Description

REINALD WERRENRATH (BROOKLYN, NEW YORK, AUGUST 7, 1883 – PLATTSBURGH, NEW YORK, SEPTEMBER 12, 1953)

 

 

 

 

Reinald Werrenrath was an American baritone and opera singer who also recorded popular songs and appeared regularly on radio during the early decades of the twentieth century. He often used the pseudonym Edward Hamilton.

Born in Brooklyn, New York, he was the son of George Werrenrath, a Danish-born operatic tenor. Reinald studied at New York University and made his operatic debut in 1907 in Die Meistersinger. That same year, he began recording for Edison Records before embarking on a long association with the Victor Talking Machine Company. Between 1906 and 1929, he made several hundred recordings for Victor, both as a soloist and as a member of ensembles such as the Orpheus Quartet and the Victor Opera Quartet. Among his most successful recordings were “As Long as the World Rolls On” (1907), “Hello Frisco!” (from Ziegfeld Follies of 1915), and “Smilin’ Through” (1919).

Werrenrath made his Metropolitan Opera debut in 1919 in Pagliacci, in a cast that included Enrico Caruso. He toured extensively and gave more than 3,000 concert performances. He was also one of the earliest singing stars to appear regularly on radio, notably on station WEAF in New York. In 1930, he made a private recording of Christmas greetings accompanied by Harpo Marx and others. Two years later, he joined the music staff of NBC, and in his later years devoted himself mainly to teaching, primarily at the Peabody Conservatory in Baltimore, Maryland. He also operated a summer music school at Chazy Lake, New York.

Werrenrath was married three times. He died on September 12, 1953, in Plattsburgh, New York, after suffering a heart attack while at Chazy Lake. His residence there, Werrenrath Camp, was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2010.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

Holy night (Adam) Victor 6426 C-28166-7 5-1923

House of memories (Aylward) Victor 45101 B-15525 12-17-1914

I love you (Archer) Victor 1026 B-30011 4-23-1924

I want to go back to Blighty (Davidson) Victor 45154 B-21965 6-4-1918

Kashmiri song (Woodforde-Finden) Victor 66132 B-27330 12-20-1922

Lafayette (We hear you calling) (Earl) Victor 45151-A B-21617 3-19-1918

Little man (Ball) Victor 66118 B-26537 6-12-1922

Lorraine (Fisher) Victor 45148  B-21283 12-24-1917

Love sends a little gift of roses (Openshaw) Victor 64964 B-24682 11-5-1920

Lucia  di Lammermoor (Donizetti) Chi mi frena (w. Murphy, March, Kline & Glenn) Victor 70036 C-10101 3-27-1911

Molly (Herbert) Victor 64830 B-23109 8-5-1919

Moonrise (Samuels) Victor 66047 B-25717 10-14-1921

My lovely Celia (Lane Wilson) Victor 45114 B-18941 12-28-1916

Nazareth (Gounod) Victor 74719 C-25562 9-16-1921

Oft in the stilly night (Stevenson) Victor 55065 C-16865 12-6-1915

On the road to Mandalay (Speaks) Victor 74783 C-26536 6-12-1922

Orfeo (Monteverdi) Tu se’ morta Victor 45083 B-15524 12-17-1914

Pagliacci (Leoncavallo) Prologue Victor 55068 C-16854 12-2-1915

Passage birds’ farewell (Hildach) Victor 5734 B-7064 5-12-1909

Rheingold (Wagner) Weiche Wotan, weiche! (w. Arndt-Ober) Victor 74396 C-14499 2-20-1914