Episode 50. Rogue Tenors (Crossover Classics VI)
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Our crossover series continues, this time with a full episode dedicated to more than a century of great tenors singing crossover material, beginning in 1902 with Fernando de Lucia recording of “Serenata” by Paolo Tosti . Along the way we observe the evolution of the genre from Victorian ballads through Neapolitan songs and Spanish-tinged material (you have not lived until you have heard Fritz Wunderlich sing “Granada”!); from folk songs and musicals to international film theme songs and popular rock hits. Other featured singers include John McCormack, Richard Crooks, Charles Kullman, Tito Schipa, Carlo Bergonzi, Franco Corelli, Miguel Fleta, Jussi Björling, Roland Hayes, Tandy MacKenzie, Francisco Araiza, Joseph Schmidt, Beniamino Gigli, Marcel Wittrisch, Georges Thill, Richard Tauber, Jan Kiepura, James Melton, Lauritz Melchior, René Kollo, Peter Hofmann, Javier Camarena, and Jerry Hadley. Today’s episode is pure escapism, until you find yourself weeping at the unexpected beauty and pathos of it all.
RECORDINGS HEARD IN THIS EPISODE
Agustín Lara, Ralph Maria Siegel: Granada. Fritz Wunderlich; Hans Carste, Symphonie-Orchester Graunke
Paolo Tosti: Serenata. Fernando de Lucia
María Grever: Júrame. Javier Camarena; Ángel Rodríguez
Charles Marshall, Harold Lake: I Hear You Calling Me. John McCormack
Dermot Macmurrough [Harold R. White], Josephine V. Rowe: Macushla. Richard Crooks
Lao Silésu, Adrian Ross: Love, Here Is My Heart. Charles Kullman
Victor Herbert: Oh! Dulce misterio de la vida [Ah! Sweet Mystery of Life] (Naughty Marietta). Tito Schipa
Paolo Tosti: L’alba separa dalla luce l’ombra. Carlo Bergonzi; John Wustman
Ernesto De Curtis, Libero Bovio: Tu ca non chiagne. Franco Corelli; Franco Ferraris
Osmán Pérez Freire: Ay, ay, ay. Miguel Fleta
K.O.W.A. (Knut O.W. Almroth): Tangoflickan. Jussi Björling (as Eric Odde), Hjalmar Meissner
Traditional Louisiana Creole, arr. Camille Nickerson: Mister Banjo. Roland Hayes; Reginald Boardman
W.J. Coelho: Roselani. Tandy MacKenzie
John Lennon, Paul McCartney: Yesterday. Francisco Araiza; Ralf Weikert, Münchener Rundfunkorchester
Hans May, Ernst Neubach: Heut’ ist der schönste Tag in meinem Leben (from the film of the same name). Joseph Schmidt
Cesare Andrea Bixio, Bixio Cherubini: Mamma (from the film of the same name). Beniamino Gigli
Leonello Casucci, Julius Brammer: Schöner Gigolo, armer Gigolo. Marcel Wittrisch; Marek Weber und sein Orchester
Bronislau Kaper, Walter Jurmann; Henri Clouzot, Pierre-Gilles Veber (French words): Ninon, quand tu me souris (Tout pour l’amour). Georges Thill
Richard Rodgers, Oscar Hammerstein: Oh, What a Beautiful Mornin’ (Oklahoma!). Richard Tauber; George Melachrino
Erich Wolfgang Korngold: Sweet Melody of Night (Give Us the Night). Jan Kiepura; Erich Korngold
Harry Warren, Al Dubin: September in the Rain (Melody for Two). James Melton
Sammy Fain, Ralph Freed: Please Don’t Say No (Thrill of a Romance). Lauritz Melchior
Gene Pitney, Carl Ulrich Blecher (German words): Hello, Mary Lou. René Kollo
Boudleaux Bryant, Felice Bryant: Love Hurts. Peter Hofmann
Irving Berlin: What’ll I Do? Jerry Hadley; Paul Gemigniani, American Theater Orchestra