Classical Kern: The Vocal Recordings

Jerome Kern by Bettina Steinke (National Portrait Gallery)

For at least the first 60 years of the last century, it was not unusual for classical vocalists to sing popular songs. Those days, singers could appear at the Met, in film, operetta and on the radio performing a variety of repertoire.

Record companies were keen to exploit the fame their artists had developed through radio or film, so it became common for these singers to adopt songs that suited their styles and had popular appeal. What better source than the rich catalogue of the beloved songwriter Jerome Kern, who wrote in a style that was close to the operettas that most of these singers had appeared in.

Today's post presents 13 of those crossover classical-popular vocalists in the Kern repertoire, via recordings dating from 1919 to 1951. We start with an album by mezzo Risë Stevens, and continue with singles from John McCormack, Lawrence Tibbett, Lily Pons, Richard Tauber, Grace Moore, Eleanor Steber, Gladys Swarthout, Jeanette MacDonald, Lauritz Melchior, Dorothy Kirsten and William Warfield. Finally, we have a reupload of an album by Irene Dunne, who appeared in several Kern films.

This is a companion to my recent post of the Show Boat Scenario for Orchestra from the Cleveland Orchestra and Artur Rodziński.

Risë Stevens in Songs of Jerome Kern

When her Jerome Kern album was recorded in 1945, Risë Stevens had achieved so much notoriety than Hollywood had cast her as an opera singer in Bing Crosby's 1944 film Going My Way. She had already been at the Met for six years by that time, and was to continue throughout the next few decades.

The Kern songs formed the first album she would make with the Shulman brothers - Alan providing the arrangements and Sylvan conducting them. The Shulmans were notable crossover artists themselves - when they were not performing in the NBC Symphony, they formed one half of the Stuyvesant String Quartet and were the motive force behind the jazz group the New Friends of Rhythm. Alan wrote for both classical and pop ensembles.

The New Friends of Rhythm: Alan Shulman is the first violin, Sylvan the cellist

The second album by Stevens and the Shulmans (Love Songs from 1946) has appeared on this blog already and can be found here. You also can hear her in songs by Victor Herbert and in the elusive 1945-46 set of excerpts from her signature role, Carmen.

For her Kern album, Stevens selected prime examples of the composer's artistry; only "Don't Ever Leave Me" might not be considered among his greatest hits. It is, however, one of his best songs and is especially well done here. Overall, I find the performances pleasing, although critics of the time took issue with both the singer and the accompaniments. The New York Times insisted that Stevens was "an operatic singer and not a crooner." And the formidable Max de Schauensee in The New Records declared that he had never heard such "elaborately saccharine arrangements." (He was not paying attention to the pop music of the time - swooning romanticism was the vogue.) Well, for what it is worth, I enjoy the singer and her accomplices a great deal. It helps to have songs the quality of Kern's compositions.

Stevens was popular with the advertisers as well as the record buyers. Below, she touts GE radio-phonographs: the better to hear her with.

Please forgive some surface noise on a few cuts.

Kern Songs by Classical Vocalists

John McCormack

Risë Stevens was not the first operatic vocalist to turn to the Jerome Kern songbook for material. The tradition goes back as least as far as 1919 and the incomparable John McCormack. All the singers below had an active career both in opera (or at least operetta) and popular songs, the bridge usually being either radio or films, and often both.

The earliest recording in the group is also perhaps the least well-known song. "The First Rose of Summer" comes from the 1919 show She's a Good Fellow, with book and lyrics by Anne Caldwell. John McCormack (1884-1945) made his record the same year, with his usual exceptional diction, control and involvement. The acoustic recording is one of the best of its kind. More McCormack can be found in these earlier blog collections.

Lawrence Tibbett

By 1932, baritone Lawrence Tibbett (1896-1960) had managed to become not only a star at the Met, but in films and on radio. Victor had taken notice, and he was often in its studios from 1926 on. In 1932, the Camden crew had him set down two songs from Kern's new show Music in the Air: "And Love Was Born" and "The Song Is You," both with Oscar Hammerstein's lyrics. The latter became much more popular, but our selection today is the less often heard "And Love Was Born." We'll hear "The Song Is You" in a later recording.

