@@davegreene8588And in this clip he demonstrates how great singers of the past had more in common with Frank Sinatra than with the wobbling out of tune screechers of today’s opera world.
See my comment in reply to James Drake here. The poster did misspell Jan's name. BTW I was a guest at Peerce's home when in NY. and in fact spent an afternoon and over night there at his beautiful New Rochelle home, he not only sang once for me in my car, (in beautiful piano voice) some of his Famous "bluebird song" but nothing much on you tube posted is ever new to me, in addition I have many concerts and his last two complete sung opera's, he sang, them in IL. I attended and taped them (1970's) but they are not in great recorded sound quality, so that I keep private, those last performed opera's in the 1970's where in Peoria IL. I also taped on cassette, in addition to most all the many JP. concerts I attended, I taped some rehearsals he sang that I attended, and I have most all of his studio records, many both on small 45 vinyl's and many old 78 RPM records, I've got a big huge Peerce collection, many signed by him for me on LP's from him, and many interviews I own dating way back, I also drove him many times to concert recitals he gave in Calif. I first heard him in house back in 1958 in Chicago, he was a wonderful artist and musician, but I was and am always a huge fan of the Spinto Richard Tucker in opera and as a Cantor.
He had a heart attack while singing at a rehearsal in Kalamazoo, Michigan for a concert that night if I remember correctly, thus he literally sang until the day he died and that is what I believe all singers' dreams should be!
@@RanDSavage No not quite right, he did the rehearsal and died a few hours later, having a heart attack in his hotel room, he died on the way to the hospital.
A commendable video which would be more thematically consistent if Tucker would have been shown singing “Rachel, quand du Seigneur” from “La Juive” after his interview with Martin Bookspan, and if Peerce (not “Pierce”) would have been shown in the prime of his career rather than his later years when his voice had lost some of its “ping.” Merrill’s voice was superb throughout his long career. Of these three, only Tucker was ever a full-time cantor.
@@johnhunter1198: No, Jan Peerce, who died at age 80 in 1984, never held a cantorial appointment at any synagogue, although after his post-operatic Broadway career as Tevye in “Fiddler” he officiated as a cantor at various events. Of the two tenors only Tucker had been a professional cantor, and reached his pinnacle as the resident cantor at the famed Brooklyn Jewish Center, where he was heard by Edward Johnson, the Met’s general manager, and was given an audition. Earlier, Tucker had been a contestant in the Met Auditions of the Air, but had placed second in the competition. When he auditioned on the stage for Johnson, however, he was offered a contract and negotiated to make his debut as Enzo in the demanding “La Gioconda.”
@@jimdrake3436 Yes Jim, exactly and of course Peerce was basically lyric, he was anyhow more limited in Roles then Tucker, sure both men sang Faust, Lucia, Trav., Boheme, Ballo, Rigoletto, Forza ( not often for Peerce). but Jan never sang the many bigger roles Tucker did later as a true spinto tenor. I read the excellent book Dr. David Tucker recently wrote "The hard bargain" and your wonderful book " Richard Tucker" long ago, it is the complete Tucker book.
Tucker was well received in Italy, and his Italian and singing style according to Pavarotti (in your biography "Richard Tucker") where Pav. says Tucker received a great ovation in Milan at La Scala singing Luisa Miller. Obviously the Italians liked him. @@jimdrake3436
it is interesting that Dorothy Kirsten in her autobiography ("A time to sing") on page 84, wrote that "Tucker developed long and valuable experience as a Cantor, the many scales and and agility necessary to sing this kind of music are akin to doing vocal exercises every time one performs, they also keep the vocal chords flexible and strong. I believe this training was the secret of their vocal security" ( As she refers to Peerce and Tucker) Did you ever interview Kirsten? I know you did Peerce (and the Tucker Biography you wrote) with "Mrs. Sara Tucker" (Richard's widow.) He had a wonderful Cadenza and sang the trills as in the Trovatore "Ah Si Ben Mio" live and on his many recordings, every time he sang the aria in the role live or alone in recordings, of course the Italians loved him, and in your book, Pavarotti wrote the foreward and mentioned Tucker singing at La Scala. What did Pav. tell you about Tucker and his Italian? (which sounded fine IMO for an American tenor, not Italian born) @@jimdrake3436
Pavarotti said that at Tucker's La Scala debut, the critics acclaimed his singing and his Italian pronunciation, but that some of the "loggionistas" were carping about his over-accentuation of double-consonants in words like "ecco," which they said he pronounced as "ec-cc-co." Pavarotti said not only to me but in a number of interviews that the careers of two tenors--an American, Richard Tucker, and a Swede, Jussi Bjoerling--showed that one need not be Italian to sing the great Italian roles.
There is definitely an Eastern European cantorial sound. You hear it in Jadwolker, Schmidt, and Peerce and Tucker. Shickoff was the last major operatic tenor to have it. Funny that Tucker denies it exists and then there is a video of him tossing off the coloratura scale at the end of ‘La donna è mobile’ in pure cantorial style.
there is nothing cantorial about tucker's cadenza in "la donna e mobile" and both both bjoerling, schipa, kraus and caruso had very similar excellent cadenza's and they where not cantors or jewish, the tucker haters try to put him down using that crap about him being a cantor, but the Italians loved him and he was a wonderful tenor no matter, if they didn't know he was a cantor then they'd say how great the cadenza was and it was great, especially when you consider he had (tucker) a very big spinto voice but it was well used.
@@rst-3192 There is no claim whatever in what I wrote that a cantorial voice is inimical to idiomatic Italian expression. To deny that a cantorial timbre is something identifiable is not to have ears.
Jan Peerce (born Jacob Pincus Perelmuth; June 3, 1904 - December 15, 1984) was an American operatic tenor. Peerce and Tucker hated each other. Peerce was Tucker's brother-in-law.
they didn't like each other later on, early they liked each other and in fact I knew both men and was as a guest at both their homes, I will say both men respected each other as singers but that was as far as it went, Tucker was younger and became the #1 leading tenor at the Met. for 30 years in 30 roles, Peerce was a great and a more Lyric type tenor then Tucker, a Spinto in his prime, both very great.
James Drake wrote the The Richard Tucker Biography and the Ponselle Biography, in fact he wrote two books on Rosa Ponselle, he makes a comment above here as he is very well informed as a well known writer of opera singers.
@@shicoff1398 Thank you Sir, for your comments here and on other operatic postings. I enjoy your stories and insights, even though I rarely post anything.
