JOHN McCORMACK

LAURITZ MELCHIOR

TITO SCHIPA

RICHARD TAUBER

The story of the brief career of Spanish tenor Miguel Fleta is intriguing in much the same way as his singing - at its best, it holds a certain fascination on a emotional level. The voice can be coarse and - in musical terms - vulgar. Which is not to say it's unpleasing. Some of the most popular singers could be described in exactly the same way, in his day or ours. The style has been described as "more muscular than musical" [Michael Scott] and Fleta's short career -  he died aged 41 - is a potent reminder that discipline and patience were as important for a singer's voice and career a century ago as they are today.

Miguel Burró Fleta was born in Albalate de Cinca, Spain, in 1897. Only 11 years old, he began the study of solfeggio, then continued at the Madrid Conservatory, making his debut as Paolo - a role requiring a bold voice - in Zandonai's Francesca da Rimini. He was then all of 22. Only a few years later, he was singing some big roles indeed: Cavaradossi, José, Turridu, Chénier, Lohengrin, Radames; he created the Romeo for Zandonai's Giulietta e Romeo.

One night after a performance at the Fenice di Venezia, a reporter asked Fleta how it was possible to sing with such devotion. The response: "Because tonight I was not Miguel Fleta, I was Don José."

A debut at the Metropolitan Opera didn't make much of an impression. Other tenors then on the roster included Gigli, Martinelli, and Lauri-Volpi, so it's not surprising Fleta left New York in the middle of his second season. At the age of 28, he was chosen to create Calaf in the world premiere of Turandot.

Fleta's life was quite tragic, even if mostly of his own making. His ambition led him to accept offers to sing too-big roles when too young, he was a "difficult" colleague, and he neglected his health by way of a wild lifestyle. In Spain and South America, Fleta would often perform in the opera then, still in costume, would have a piano brought onto the stage. Songs and arias-by-request then followed until singer and audience were exhausted and he was borne shoulder-high back to his hotel. Sometimes he'd do this in the middle of a performance, immediately following his aria! In his late 30s, his voice shattered, he found himself penniless.

On the Prima Voce collection - the recordings all made between the ages of 25 and 30 - you can hear that his natural voice was a fine one. He doesn't shape phrases smoothly, though; he scoops and croons and often sobs and gulps uncontrollably; his vibrato is already dangerously close to a wobble; and he draws out notes for no apparent interpretive effect other than to show he can. (No doubt he was at the Conservatory too short a time to learn the technique of singing.) But the tone is usually quite lovely, and even when holding some of those notes, Fleta does it with an affectingly sweet pianissimo. He's an emotionally intense singer; careers have been made on less.

Why would I include someone like this among the singers I choose to profile here? First, I like the voice - all the technical imperfections aside, there's a quality to it that appeals to me. Next, I like the story of his life - a reckless, passionate drive down the wrong path - it might make an interesting opera!  And finally, there is no "perfect" voice, no perfect singer. That human scale of it all is one of the things that's so fascinating. It's almost inconceivable that great singers should actually come to exist at all, given how difficult it is and how much depends on factors beyond anyone's control. A story like Miguel Fleta's gives us that much more appreciation for another singer's achievements... but that doesn't mean Fleta should be ignored.

FLETA   |   McCORMACK    |   MELCHIOR   |    SCHIPA    |   TAUBER
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For the man who practically coined the term "Irish tenor," John McCormack was considered an Italian tenor in the early part of his career. In fact he made his professional stage debut under the name of "Giovanni Foli" in the small town of Savona, Italy, singing the title role in Mascagni's L'Amico Fritz.

John McCormack was born in Athlone, Ireland in 1884. At the age of 20, he travelled to America and sang in the St. Louis Exhibition; the following year he went to Milan to study. He learned a lot there, but never had a secure top for operatic singing - his was the Caruso generation, and demand was high for the powerful, ringing tenor sound we are accustomed to today. Within three years, he was singing at Covent Garden, the San Carlo, and the Manhattan Opera House, with the likes of Luisa Tetrazzini and Nellie Melba. His roles were the lighter lyric roles in Lucia di Lammermoor, La Sonnambula, Lakmé, La Figlia del Reggimento and Rigoletto, along with a highly regarded Don Ottavio in Don Giovanni, and his favorite role - Rodolfo in La Bohčme.

