Description

JOHN FRANCIS MCCORMACK (ATHLONE, COUNTY WESTMEATH, IRELAND, 14 JUNE, 1884 – BOOTERSTOWN, DUBLIN, IRELAND, 16 SEPTEMBER, 1945)

The singer’s father and mother were originally from Scotland. His father worked in a spinning mill in Dublin. John McCormack began his training with Vincent O’Brien in Dublin in 1902, became a member of the Palestrina Choir of Dublin Cathedral, and won a singing competition in Dublin in the same year. At that competition, his future wife, Lily Foley, won a prize for sopranos. In 1904, he sang at the World’s Fair in St. Louis in the Irish Village with the soprano Marie Narelle. After further training with Vincenzo Sabbatini in Milan, he made his debut in 1906 under the name Giovanni Foli at the City Theater of Savona as the title role in L’Amico Fritz by P. Mascagni.

In 1907, he gave successful concerts in London and made his debut at Covent Garden Opera in London as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. From then on, he was highly successful in America as well. In 1910, he was a member of the Chicago-Philadelphia Opera Company and made his debut that same year, once again as Alfredo (this time with Nellie Melba), at the New York Metropolitan Opera, where he was also a member from 1912 to 1914 and again in the 1917-1918 season. He only appeared six times at the Metropolitan Opera over five seasons but performed more frequently at the Chicago and Boston operas.

In 1911, he created the role of Paul Merrill in the world premiere of Victor Herbert’s opera Natoma in Philadelphia. That same year, he joined an opera company for a tour of Australia with the famous soprano Nellie Melba. In 1912, McCormack embarked on a major international concert tour and became widely celebrated in concert halls worldwide.

During World War I, he was an advocate for Irish independence and reduced his stage appearances. He performed occasionally, including at the Monte Carlo Opera in 1921 and 1923, and in the 1923 premiere of a new adaptation of M. Mussorgsky’s The Sorochintsy Fair. In 1919, he became a naturalized American citizen and was later appointed a Papal Count.

At the closing event of the World Eucharistic Congress in Dublin in 1932, he sang Panis Angelicus by César Franck. He donated large sums of money from his fortune to charitable institutions of the Catholic Church. McCormack gave his farewell concert in London in 1938, though he continued to appear on Irish radio during World War II.

From the 1920s, he resided in his Irish homeland on a country estate near Dublin. Over his career, McCormack sang a total of 21 operatic roles, most notably as Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, the Duke in Rigoletto, Elvino in La Sonnambula, Edgardo in Lucia di Lammermoor, and Rodolfo in La Bohème.

Lit.: J. McCormack, John McCormack: His Life Story (1919); R. Foxall, John McCormack (1963); G.R. Ledbetter, The Great Irish Tenor (London, 1977).

TRACKLIST

1. Any place is heaven if you are near me (Löhr) 64699 B20019 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-06-07
2. Bohemian Girl (Balfe) Then you’ll remember me 64599 B14677 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-11
3. Contes d’Hoffmann (Offenbach) Barcarolle (violin Kreisler) 87245 B17655 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-10
4. Cradle song 1915 (Kreisler) 64606 B17672 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-11
5. Crucifix (Faure) (w. Werrenrath) 64712 B18391 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-06-08
6. Don Giovanni (Mozart) Il mio tesoro 74484 C17647 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-09
7. Dreams (Strelezki) 64603 B17646 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-09
8. Eileen (Herbert) Eileen (o Herbert) 64666 B19448 Victor, New York 1917-04-05
9. Eileen (Herbert) Ireland, my Sireland (o Herbert) 64665 B19447 Victor, New York 1917-04-05
10. Isle of Dreams (Ball) When Irish eyes are smiling 64631 B18387 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-09-20
11. Joseph (Méhul) Champs paternels 74564 C20898 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-10-23
12. Keep the home-fires burning (Novello) 64696 B20017 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-06-07
13. Little Boy Blue (Nevin) 64605 B17650 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-09
14. Love, here is my heart (Silésu) 64623 B18384 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-09-20
15. Meistersinger von Nürnberg (Wagner) Prize song 74479 C17656 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-10
16. Non è ver (Mattei) 74486 C17651 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-09
17. Parted (Tosti) 64578 B17010 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-01-14
18. Send me away with a smile (Piantadosi) 64741 B20546 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-10-23
19. Send me away with a smile (Piantadosi) 64741 B20546 Victor, New York 1917-09-07
20. Serenade (Raff) (violin Kreisler) 87258 B17654 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-10
21. The Kerry dance (Molloy) 74485 C17648 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-09
22. The Lord is my light (Allitsen) 64726 B20899 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-10-23
23. The old refrain (arr Kreisler) 64559 B17008 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-01-14
24. The rainbow of love (The light in your eyes) (Ferrari) 64732 B20021 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-06-08
25. The star spangled banner (Key) (w. chorus Hooley, Werrenrath, Murphy & Macdonough) 64664 B19534 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-03-29
26. The sunshine of your smile (Ray) 64622 B18383 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-09-20
27. The trumpet call (Sanderson) 64733 B20016 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-06-07
28. There’s a long, long trail a-winding (Elliott) 64694 B20018 Victor, Camden NJ 1917-06-07
29. Tommy lad (Margetson) 64630 B18385 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-09-20
30. Your eyes (Schneider) 64604 B17649 Victor, Camden NJ 1916-05-09