In 1935, Kern was in Hollywood composing for the film I Dream Too Much, starring the unlikely couple of Lily Pons (1898-1976) and Henry Fonda. Columbia brought the coloratura (Pons, that is) to the studio with her future husband Andre Kostelanetz and a male chorus to perform two of the songs, "I Dream Too Much" and "I'm the Echo (You're the Song that I Sing)." Lyricist Dorothy Fields worked with Kern on this score.

Richard Tauber

Kern then moved on to the film musical High, Wide and Handsome, again with Hammerstein. The 1936 production starred the radiant Irene Dunne, who introduced both "Can I Forget You?" and the immortal "Folks Who Live On the Hill." (Oddly, neither appeared in Dunne's 1941 Kern album, discussed below.) To represent the score, we turn to the elegant German singer Richard Tauber (1891-1948), who recorded "Can I Forget You?" in London, where he was making films and where he soon would reside. Tauber's intimate singing is ideal.

Gladys Swarthout

Kern adapted his 1933 Broadway musical Roberta, with lyrics by Otto Harbach, for a 1935 film starring Dunne, Fred Astaire and Ginger Rogers. Dunne got to sing two of Kern's greatest songs, "Yesterdays" and "Smoke Gets in Your Eyes," and the latter made it into her Decca album. Our version comes from 1942 and the excellent mezzo Gladys Swarthout (1900-69). This recording was part of the album Gladys Swarthout Singing Musical Show Hits.

Grace Moore

Next we turn to Kern's greatest score, Show Boat and the magnificent "You Are Love," here in a version by the "Tennessee Nightingale," Grace Moore (1898-1947). It may be ironic that Moore would perform songs from this show - she reputedly would not appear on stage with black performers. Moore had made her Broadway debut in 1920 in Kern's Hitchy-Koo. It wasn't until several years later that she appeared on the opera stage. Her greatest success was in films. This disc dates from 1945, just a few years before her death in a plane crash.

Jeanette MacDonald RCA promo

Jeanette MacDonald (1903-65) was another performer whose greatest successes were behind her when she recorded "They Didn't Believe Me" in 1947 with Russ Case. MacDonald had no operatic experience, but became famous in films opposite Maurice Chevalier and then in a series of operettas co-starring her lifelong companion Nelson Eddy. "They Didn't Believe Me" is the earliest composition in this set. It comes from 1914, when it was interpolated into the Broadway production of The Girl from Utah. This recording shows off MacDonald's great charm.

Eleanor Steber

Now let's return to Roberta and perhaps my own favorite Kern song, "The Touch of Your Hand," here in an exceptional 1947 performance by soprano Eleanor Steber (1914-90), who was beginning to make a mark both on the operatic stage and on the radio. The song comes from the Broadway score of Roberta; it did not make it into the film. Steber's accompaniment is led by the ubiquitous Broadway maestro Jay Blackton. The soprano has appeared here previously via the first recording of Samuel Barber's remarkable Knoxville: Summer of 1915, which she commissioned.

At long last we return to Music in the Air and a rendition of "The Song Is You" by the vocally and physically imposing Lauritz Melchior (1890-1973). In 1947, the Danish titan had left Wagner behind for a second career in Hollywood as a singing character actor. His studio, M-G-M, kept him busy recording as well, pairing him with Georgie Stoll for this production. Melchior also occupied his time endorsing products, including at least two brews, Pabst Blue Ribbon and Rheingold (below). I like to think he switched to the latter because of his Wagnerian background, but it probably had more to do with free beer. You can hear more from Melchior in these earlier posts.