He once said he was "the world's worst actor," but he enjoyed playing Rodolfo because "he's a real fellow. I can pace up and down the stage with my hands in my trouser pockets and seem true to character."

McCormack had already started a successful career as a concert singer, and with the ballad and song tradition in his soul, he ended his operatic career before he turned 40 and concentrated on the recital stage. By now he was spending much of his time in the United States and he became an outspoken champion of Irish nationalism. His natural Irish brogue - subdued for his Italian singing - became prominent once again.

No one could top McCormack in the art of telling a story in song, no singer has equaled the distinctness of his enunciation (perhaps exaggeratedly so), or his sense of the shape of the music, the meaning of words. Along with his sincerity and spontaneity, these things link him with medieval minstrels and troubadours. But unlike those singers, McCormack was in nearly everyone's home by way of gramophone records - hundreds of them.

"Of the millions who enjoyed the singing of John McCormack, few realised how great an artist he was, and why. To the multitude he was the unrivalled singer of simple things expressed in a simple musical way..."

- Ernest Newman, London Sunday Times

For a 1923 recital in Berlin, the largest concert hall available was sold out at prices more than 50 percent above anything ever charged in that city before. Often, his stylish singing was more than enough to secure his immense popularity, especially when singing German lieder, as his poor command of the language made it harder to express the poetry. It's of little matter. While changing tastes in music make us unfamiliar with much of what he sings, his expression is clear enough to move us today as it did those present in his audience. In 1918 at the New York Hippodrome, 7,000 people were in attendance, sitting and standing - 5,000 more were turned away.

"I live again the days and evenings of my long career. I dream at night of operas and concerts in which I have had my share of success. Now, like the old Irish Minstrels, I have hung up my harp because my songs are all sung."

- John McCormack, writing in his journal

Edgardo, Nemorino, Alfredo, Rodlfo, Faust, plenty more

Irish and Celtic songs - what he does best

Irish songs, Bach, Rachmaninov, Schubert, deCurtis - magical.

FLETA   |   McCORMACK   |   MELCHIOR   |    SCHIPA    |   TAUBER
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Of all the tenor roles in the repertoire, there is one that enjoys a unique reputation as the ultimate, the almost-impossible dream: Tristan. This monumental role is not one that every tenor aspires to for few voices are suited to its demands. And of those who attempt it, who survive it, fewer still achieve any kind of triumph. Those who do are remembered by generation after generation of operagoers as a remarkable artist, a tenor's tenor. Notable in the 20th century are Ben Heppner, Siegfried Jerusalem, Ramón Vinay, Wolfgang Windgassen; Plácido Domingo only by way of the recording studio. Head and shoulders above these great tenors is Jon Vickers. And in some ways, just beyond Vickers is the man conductor Arturo Toscanini named "Tristanissimo" - "that most Tristan of Tristans."

Lauritz Melchior came to embody this ideal by way of an initial operatic debut as a baritone - not at all an uncommon path for a Heldentenor. Born in Copenhagen on the same day Beniamino Gigli was born in Italy, Melchior’s career as the reigning heroic tenor spanned the years from 1926 through 1950 and 972 performances as leading Wagnerian tenors, more than half of those at the Metropolitan Opera. He sang the four-and-half hour role of Tristan 223 times.

Melchior's baritone debut was in 1913 as Silvio in Pagliacci, at Danish Royal Opera. During a performance of Verdi's Il Trovatore, he helped his struggling soprano partner by taking the high C for her in their duet. Thoughtfully listening was another singer, contralto Sarah Cahier, who told him that he wasn't a baritone, but a tenor "with the lid on." Melchior went back to studying and five years later, debuted as Tannhäuser. He continued to gain experience into the mid-1920s without much success, learning the roles that would make up his career - and he learned them exactly the way he wanted to. Later on, an indifferent actor, he wasn't inclined to change them. (On the occasion of Melchior's 100th appearance as Siegmund, Sir Thomas Beecham congratulated the tenor by saying "Quite soon we shall expect you to know the role by heart!")

