- John McCormack
John McCormack (14 June 1884 – 16 September 1945), was a world-famous Irish
tenor and recording artist, celebrated for his performances of theoperatic andpopular song repertoires, and renowned for his flawless diction and superb breath control. [Douglas, Nigel (1994). "More Legendary Voices", pp 131-152]Early life
John Francis McCormack was born in
Athlone , Ireland, the fourth of eleven children of Andrew McCormack and Hannah Watson [cf. biography at http://www.legacyrecordings.com/John-McCormack.aspx#] on 14 June 1884, and was baptised in St. Mary's Church, Athlone on 23 June 1884. His parents were employed at the Athlone Woollen Mills.McCormack received his early education from the
Marist Brothers in Athlone, and later attendedSummerhill College ,Sligo . In 1903 he won the coveted gold medal in the DublinFeis Ceoil and it was this event which set him on his climb to success. He married Lily Foley in 1906 and the couple had two children, Cyril and Gwen.Career
Fundraising activities on his behalf enabled McCormack to travel to Italy in 1905 to have his voice trained under Vincenzo Sabatini (father of the novelist
Rafael Sabatini ) inMilan . Sabatini found McCormack's voice naturally placed and concentrated on perfecting his breath control, an element that would become one of the foundations of his renown as a vocalist.In 1906 he made his operatic début at the Teatro Chiabrera,
Savona . The following year he undertook his first important operatic appearance at Covent Garden inMascagni 'sCavalleria Rusticana , becoming the theatre's youngest principal tenor. In 1909 he launched his career in America. Michael Scott ("The Record of Singing" 1978) notes that at this stage of his career he should be considered a tenor of the Italian style - and he sang (and recorded) French operatic arias in the Italian language. Steane ("The Grand Tradition" 1971) stresses that, for all his later devotion to the concert platform (and his Irish identity), he was for albeit a relatively brief period in essence an Italian operatic tenor.In 1911, McCormack toured
Australia after DameNellie Melba engaged him, then at the height of his operatic career aged 27, as a star tenor for the Melba Grand Opera Season. He returned for concert tours in subsequent years.By 1912 he began to turn his attention increasingly to the concert stage, where his voice quality and charisma ensured that he became the most celebrated lyric tenor of his day. He did not, however, retire from the operatic stage until 1923 in Monte Carlo (see biography below), although by now the top notes of his voice had contracted. Famous for his extraordinary breath control, he could sing 64 notes on one breath in Mozart's "Il mio tesoro" from "
Don Giovanni ", and his Handelian singing was just as impressive in this regard.McCormack made hundreds of recordings, the first on
phonograph cylinder in 1904. His most commercially successful series of records were those for theVictor Talking Machine Company in the 1910s and 1920s. He also regularly broadcast on theradio and appeared in a number ofsound film s. McCormack was the first artist to record theWorld War I hit songIt's a Long Way to Tipperary , in 1914. In addition to deeply felt sentimental airs, he presented an openly political face: his recording ofThe Wearing of the Green , a song about the Irish rebellion of 1798, gave encouragement to the 20th century movement for Irish Home Rule Bill and endorsed the Irish Nationalist estrangement fromEngland . McCormack was particularly associated with the songs ofThomas Moore , notably "The Harp That Once Through Tara’s Halls", "TheMinstrel Boy ", "Believe Me If All (Those Endearing Young Charms)", and "The Last Rose of Summer ". Between 1914 and 1922 he recorded almost two dozen songs with violin accompaniment provided byFritz Kreisler , with whom he also toured.In 1917 McCormack became a naturalized citizen of the
United States . In June 1918 he donated $11,458 towards the USA's war effort in theFirst World War . By now his career was a huge financial success, earning millions in his lifetime from record sales and appearances, though he never was invited to sing atLa Scala inMilan .In 1927 McCormack moved into Moore Abbey,
Monasterevan ,County Kildare and lived an opulent life by Irish standards. He had central apartments inLondon andNew York . He hoped that one of his racehorses, such as Golden Lullaby, would win theEpsom Derby , but was unlucky.McCormack also bought Runyon Canyon in Hollywood in 1930 from Carman Runyon. McCormack fell in love with the estate while there filming "
Song o' My Heart " (1930) [* imdb title | id=0021401 | title=Song o'My Heart] , an early all-talking, all-singing picture. McCormack's used his salary for this movie to purchase the estate and built a mansion he called 'San Patrizio', afterSaint Patrick . McCormack and his wife lived in the mansion until they returned to England in 1938.McCormack toured often, and in his absence the mansion was often rented out to celebrities such as
Janet Gaynor and Charles Boyer. The McCormacks made many friends in Hollywood, among themWill Rogers ,John Barrymore ,Basil Rathbone , C. E. Toberman and the Dohenys. After his farewell tour of America in 1937, the McCormacks deeded the estate back to Carman Runyon expecting to return to the estate at a later date. World War II intervened and McCormack did not return. McCormack ended his career at theRoyal Albert Hall in London in 1938. Ill withemphysema , he bought a house near the sea, "Glena",Booterstown ,Dublin . [He also bought and owned a property in County Wicklow called the Old Conna, which later became a private hotel, a private property and subsequently Aravon school and golf course.] He is buried inDeansgrange Cemetery.Honours
He was much honoured and decorated for his services to the world of music. His greatest honour came in 1928, when he received the title of Papal Count from
Pope Pius XI in recognition of his work for Catholic charities. His title as count was formally recognised by theHoly See and the Kingdom of Italy (from 1929).To many people the highlight of McCormack's Irish career was his singing of
César Franck 's "Panis Angelicus " to the thousands who throngedDublin 'sPhoenix Park for the 1932Eucharistic Congress .A [http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v498/MauriceColgan/JohnCountMcCormack.jpglife-sized bronze statue] of John McCormack, by sculptor Elizabeth O' Kane, was unveiled in Dublin Ireland, on the 19th June 2008. The statue stands in the Iveagh Gardens.
Bibliography
"The Great Irish Tenor: John McCormack", by Gordon T Ledbetter, Town House, 2003. ISBN 1-86059-178-7
"John McCormack, Icon Of An Age" DVD Box Set
Notes and references
ee also
*
List of people on stamps of Ireland External links
* [http://www.mccormacksociety.co.uk/ The John McCormack Society]
*imdb name|id=0566451|name=John McCormack
* [http://www.archive.org/details/JohnMcCormack Public domain recordings of John McCormack at the Internet Archive.]
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