Dorothy Kirsten

One of the finest crossover artists was Dorothy Kirsten (1910-92) who was equally at home on the opera stage, records or radio programs with Frank Sinatra. Her emotional involvement is evident in "Why Was I Born?" from Sweet Adeline, a 1929 Kern-Hammerstein production. This 78 dates from 1949, and has a backing by John Scott Trotter, Bing Crosby's longtime music director. Kirsten had appeared on Crosby's radio program, and was to make a guest appearance in his 1950 film Mr. Music.

William Warfield in Show Boat

I have saved the best for last. To me, one the greatest recordings of all time is William Warfield's performance of "Ol' Man River" in the 1951 film version of Show Boat. The vocal quality, emotional involvement, control, and sheer beauty of his singing are overwhelming. His tempo is slow but the concentration and tension never slacken. I've featured all his early Columbia recordings here; this single came out on M-G-M. Kern wrote the song for Paul Robeson - and his version appeared on the blog many years ago, but it was not finer than this.

Performances of Show Boat and its songs have always been sensitive, increasingly so as time goes on. Please see this 2018 Boston Globe article for an illuminating discussion of some of the issues faced by performers and their views of the subject.

Reup: Irene Dunne in Songs by Jerome Kern

Irene Dunne's 1941 album of Kern songs may not have been the most popular item I've ever posted here, but it surely is among my favorites. I have remastered my old transfer in honor of this Kern celebration; it is available here.

Unlike the artists mentioned above, Dunne never appeared in opera or operetta. She had wanted to become an opera singer when young, but was told her voice was too small. She did well, however, as a singing lead in films, then achieved her greatest successes in screwball comedies, where she excelled. She was an endearing performer.

Melchior touted beer; Dunne stuck to cola

Classical Kern: the 'Show Boat' Scenario for Orchestra

The story goes that songwriter Jerome Kern (1885-1945) composed with a bust of Wagner overseeing his labors - smiling when Kern did well, frowning otherwise.

Judging by the 1941 caricature above by Jim Herron for the Cleveland Press, Kern had hit on a particularly lovely melody.

Jerome Kern

Using the wizard of Bayreuth as a measure of his musical achievements is surprising for Kern. While he did have a classical grounding, he also never considered himself anything other than what he called a "musical tailor" - writing tunes to fit the plot, character and situation of the musical on his workbench.

But what tunes he wrote! Their quality - and the brilliant success of Show Boat, the musical he composed with Oscar Hammerstein II in 1927 - gained him high regard among musicians of all varieties.

One such admirer was Artur Rodziński, conductor of the Cleveland Orchestra, who suggested that Kern prepare a symphonic version of themes from Show Boat. Kern had never attempted to write anything other than songs, unlike his contemporary George Gershwin, but he was pleased by Rodziński's suggestion. He replied, however, "I find myself unequipped with sufficient skill, technique or experience to create a symphonic arrangement of the melodies of ‘Show Boat’ worthy of your baton." So Kern proposed providing a "skeleton sketch" for Robert Russell Bennett (the orchestrator of Show Boat) to elaborate. It was on that basis that Rodziński prepared for a premiere in Cleveland in September 1941 and a second performance with the New York Philharmonic the next month.

Artur Rodziński and Charles Miller at the premiere

For some reason, Bennett did not end up preparing what turned out to be a "Scenario for Orchestra" on themes from Show Boat. Veteran Broadway orchestrator Charles Miller did that work. (One source says another experienced hand, Emil Gerstenberger, helped out.) Kern did not attend the premiere; accounts differ as to why - either he was sick or a friend had died. He did make it to the first New York performance.

Flyer for a 1941 children's concert with the Kern work

After the first performances, the critics were pleased if not ecstatic. Both the Cleveland and New York writers stressed the work's popular appeal while noting that it amounted to a string of tunes with no particular shape or climax; the result didn't have the emotional punch or poignancy of the widely admired theatrical work. (The New York Times' Olin Downes had stressed Show Boat's superiority even to Porgy & Bess in his advance article.)