For the Bayreuth Festival of 1924, Cosima and Siegfried Wagner took Melchior on for performances as Siegmund and Parsifal - and from then on, there was no looking back.

“Heldentenor is very big, very strong, very brave, very stupid. He carries a spear and wears a helmet. He talks to birds, laughs at dragons, and travels by swan.” - Anna Russell

No one had ever heard a voice like this - simultaneously dark and brilliant, and immensely powerful. Throughout his performing years, rumors circulated about him - sometimes the source was from his conductors, perhaps frustrated that their orchestra couldn't drown out Melchior's voice. And most unusual for such a huge voice, it was flexible enough to engage in some extremely accurate singing. In Lohengrin, he almost sounds like an Italian tenor (almost). All those years of studying the roles his way seemed to pay off. Interestingly, though, Melchior never sang the lyric Die Meistersinger - he worked on it for two years, finally saying "I can sing either the aria or the rest of the opera, but not both."

By 1931, Hitler’s activities against Jewish musicians prompted Melchior’s decision to leave Bayreuth and all German opera houses. In the United States, this was a "Golden Age" with a host of Wagnerian stars, including Kirsten Flagstad and Helen Traubel. The Flagstad-Melchior partnership, despite their personal ups and downs, is generally seen as the supreme Wagnerian achievement... unless, of course, you happen to fall into the Nilsson-Vickers camp.

The easy-going Melchior appeared on popular radio programs and in his five movies for MGM, usually playing a kindly, funny, singing-grandfather type, with Esther Williams, Jane Powell, Kathryn Grayson, Anna Maria Alberghetti, Van Johnson, Jimmy Durante, and others. His success in these fields made "Melchior" as much a household name as as "Pavarotti" would be, years later. Wagnerian purists criticized his cashing in on and cheapening of the noble Tristan image, and Melchior's Hollywood career alienated his new boss at the Met. Rudolf Bing made many mistakes, but maneuvering Melchior out was one of his worst.

Melchior continued with a successful concert career and, everywhere but the Met, he sang roles other than Wagnerian ones - Otello, Canio, Radames - in Europe and South America. To celebrate his 70th birthday in Copenhagen, Melchior sang Siegmund in a concert performance of the first act of Die Walküre, a testament to his enduring stamina.

Vol. 1: Walküre, Meistersinger, Holländer, songs

Vol. 2: Pagliacci, Lohengrin, Student Prince, Meistersinger, songs

For those who argue they were the greatest Wagnerian pairing ever... the only challenge comes from Nilsson / Vickers. Hear why.

Mostly Wagner, some Otello, Pagliacci, L'Africaine (all in German).

FLETA   |   McCORMACK   |   MELCHIOR    |    SCHIPA    |   TAUBER
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Tito Schipa is lauded - often on liner notes of recordings - as a master of bel canto. It's not strictly true - he was several generations removed from the pure bel canto period, and now the emphasis had shifted from pure vocal production to dramatic interpretation. His manner of singing is graceful, even delicate, but it is with his presentation of the text that he seduces the listener; musically, there isn't much tension (and thus little contrast, and ultimately no resolution) in his execution of the music, the placement of the breath.

Luciano Pavarotti once said. "He had something far more important, twenty times more important, than high notes: a great line."

With his contemporaries all singing the macho, muscular roles of verismo opera, Schipa offered a sweetly old-fashioned, romantic approach to Rodolfo, Turridu, and Cavaradossi - and if much of that latter role was beyond his abilities, he still made it quite charming.

Schipa was born in Lecce, southern Italy, at the very end of 1888. A census which registers his birth as 2 January 1889 was the result of a deliberate ploy on the part of his father to delay his son's entrance into military service for an extra year. Schipa's musical studies included piano and composition, before the town bishop offered financial suport for further studies in Milan. He made his operatic debut in 1909 as Alfredo in one of those performances where everything that could possibly go wrong, did. Emerging relatively unscathed, Schipa was engaged for several more performances. He quickly added roles in Adriana Lecouvreur, Zaza, Mignon, Rigoletto, Faust, La Bohčme, Don Pasquale, Barbiere, and what would become his signature role of Werther to his repertoire.

