascagni.
Already in 1907 he made his successful debut at the Royal Opera, Covent Garden in London as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana by Mascagni. At this opera house he celebrated in 15 different roles to 1914 great triumphs. His first appearance in America, he had at the Manhattan Opera House in 1909 as Alfredo in La Traviata. After that, he was very successful in the United States. So he sang in 1910 for the Chicago - Philadelphia Opera Company and was in the same year his debut at the Metropolitan Opera, again as Alfredo in La Traviata. At the Metropolitan Opera he sang then still in the years 1912-1914 and 1917-1918. In 1911 he undertook with the world famous Australian soprano Nellie Melba on tour in Australia. In 1912 graduated from McCormack concert tours, where he was hailed around the world. Due to the huge success in his concerts and his lack of acting talent ( McCormack described himself as "the worst actor in the world "), he retired in 1923, completely from the opera stage back and sang only in concerts, in which he especially Irish folk songs lectured.
His great popularity made him one of the highest-earning classical music stars of his time - his numerous recordings were huge sellers - and also brought him to talkies (Song o ' My Heart, 1929). Hailing from a poor singer donated large sums to charity and institutions of the Catholic Church. Therefore McCormack, who was a U.S. citizen since 1919, was also appointed to the Papal Count. In 1938 he was in London's Royal Albert Hall, his farewell concert, but then occurred during the Second World War still occasionally appear in charity concerts. From 1938 he lived with his wife back to his Irish home on a country estate near Dublin.
McCormack was buried in Deansgrange Cemetery south of Dublin.
Voice and meaning
His voice was light, with a slightly nasal timbre - verhangenem impact and safe height. Besides the great Enrico Caruso and Beniamino Gigli later was John McCormack as the greatest tenor of his time. Caruso liked him very much and saw McCormack its biggest rivals.
Discography
Very large number of recordings that have been re-issued by a variety of record labels on CD. His recording of the aria Il mio tesoro from Don Giovanni applies in the professional world today as a model recording, as with the singing recognized expert Jürgen Kesting and John Steane be read in their standard works of the great singers of the 20th century.
Awards
1933 McCormack received the Laetare Medal.