Of the many singers who bridged the musical worlds of the Victorian era and the twentieth century, John McCormack was the most versatile, the most adventurous and the most modern. The excerpts from Aida, Rigoletto and La Traviata demonstrate that McCormack, with his clear, clarion delivery, was an exceptional Verdi tenor. In the selections from Victorian operas by Balfe, Benedict and Wallace, McCormack is the master of florid vocalism and the seamless line. The popular Irish and Irish-American songs are sung with a level of artistry and musical imagination that transcends their humble origins. With Luigi Denza’s Funiculì, funiculà we are returned to the threshold moment in McCormack’s career when the Italian composer adjudicated the 1903 Dublin Feis Ceoil music competition and awarded McCormack the gold medal – the beginning of one of the great musical careers of the twentieth century.


Franz Schubert

Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 4. Standchen (Softly Through the Night is Calling)

Kreisler, Fritz, violin
O'Brien, Vincent, piano
McCormack, John, tenor


Schwanengesang, D. 957: No. 4. Standchen (Softly Through the Night is Calling) 00:03:40
Pietro Mascagni

Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo, "Ave Maria" (arr. for tenor)

Kreisler, Fritz, violin
O'Brien, Vincent, piano
McCormack, John, tenor


Cavalleria Rusticana: Intermezzo, "Ave Maria" (arr. for tenor) 00:02:58
Ernest R. Ball

Who Knows?

Lapitino, Francis, harp
McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Who Knows? 00:02:02
Hermann Lohr

The Little Grey Home in the West: The Little Grey Home in the West

Bourdon, Rosario, cello
McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


The Little Grey Home in the West: The Little Grey Home in the West 00:01:37
Chauncey Olcott

Romance of Athlone: My Wild Irish Rose

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


My Wild Irish Rose 00:03:15
Liza Lehmann

Bonnie Wee Thing

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Bonnie Wee Thing 00:03:05
John S. Fearis

Beautiful Isle of Somewhere

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Beautiful Isle of Somewhere 00:02:20
Milton Wellings

Golden Love

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Golden Love 00:03:35
Guy d' Hardelot

Because

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Because 00:02:25
Wilton King

Avourneen

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Avourneen 00:03:13
Sidney Nelson

Mary of Argyle

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Mary of Argyle 00:02:50
Nelson Kneass

Ben Bolt

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Ben Bolt 00:03:01
James Carroll Bartlett

A Dream

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


A Dream 00:02:16
Michael William Balfe

The Bohemian Girl: When other lips and other hearts

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


The Bohemian Girl: When other lips and other hearts 00:02:54
Stephen C. Foster

Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming

Macdonough, Harry, tenor
Murphy, Lambert, tenor
McCormack, John, tenor
Werrenrath, Reinald, baritone
Studio orchestra


Come Where My Love Lies Dreaming 00:03:16
Luigi Denza

Funiculi, funicula

Macdonough, Harry, tenor
Murphy, Lambert, tenor
McCormack, John, tenor
Werrenrath, Reinald, baritone
Studio orchestra


Funiculi, funicula 00:02:30
Giuseppe Verdi

Rigoletto, Act III: Bella figlia dell'amore

Jacoby, Josephine, contralto
McCormack, John, tenor
Bori, Lucrezia, soprano
Werrenrath, Reinald, baritone
Studio orchestra


Rigoletto, Act III: Bella figlia dell'amore 00:03:51
La traviata, Act III: Parigi, o cara

McCormack, John, tenor
Bori, Lucrezia, soprano
Studio orchestra


La traviata, Act III: Parigi, o cara 00:03:24
Giacomo Puccini

La boheme, Act I: O soave fanciulla

McCormack, John, tenor
Bori, Lucrezia, soprano
Studio orchestra


La boheme, Act I: O soave fanciulla 00:03:08
Giuseppe Verdi

Aida, Act IV: O terra addio

Marsh, Lucy Isabelle, soprano
McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Aida, Act IV: O terra addio 00:03:49
Julius Benedict

The Lily of Killarney: The Moon hath Raised Her Lamp Above

McCormack, John, tenor
Werrenrath, Reinald, baritone
Studio orchestra


The Lily of Killarney: The Moon hath Raised Her Lamp Above 00:03:23
Harry Williams/Jack Judge

It's A Long Way To Tipperary

Macdonough, Harry, tenor
Hooley, William F., bass
McCormack, John, tenor
Werrenrath, Reinald, baritone
Studio orchestra


It's A Long Way To Tipperary 00:03:20
Arthur Tate

Somewhere a Voice is Calling

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Somewhere a Voice is Calling 00:02:57
Harold Craxton

Mavis

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra


Mavis 00:03:26
Francis Dorel

When My Ships Come Sailing Home

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra
Rogers, Walter B., Conductor


When My Ships Come Sailing Home 00:03:42
Wilfred Ernest Sanderson

Until

McCormack, John, tenor
Studio orchestra
Rogers, Walter B., Conductor


Until 00:02:13



Total Playing Time: 01:18:10