Schipa was a perfectionist when it came to music, and at the same time, extremely practical about both what he could and could not do. He chose to specialize in operas ideally suited to his voice - perhaps about a dozen roles. And although his voice was lighter in weight and dramatic color than that of Caruso, Gigli, Martinelli, or Tauber, he was able to project it in the largest opera houses. Throughout the 1920s and early 1930s, Schipa performed primarily at Lyric Opera of Chicago, the Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala, Milan.

Adapting quickly to the American way of life, he became one of the highest paid artists in the United States, and embraced the celebrity lifestyle, making headlines with his roles in the new talking pictures, his amorous exploits, and the unbelievable amounts of money he earned and carelessly squandered.

Tito Schipa is remembered primarily as an opera singer, but like John McCormack, he was at his best with songs (though for different reasons). Some of the effects he produced - falsetto, smorzature (or fading away of a note) - weren't based on a character or emotion he was portraying, but simply "because he could." With the invention of the microphone, it was in light music that Schipa could sing freely and expressively in a way he could not onstage, allowing the graceful sound of his voice to soar. The absence of a baritonal timbre gives Schipa's top notes a different sound entirely, thrilling in its own way.

He was much admired in his day and his recorded legacy gives us a glimpse into times long gone by.

Ombra mai fu, Che farň senza Euridice, Com'č gentil, songs in Italian and Spanish

Arias from L'Elisir, Barbiere, Rigoletto, Don Pasquale, Manon, also The Cherry Duet with Favero.

Mamma mia che vo' sapč, O sole mio, several classics from Tosti and deCurtis, plus a handful of others.

2 CDs with all the classics, including arias you'd think would be too heavy... songs, too.
Order directly from Marston Records

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Richard Tauber was one of the most celebrated and versatile tenors of the 1920s and 30s - he was also a conductor, a composer, and the most successful of any opera-to-popular crossover artist. Others had more powerful or brilliant voices, some were better actors, some better looking. But he made more than 700 recordings, more than a dozen films... and by 1930, in works by Lehár and Korngold, one spoke only of the latest "Tauber operetta," the name of the composer a matter of minor importance when Richard Tauber took center stage, tossing off one encore after another.

Tauber enjoyed equal success in opera, art songs, popular light music, perhaps because, like John McCormack, he sang his schmaltzy pop songs and classical works with an equally honest approach.

Born in 1891 at Linz, Austria, young Tauber studied piano, composition, and conducting. With his thorough training, he was a quick student and needed only a few days' notice to absorb a role - he learned Faust in 48 hours and Bacchus (for Strauss at Berlin) after just one hour's rehearsal with the composer himself at the piano. Known as the "S.O.S. tenor from Dresden," with three days' notice he took on Calaf for the German premiere of Turandot in 1926.

From the mid-1920s he was increasingly involved with the works of Franz Lehár, beginning with the Berlin premiere of Paganini. The highlight in every operetta was the second act aria, which the tenor garnished differently each time with his "little Tauber jests," the vocal ornaments that became a ritual in the numerous encores. [Michael Scott]  In 1931, Tabuer brought a season of operetta to England, and made an operatic debut in London in Die Zauberflöte with Sir Thomas Beecham in 1938. Tauber's frequent operetta performances delighted his audiences, but he eventually sacrified his top notes at full power for opera . What he never lost, though, was the sensitivity and charm he brings to every song he sings.

Along with many other musicians and artists, mostly Jews, Tauber and his English wife fled from Austria at the onset of the World War II. He became a naturalized British citizen and, despite lucrative offers from America, he remained in his adopted country through the duration of the war, staying there to sing and conduct. After the war, Tauber toured both North and South America, only heading back to London because of a persistent cough. He took on conducting assignments to rest his voice when he was diagnosed with lung cancer necessitating the surgical removal of one lung.

The Vienna State Opera was in London at this time, and invited their former colleague to sing a performance as Don Ottavio. On 27 September 1947, he sang once more at Covent Garden. Even in the face of death, Tauber's art was always full of life - he remained a remarkable and completely dedicated artist to the very last. The surgery was unsuccessful, and he died three months later.

Along with all the ways he reached thousands of listeners, he was the greatest Mozart tenor of his generation, acclaimed at every stage - and on every stage - of his career. Here, a sampling of his reviews as Don Ottavio:

Tauber's personality, Tauber's performances, Richard Tauber's artistry - I say Amen to that.

