Search - James Lyman Molloy, Irish Traditional, William Kernell :: John McCormack, Vol. 1: 18 Favourites

An interpreter's magic that is spell-binding.

John Austin | Kangaroo Ground, Australia | 04/13/2001

(5 out of 5 stars)

"Here is a welcome to a "Nostalgia" series by Naxos, and a welcome into the 21st Century to the great Irish tenor John McCormack. Younger shoppers may not be familiar with this remarkable singer who once rivalled Caruso in the recording popularity stakes. Blessed with the naturally beautiful voice and the secure breath control that any singer might envy, McCormack had the additional ability to communicate directly and memorably and vividly. He polished and perfected his inimitably Irish diction until he felt confident that every listener in the largest auditorium could hear and understand every word. Feeling he had no flair for foreign languages or for acting, he retired early from the operatic stage, but not before he had made recordings of several Mozart and Handel arias that have remained models ever since. Some of his recordings of lieder by Hugo Wolf, moreover, can still send shivers down the spine. This CD of "Favourites" provides songs he recorded between 1912 and 1940. The sentiments may be passé (patriotism, nostalgia, piety, the praise of women and the sorrow of parting) but the sincerity and charm transcend fashion. There is also an interpreter's magic evident in the dramatic monologue "Kathleeen Mavourneen" and the jaunty recounting of what happened in "The Garden Where the Praties Grow" that is spell-binding."