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. A garden in the rain (Gibbons) 1400 BVE51621 Victor, 1929-04-12
2. A pair of blue eyes (Kernell) 1453 BVE58588 Victor, 1930-02-19
3. A rose for every heart (Cadman) 1229 BVE36375 Victor, 1926-09-30
4. Adeste fideles (trad) (w. Trinity Mixed Choir) 6607 CVE36606 Victor, 1926-10-01
5. Annie Laurie (Scott) 1305 BVE40177 Victor, 1927-10-13
6. Auld Scotch sangs (Leeson) 1305 BVE40178 Victor, 1927-10-13
7. Ave Maria (Schubert) 6927 CVE49209 Victor, 1928-11-27
8. Barry from Ballymore (Olcott) Mother Machree 1293 BVE40173 Victor, 1927-10-12
9. Because I love you (Berlin) 1215 BVE37148 Victor, 1926-12-17
10. Bird songs at eventide (Coates) 1303 BVE40166 Victor, 1927-10-11
11. By the short cut to the rosses (Fox) 1528 BVE41546 Victor, 1928-01-13
12. Calling me back to you (Seaver) 1197 BVE36376 Victor, 1926-09-30
13. Christ went up into the hills (Hageman) 6708 CVE38388 Victor, 1927-05-04
14. Dear old pal of mine (Rice) 1321 BVE41543 Victor, 1928-01-13
15. Fallen leaf (Logan) AGSA63 BVE38387 Victor, 1927-05-04
16. Hark, hark the lark (Schubert); Hedge roses (Schubert); Who is Sylvia (Schubert) 6926 CVE49214 Victor, 1928-12-07
17. I feel you near me (Hanley) 1453 BVE58587 Victor, 1930-02-21
18. I hear you calling me (Marshall) 1293 BVE40172 Victor, 1927-10-12
19. I love to hear you singing (Wood) 1425 BVE51613 Victor, 1929-04-10
20. Ireland, mother Ireland (Loughborough) 1452 BVE56192 Victor, 1930-02-21
21. Jeannine, I dream of lilac time (Shilkret) 1360 BVE48179 Victor, 1928-11-19
22. Just for today (Seaver) 1281 BVE36363 Victor, 1926-09-28
23. Kathleen Mavourneen (Croch) 6776 CVE39889 Victor, 1927-10-11
24. Lilies of Lorraine (Connor) 1229 BVE36374 Victor, 1926-09-30
25. Little boy blue (Nevin) 1458 BVE58595 Victor, 1930-02-21
26. Love’s old sweet song (Molloy) 6776 CVE40165 Victor, 1927-10-11
27. Marcheta (Schertzinger) 1247 BVE29865 Victor, 1927-04-12
28. Minnelied (arr Elert) 1272 BVE37149 Victor, 1926-12-17
29. New Moon (Romberg) Lover come back to me 1400 BVE51622 Victor, 1929-04-12
30. None but a lonely heart (Tchaikovsky) 1306 BVE40170 Victor, 1927-10-12
31. Roses of Picardy (Wood) 1321 BVE41545 Victor, 1928-01-13
32. Say it with song (Jolson) Little pal 1425 BVE51620 Victor, 1929-04-12
33. Serenade (Schubert) 6927 CVE49210 Victor, 1928-11-27
34. Somewhere a voice is calling (Tate) 1247 BVE15419 Victor, 1927-04-12
35. The far away bells (Gordon) 1215 BVE36361 Victor, 1926-09-28
36. The gateway of dreams (English) 1463 BVE48181 Victor, 1928-11-19
37. The holychild (Easthope Martin) 1281 BVE37147 Victor, 1926-12-17
38. The hurdy gurdy man (Schubert); Farewell (Schubert) 6928 CVE49213 Victor, 1928-11-28
39. The Irish emigrant (Barker) 1528 BVE41544 Victor, 1928-01-13
40. The palms (Faure) 6607 CVE36384 Victor, 1926-10-04
41. The rosary (Nevin) 1458 BVE40171 Victor, 1927-10-12
42. The rose of Tralee (Glover) 1452 BVE58586 Victor, 1930-02-19
43. The Singing Fool (Henderson) Sonny boy 1360 BVE48178 Victor, 1928-11-19
44. Tick, tick, tock (Hamblen) 1594 BVE38732 Victor, 1927-05-06
45. Under the spell of the rose (Easthope Martin) AGSA62 BVE49240 Victor, 1928-12-07
46. When twilight comes I’m thinking of you (Horne) 1197 BVE36362 Victor, 1926-09-28