Episode 50. Rogue Tenors (Crossover Classics VI)

Episode 50. Rogue Tenors (Crossover Classics VI)

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

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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