Cover of the 78 album

The critical assessment holds up 80 years later, as you will hear in the recording that Rodziński and his Cleveland troops made for Columbia in late December 1941. That said, it is quite a good performance of Kern's music - a reward in itself. Rodzinski was a masterful conductor and the orchestra was in excellent shape just before the wartime draft decimated its ranks, although the strings were not numerous even then. The recording is good, although it doesn't have much dynamic range, which blunts the climaxes.

Program book

The download includes many advance articles and reviews from the Cleveland Press, News and Plain Dealer, the New York Times, the Associated Press and the Akron Journal. The Plain Dealer's critic at the time was Herbert Elwell, a composer whose music has appeared here. The Press critic was Arthur Loesser, an excellent pianist who taught at the Cleveland Institute of Music for several decades.

The Show Boat Scenario was not the final orchestral work that Kern produced. In 1942, Andre Kostelanetz commissioned him to produce Mark Twain - Portrait for Orchestra, subsequently recorded for Columbia and previously featured here.

This particular recording was refurbished from a lossless transfer on Internet Archive. Many of the news clippings and images above were cleaned up from the original Cleveland Orchestra scrapbooks held by the Cleveland Public Library.

Next, I'll continue this theme of classical artists exploring Kern's music with a selection of his songs  performed by opera and operetta artists.

Kostelanetz Conducts Grofé and Kern, Plus Many Bonus Items

The recent post of Paul Whiteman recordings led to a lively discussion on the comments page, including  uploads of the Whiteman recordings of Ferde Grofé's Grand Canyon Suite and Mississippi Suite.

As that was transpiring, I ran across an Andre Kostelanetz LP in my collection with his take on the Mississippi Suite. This 10-inch album couples the 1946 recording of the Grofé work with Kosty's 1942 rendition of Jerome Kern's Mark Twain (Portrait for Orchestra). Both suites are notable contributions to the then-popular vein of musical Americana.

Ferde Grofé

The Mississippi Suite dates from 1925, and was the Grofé's first attempt at such an extended composition. Whiteman recorded his version in 1927, minus the first movement. Grofé later arranged the piece for a larger ensemble. This may be the first recording of that version, although I would not swear that Kostelanetz used the composer's own score. It is possible the conductor edited or even rearranged it.

The fourth section of the Mississippi Suite ("Mardi Gras") spawned a popular song in 1942 called "Daybreak," with lyrics by Harold Adamson. Tommy Dorsey had a hit with the tune, with a vocal by his boy singer of the period, Frank Sinatra. On my singles blog, I've uploaded another fine rendition, the 1955 version by Al Hibbler.

Cover of 78 set

Kostelanetz himself commissioned Kern's Mark Twain along with Aaron Copland's A Lincoln Portrait and Virgil Thomson's Mayor LaGuardia Waltzes, introducing them during a 1942 Cincinnati Symphony concert. The Copland piece can be found on this blog in the Rodziński/New York recording. I don't think Thomson's ode to Fiorello has been recorded, and I've never heard it.

Mark Twain is an enjoyably melodious work. It's not clear who handled the orchestration, although the published version available from the Rodgers & Hammerstein Organization was orchestrated by Amadeo De Filippo, who was a staff arranger for CBS and other media organizations during the mid-century years.

Jerome Kern

The LP sound is reasonably good for the Kern; better for the Grofé. [Note (May 2023): I've now rebalanced the Kern and mastered the files in ambient stereo. The sound is much improved.] The performances are splendid.

1943 Life Magazine ad

Bonus uploads

Now for a bonanza of bonus items, courtesy of our friend 8H Haggis. As before, the links below take you to one of my posts. Once there, look in the comments for 8H's commentary and a download link or links. Also as before, these are limited-time uploads, available for a month or less.