All the "Tauberlied" composed for him by Lehár. You'll recognize it - the big show-stopping number, and he would often do 3, 4 or 5 encores of it a night, with his own variations and ornamentations. Tauber became a name, a best-seller of records, and then a cult figure. These selections were recorded between 1928 and 1943, so the style is a little old-fashioned to our ears... as it should be. Remember, most of these songs were written specifically for Tauber's voice.

Includes arias and ensembles from Die Fledermaus, along with the Lehár gems - The Merry Widow, Paganini (5 selections), Zigeunerliebe and Der Rastelbinder... and Friml
(Rose Marie). Does not have Dein ist mein ganzes Herz, though the CD to the left does - in English.

Tauber portrays Franz Schubert, singing the songs he's just written.
“...an unabashedly sentimental piece... ”
- Michael Tanner, Classic CD

Great singers of the past, performing their favorite party pieces. Caruso, Melba, Gigli, Schipa, lots more... plus Paul Robeson, even Noel Coward and Gertrude Lawrence... and then Richard Tauber sings a duet with himself. Liner notes include photographs, and a creative description of the "party" and the behavior of the guests. Unusual and rare items, even by Prima Voce's standards. A unique must-have for your collection.

DAS LAND DES LÄCHELNS  (THE LAND OF SMILES)
Franz Lehár

"Tauber in the most famous role he created. Enchanting, tender,
warm. He is charismatic and emotionally intense."   - Stefan Zucker

ERFLETA    |   McCORMACK    |    MELCHIOR    |    SCHIPA    |   TAUBER
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TENORS OF THE 78 ERA
4VHS tapes from The Bel Canto Society

Originally made in 1995-96 for German TV (now in English, or subtitled), in this series critics, family and colleagues present and analyze the art and legacy of 11 tenors. They are heard in recordings and shown in rare footage taken from films and newsreels, much of it never before released on video. In a way, more a documentary of the times and societies that shaped these singers - definitely not a "concert" of songs. It's a time portal to another world, a mini-education on the art of singing. Mesmerizing... one of the most-treasured films in my personal library.

more video, below

Peerce, Caruso, Björling, Gigli, Di Stefano,
McCormack, Schipa, Tauber, Martinelli, Melchior

23 TENORS SING VESTI LA GIUBBA

Caruso, Fleta, Martinelli, Pertile, Thill, Melchior, Gigli, Roswaenge, Bjorling, others all singing the same aria. This is a very intriguing exercise. Similar albums exist for Che gelida manina, etc. ...or make your own from your collection at home!

Caruso, Slezak, Piccaver, Martinelli,
Schipa, Gigli, Melchior, Tauber,
Roswaenge, Crooks, Tagliavini...
lots more from all over the world.

PRIMA VOCE: TENORS 1904 - 1937
3 CDs

CARUSO - SCHIPA - MC CORMACK

CARUSO - GIGLI - MC CORMACK

including Schipa
companion to the Nigel Douglas book

OPERA TITANS

Björling (in superb voice) (Rigoletto), Gigli (Serse), Tetrazzini (“M’appari” - we kid you not!), Schipa (Barbiere), Caniglia (brief Norma excerpt), Carosio (Nerone by Mascagni, w. Masini, Mascagni, cond.), Tagliavini (Arlesiana), Del Monaco (Rigoletto, Traviata, Tosca; Cavalleria, Otello), Gobbi (Rigoletto, Trovatore, Pagliacci, Schicchi) De Taranto (Falstaff), Scala Chorus (Nabucco).

 
B&W/Color. Packaged in a black sleeve. NTSC or PAL VHS

LES 40 TENORS
2 CDs

Alagna to Vickers.
In between are the usual suspects, plus Heppner, Vanzo, Merritt, Jerusalem, Thill, Shicoff... more!

GREAT TENORS, VOL. 1

Caruso, Gigli, Slezak, Tauber, Rosvaenge, Wittrisch, Schmidt,
Kiepura, Björling, Wunderlich

Richard Tauber sings “E lucevan le stelle”

B&W/Color. Packaged in a plain black sleeve. NTSC or PAL VHS

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