Opera Scotland

John McCormack Suggest updates

Count John McCormack.

Born Athlone, 14 June 1884.

Died Dublin, 16 September 1945.

Irish tenor.

John McCormack had a famously pure technique with excellent, clear diction. 

McCormack's operatic career was actually very brief, running from 1906-13. However, he continued to sing as a hugely popular concert artist to the end of his life.

After winning a singing prize in 1904, John McCormack went to Milan to study with Sabatini.

McCormack's operatic debut in 1906 was as Fritz (L'amico Fritz) at Savona. His first appearance at Covent Garden followed in 1907 (Turiddu). He appeared at the Manhattan Opera, New York, in 1909 and then worked at Boston, Philadelphia, Chicago and the New York Met. 

He created the role of Paul Merrill in Natoma (Victor Herbert 1911). His most famous operatic roles were by Mozart (Don Ottavio); Donizetti (Elvino,  Edgardo); Verdi (Duke of Mantua) and Puccini (Rodolfo). None of his performances were on the operatic stage in Scotland.

McCormack made many recordings which confirm his remarkable vocal quality.