First we have the aforementioned Grofé Mississippi Suite in the historic but truncated Whiteman recording. LINK

Tchaikovsky's Hamlet and Glazunov's Stenka Razin, in classic performances conducted by blog favorite Constant Lambert. Also, From Arthur Bliss, his 1955 recording of the Colour Symphony, and his 1935-36 and 1957 performances of the suite from Things to Come. LINK

The famous recording of Bloch's Concerto Grosso No. 1 with the Chicago Symphony under Rafael Kubelik. Plus a concert performance of Berwald's Sinfonie Singulière with Louis Lane and the Cleveland Orchestra. LINK

Stokowski's 1950 recording of Stravinsky's Firebird Suite with 8H's valiant attempt to fix its squashed dynamic range. LINK

Copland's El Salón México in both the live Toscanini-NBC broadcast of 1942 and Guido Cantelli's 1945 performance with the New York Philharmonic. Also, the underrated Walter Susskind conducting Morton Gould's Spirituals with the London Symphony. LINK

A Toscanini/NBC broadcast from 1945 with music by Mario Castelnuovo-Tedesco, Vittorio Rieti, Paul Creston and Elie Siegmeister, plus interviews with Creston and Siegmeister. LINK

Early recordings from conductor Eugene Goossens: a suite from Tchaikovsky's Sleeping Beauty, Balakirev's Islamey, Dvořák's Carnival Overture, Falla's Ritual Fire Dance, Massenet's Le Cid ballet music, Borodin's Polovtsian Dances and Rimsky-Korsakov's Le Coq d'Or suite. LINK

A notable 1962 broadcast recording of Saint-Saëns' Organ Symphony from the Boston Symphony and Charles Munch. LINK

The classic mono recording of Bartok's Concerto for Orchestra and a fantastic performance of the Kodály Concerto for Orchestra, both from Eugene Ormandy and the Philadelphians. LINK

Don Gillis' tone poem, Tulsa, in the interesting Remington recording led by H. Arthur Brown. LINK

Finally, in honor of the centenarian, a live 1949 performance of Leonard Bernstein's Symphony No. 2, The Age of Anxiety, with Lenny as pianist and the Boston Symphony under his mentor, Serge Koussevitzky. LINK

So much here - thanks 8H!

George Byron Sings Jerome Kern

I don't know that cabaret singers are to the taste of many people who come to this blog, but I thought some of you might be interested in this obscurity from 1952. Neither the record nor the singer are well known, but the results are worthwhile.

George Byron was friendly with Jerome Kern, and this record is in fact a program conceived for the singer by the composer. The record had liner notes by Oscar Hammerstein 2nd. So he was highly thought of by some very distinguished personages.

Nevertheless, Byron was and remains little known. Cabaret historian James Gavin notes him in passing as being praised by Kern and Ira Gershwin, and says he appeared at the very swank Café Gala, which operated on the Sunset Strip in Hollywood from 1939-48.

Otherwise, not much information is easily available. He seems to have appeared in some films in the 30s and early 40s, and apparently was a singing MC with the Ice Capades in 1942, appearing in a Republic film with that troupe. He had a sponsored 15-minute radio show in 1946. But then nothing until this 10-inch LP came out in 1952. It first appeared on Desto, and then was taken over by Atlantic in early 1954. Atlantic used the Desto pressings, pasting its labels over the Desto labels.

Byron also recorded a Gershwin LP (which I do not have), and a later collection of Kern songs, which came out on Atlantic in 1959 and which had arrangements by André Previn.

Byron was married to Kern's widow when the Kern LPs came out (a fact not noted on this present record).

It's easy to hear why the composers liked Byron. He had a fine voice, sang the songs straight, with excellent diction and intonation, and seems to have been scrupulously accurate. It's not an approach that is at all popular today - or was so even back in the 1950s - but it has a distinct charm and appeal. You may find Byron's vocal timbre slightly reminiscent of Bobby Short.

This is one of those LPs that can't make up its mind about its name. It's called "A Memo from Jerome Kern to George Byron" on the front, "Jerome Kern Songs Personally Selected for George Byron" on the back, "George Byron Sings Songs by Jerome Kern" on the Desto label, and "George Byron Sings Jerome Kern" on the Atlantic label. I have chosen the last named.

The accompanist here is the excellent pianist William Roy, himself a cabaret legend. The sound is fair, and my pressing is grainy. (Note: this recording is remastered as of 2022 and now has much better sound.)