Stamp of the Month: September 2020

John McCormack
The Irish tenor John McCormack was born on June 14, 1884 in Athlone, Ireland; he died on September 16, 1945 in Dublin. September 2020 will mark the 75th anniversary of his death.

John McCormack received his first musical training as a member of the Palestrina Choir of Dublin Cathedral. He studied in Milan and made his debut in Savona in 1906 in the opera “L’Amico Fritz” by Pietro Mascagni. In 1907 he received an engagement at the Royal Opera Covent Garden in London, where he triumphed

Ireland 9.5.2019

in 15 different roles until 1914. Guest appearances took him to the Manhattan Opera House in 1909 and to Chicago, Philadelphia and the Metropolitan Opera in New York in 1910, where he was also engaged in 1912–1914 and 1917–1918. In 1911 he went on a tour of Australia with the world-famous Australian soprano Nellie Melba. Due to the huge success at his concerts, he withdrew from the opera stage in 1923 and only sang in concerts in which he also performed Irish folk songs. In 1938 he gave his farewell concert at London’s Royal Albert Hall, but still appeared occasionally at charity concerts during World War II.
Alongside Enrico Caruso and Beniamino Gigli, John McCormack was considered the most important tenor of his time. Caruso held him in high esteem and saw him as his greatest rival. The great popularity made John McCormack one of the best-earning classical stars of his time. His recordings were real sales hits.

“O Danny Boy”, written by Frederic Weatherly in 1910, is sung to the old Irish folk tune “A Londonderry Air”. The song was part of the standard repertoire at the concerts of John McCormac.