Most Helpful Customer Reviews
|
|
5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
John McCromack in Song, January 26, 2004
I just received this CD from Amazon and I am absolutely amazed that recordings made over 90 years ago sound so wonderful! If anyone ever doubted why John McCormack was lauded as the greatest tenor of the first half of the 20th Century, just listen to this CD. For clarity of tone, for phrasing, for vocal range, and for pure emotion, no one could possibly surpass him. It is a real joy to hear that incredible tenor voice all these many years later. Thank God he lived after audio recording was possible. This is a real collector's item.
|
|
|
3 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
Opera Goes Pop, March 8, 2001
John McCormack was one of the most popular singers of his day. He was primarily known for his operatic tenor, but he also had great success with his recordings of popular songs. This disc collects a number of his more popular recordings. I would have preferred a larger sampling of his work from the 1910s, but it does have several classics, including "Somewhere a Voice Is Calling" (which NARAS has inducted into their Recording Hall of Fame) and "The Lost Chord" (one of the most popular songs of the turn of the twentieth century).
|
|
|
0 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
3.0 out of 5 stars
John McCormack and Irish Songs, May 31, 2006
John McCormack had a great voice possessed of true operatic qualities; but I never cared that much for his singing. I don't know exactly why, except his delivery was too tasteful, too sentimental, too well phrased, easily formed and finally, too much like your corner bar room, Irish tenor. Two thirds of this CD is devoted to acoustical recordings, those made prior to 1925. I must confess, I find these far more satisfying than the better recorded ones of the 1930's and later. Perhaps he was closer then to his Italianate opera training. In any case, this makes him well represented in my record library. Perhaps an inheritor at some later time, can come to a better judgment. He was by his own admission a poor actor, and he abandoned opera at a relatively early date. He made most of his reputation and a great deal of money afterward, in solo appearances, specifically with this type of Irish music. He recordings were and continue very popular here in the United States.
I can't imagine why. Personally, I prefer Bing Crosby, Robert White and most especially, John Gary.
|
|
|
|
~ Giuseppe Mario Sammarco
~ Reinald Werrenrath
DVD ~ John McCormack
~ Michael William Balfe
~ Michael Cozette
- the new music site from IMDb and Amazon.
