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

 

Rose in the Bud (Barrow-Forster) Victor 951-B BVE-27950 10-4-1926

Saved By Grace (Crosby-Stebbins) Victor 1227-B BVE-33126 8-3-1925

Scots, wha hae wi’ Wallace bled (Burns) Victor 16961 B-10949 9-12-1911

Sittin’ thinkin’ (Fisher) Victor 984 B-28895 11-14-1923

Smilin’ through (Penn) Victor 45166 B-22688 4-15-1919

Story of the Rose (Mack) Victor 64950 B-24608 10-1-1920

Sun and moon (Penn) Victor 1072 B-27951 5-10-1923

Tell me, Daisy (Romberg) Victor 66032 B-25798 12-9-1921

Tell me, where is fancy bred (Stevenson) (w. Marsh) Victor 55060 C-16017 5-10-1915

The Americans come! (Foster) Victor 45157 B-22262 9-27-1918

The battle hymn of the Republic (Ward Howe) Victor 45121 B-19377 3-15-1917

The Bohemian girl (Balfe) The heart bow’d down Victor 55079 C-18151 7-26-1916

The broad highway (Romberg) Victor 1055 B-30987 10-9-1924

The charmed cup (Roeckel) Victor 35189 C-9714 12-15-1910

The Gypsy trail (Galloway) Victor 45109 B-18940 12-28-1916

The hymn of Charlemagne Used by Jeanne D’Arc… Lament for Charlemagne Victor 55072 C-16581 9-30-1915

The Indian queen (Purcell) I attempt from Love’s sickness to fly Victor 45092 B-17244 3-2-1916

The Ivy-Green (Charles Dickens-Beethoven) Victor 45067-B B-15644 1-29-1915

The king’s highway (Molloy) Victor 16850 B-8615 2-10-1910

The light I love best (Hopkins) Victor 1289-A 1289A 1927