John Count McCormack - Ireland's First Superstar

By Liam Fitzpatrick

John Count McCormack was born the fourth of eleven children, in the town of Athlone, County Westmeath, in June 1884, and the expression 'Born to Sing' was surely coined for him.

He had intended to pursue a career in engineering but abandoned that at the age of 18, when he turned to singing after winning the acclaimed tenor competition "An Feis Ceoil", at the National Irish Musical Festival in 1903.

There is a legend of long-standing that he beat the Irish author, James Joyce in the contest, though there is no documentary evidence to support this.

Joyce did however, win the Bronze Medal (3rd prize) in the Tenor Competition in 1904.

John's father, who perhaps quite understandably, felt that singing might be a precarious way to earn a living, encouraged him to continue with his engineering career, though the younger McCormack persisted with his singing, going on to win the praises of scores of critics, develop legions of fans worldwide and earn millions of dollars in the following decades.

Throughout his youth he'd developed thoughts about entering the priesthood, and always had a strong faith in his religion, but it had become increasingly obvious that his future belonged in music.

His faith never left him throughout his career though, and he was rewarded with several titles by the Vatican, for his continued work for the Catholic Church.

He was supported in his singing aspirations and coached privately by Dr. Vincent O'Brien who at that time was the conductor of Dublin's Pro-Cathedral Choir.

Indeed, his professional career began when Dr. O'Brien gave him a place in the choir with a remuneration of twenty five pounds a year.

John then found himself being asked to perform at a number of home functions which were the fashion at that time.

It was through one of these functions that it was suggested he should approach Maestro Vincenzo Sabatini in Italy who was a noted teacher of music at that time.

Dr. O'Brien helped fundraise to pay the travel to Milan and the subsequent lessons from Maestro Sabatini.

At his first lesson with the Maestro, John sang the aria 'In Her Simplicity' from the Ambroise Thomas opera, 'Mignon' (an opera which is also, coincidentally, mentioned in the James Joyce story, 'The Dead').

When he had finished Sabatini spoke rapidly in Italian to his wife who was present, with young McCormack looking on expectantly for a translation.

She told him the Maestro had said, "I can do little for this boy except to teach him how use his voice ... God has done all the rest". No mean compliment from someone of Sabatini's stature.

Returning to Italy in September 1905 where Sabatini had arranged some opera auditions for him, McCormack was successful and made his operatic debut in Savona in the opera 'L'Amico Fritz'.

He then went on to sing in ten performances of 'Faust' at the Teatro Verdi in Santa Croce sul Arno.

He returned to London in 1907 where he impressed the audience at a Boosey Ballad Concert and impressed the critics so much that one stated: "No doubt the voice was excellent, yet the actual effect of his singing seemed in excess of the voice. A more perfect and more beautiful display of vocal art I would not wish to hear".

Later that year he made his debut at the Royal Opera Covent Garden, as Turiddu in Cavalleria Rusticana. He was 23 years old, the youngest tenor ever to perform a leading role there.

On the day after his debut in Covent Garden, Sir John Murray Scott gave a luncheon party in his honor, when a probably well-meaning guest proposed a toast to "The Irish Caruso", Sir John frowned and took John's wife Lily aside and said, "You mustn't let John attempt to copy Caruso. There is only one Caruso and there will only be one John McCormack. With his voice he will make his own name, he doesn't have to copy anyone. Only you can make him see that".

Oscar Hammerstein who at that time was one of the world's greatest showmen then approached McCormack with an offer to sing in the Manhattan Opera House in New York.

How little did John and his wife Lily think, as they packed their luggage for America, that for the next thirty years their lives would be spent packing their luggage and traveling!

Not only for trips to the US, but to the farthest corners of the world; Australia, South Africa, China, Japan and elsewhere.

He had been extremely fortunate in his two teachers Dr. O'Brien and Maestro Sabatini.

They, realizing his youth, discouraged him from trying the heavier operas as they felt he might damage the delicate structure of his vocal chords.

He was at his happiest in concert work, once saying that to him opera was inartistic, because at the vital moment that the soprano wrenches herself from the arms of the poor tenor, she leaves him standing inanely while she rushes to the footlights "to tell her troubles, or her ecstasies to the world".

He was better known in Ireland for his ballads than his operatic work, not surprising when you remember the thousands of songs he recorded.

At the close of a concert in Buffalo in 1937 he announced to the audience that it was to be his last professional appearance in America, his adopted home (he'd become a citizen two decades earlier).

He continued to perform in both England and Ireland, and sang at events to raise funds for the Red Cross for the war effort, though in 1945 he contracted pneumonia, having already been suffering from emphysema, and on Sunday September 16 of that year just before midnight, John Count McCormack, Ireland's greatest minstrel passed away before he got to enjoy the retirement he'd so looked forward to.

Still remembered by his many fans the world over, a life-sized bronze statue of McCormack, by sculptor Elizabeth O'Kane, was erected in Dublin's Iveagh Gardens, near the National Concert Hall, while in his hometown of Athlone, he is commemorated by that town's Institute of Technology, which named its performance hall after him.

John Count McCormack is buried in Dublin's Deansgrange Cemetery.