Description

RICHARD ALEXANDER CROOKS (TRENTON, NEW JERSEY, JUNE 26, 1900 – PORTOLA VALLEY, CALIFORNIA SEPTEMBER 29, 1972)

 

 

 

 

He first gained attention as a boy soprano in a church choir and later served in the American Air Corps during World War I. After the war, he studied with Frank La Forge, Léon Rothier, and Sidney Bourne in New York. He became a soloist at the Presbyterian church in New York and, despite financial difficulties, declined to appear in the musical The Student Prince on Broadway.

His career took off in 1923 when he achieved sensational success by performing in nine concerts with the New York Symphony Orchestra under Walter Damrosch. In 1926, he embarked on a European concert tour, and in 1927 he made his operatic stage debut at the Stadttheater in Hamburg as Cavaradossi in Tosca. That same year, he performed the tenor solo in Beethoven’s 9th Symphony under Toscanini in New York and in 1928 took part in the American premiere of Gustav Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde under Willem Mengelberg.

Following guest appearances in Berlin, Riga (1928), Warsaw, Prague, Stockholm, Copenhagen, and various venues in Holland, Belgium, and England, he joined the Philadelphia Opera in 1930, debuting once again as Cavaradossi in Tosca. His career continued with great success at the Metropolitan Opera in New York from 1933 to 1946, where he debuted as Des Grieux in Massenet’s Manon. During his time at the Met, he appeared in 51 performances across nine roles, including Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, Faust, Alfredo in La Traviata, Wilhelm Meister in Mignon, and Carlo in Linda di Chamounix.

In addition to his Met career, he performed at the opera houses of Chicago (1940-1943) and San Francisco (1934), and made guest appearances in Australia in 1936 and 1938. He even embarked on concert tours in Africa. He retired from the stage in 1946, after a distinguished and far-reaching career.

 

 

TRACKLIST

 

A Dream (Cory-Bartlett) 4000-B Victor 11 9 1926

A little Love, a Little Kiss (Ross) 1691-B Victor 3 13 1933

Absent (Glenn-Metcalf) 4000-A Victor 11 8 1926

Ah! May the Red Rose Live Alway! (Foster) 1829 BS010355-1 Victor, 27 May 1937

Aida (Verdi) Holde Aida E.J. 345 Electrola

Arise O Sun (Lockton-Days) D.A. 1449 OA87877 HMV 6 27 1935

Arlesiana (Cilea) E la solita storia 15544 1939 a Victor

Beautiful Dreamer (Foster) 1825 BS010346-3 Victor, 8 July 1937

Because (Teschemachar-d’Hardelot) 1497-B Victor 6 13 1930

Bird Songs at Eventide (Barry-Coates) DA 1536 OAA 6 HMV

Camptown Races (Foster) 1829 BS010354-2 Victor, 8 July 1937

Carmen (Bizet) Hier am Herzen E.J. 345 Electrola

Cavalleria Rusticana (Mascagni) O Lola, rosengleich blüh’n deine Wangen E. W. 75 Electrola

Colleen Aroon (Lily Strickland) 45373-A Victor 7 24 1923

Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming (Foster) 1826 BS010351-1 Victor, 27 May 1937

Don Giovanni (Mozart) Il mio tesoro 15235 1937 a Victor