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

William Warfield's First Recordings - Loewe Ballads and Ancient Music

Today's post completes the collection of the four early LPs by the great American bass-baritone William Warfield, as issued by Columbia in the early 1950s.

This 1951 album presents an unusual coupling, bringing together "Ancient Music of the Church" with ballads by the German Romantic composer Carl Loewe (1796-1869). I believe the latter songs may have been products of Warfield's first recording session.

William Warfield

The disparate program may have been designed to appeal to the enthusiastic audiences who had attended Warfield's first two Town Hall recitals. For his debut in March 1950, the singer had programmed three of the Loewe ballads and three of the "ancient music" settings as found on the LP, and he performed the other items during his 1951 recital.

The New York Times was enthusiastic following Warfield's debut. Of the Loewe ballads, the reviewer stated, "Mr, Warfield turned in quick succession: from the light charm of 'Kleiner Hausalt' to the lyric tenderness of 'Suesses Begraebnis' to the spirited vigor of 'Odins Meeres-Ritt.' It was a tour de force, for ordinarily one would think it would take a soprano to carry off the first, a tenor the second and a bass the last. Yet the singer did each practically perfectly in its own way."

The early music works elicited this reaction: "This revealed still another facet of his talent, for he also has the gifts of the oratorio singer" - foreshadowing Warfield's success in that field.

Warfield in the studio

Also on the program for Warfield's premiere recital were a Fauré song, a new work by John Klein and a spiritual, concluding with two jubilee songs for which Warfield provided his own accompaniment. Otherwise, his usual pianist, the excellent Otto Herz, was at the keyboard.

Among the items on Warfield's 1951 recital was Howard Swanson's song "Cahoots," which I shared last year in the premiere recording by Helen Thigpen.

Although Carl Loewe's songs are not often heard today, he was a talented composer whose works have an immediate appeal. The settings heard here are of poetry by Friedrich Rückert, Johann Wolfgang von Goethe and Aloys Schreiber. The LP did not provide texts or translations, but I've added them to the download.

The "Ancient Music of the Church" selections are by the 12th century composer Pérotin, the transitional figures Claudio Monteverdi and Heinrich Schütz, and the Baroque composer Andreas Hammerschmidt. While I am certainly not an expert on such matters, I suspect these readings would be considered anachronistic these days. Performance practices have changed drastically in the 70 years since these recordings. Warfield's singing is expressive, nonetheless.

Andrew Tietjen

His accompanist here, Andrew Tietjen, was the associate organist of New York's Trinity Church. He would die young just a few years later; his obituary is in the download.

The download also includes both Times reviews mentioned above and three reviews of the LP, all laudatory.

The earlier installments in this series of Warfield recordings were:

• Schumann - Liederkreis and Brahms - Four Serious Songs
• Copland - Old American Songs and Dougherty - Sea Chanteys
• "Deep River" - folk and folk-influenced songs

William Warfield Sings Schumann and Brahms

The American bass-baritone William Warfield was a great singer who did not achieve the fame his gifts warranted, possibly because he made very few solo recordings. We have been slowly working through them on this blog.

Warfield's initial session for Columbia, in 1951, was devoted to lieder by Carl Loewe and a selection of "Ancient Music of the Church." That recording will appear here in the future.

William Warfield

Later in 1951, Warfield premiered Copland's Old American Songs, which Columbia coupled with Celius Dougherty settings of sea chanteys. This record, which appeared here many years ago, is now available in a newly remastered edition.

In 1952, Warfield's third Columbia session produced more quasi-popular material, this time settings of folk or folk-influenced songs, with backings led by (and possibly authored by) Lehman Engel. This also has appeared here, and now has been remastered.

Today we have a fine collection of Schumann and Brahms lieder dating from 1953. Following this session, Warfield was to make no other solo recordings, save for a reprise of Copland's Old American Songs, this time in the orchestrated version. He was, however, often heard in ensemble works such as The Messiah, and of course in Porgy and Bess.

Warfield in the recording studio

This Brahms-Schumann recital elicited strong reviews; I've included examples from The New Records, The New York Times and Billboard. The LP cover quotes approving European reviews of Warfield's appearances, such as this from Vienna's Weltpresse: "This glorious voice is a baritone which reached from dark bass-register to bright tenor notes, and is of a singular technical perfection and smoothness of voice control. Joy and pain, hope and sorrow and great inner strength are in the voice..."

The LP program shows these qualities very well. It includes Schumann's Liederkreis, 1840 settings of poems by Joseph von Eichendorff, and Brahms' Vier ernste Gesänge (Four Serious Songs), the composer's 1896 settings of Biblical texts. (The download includes texts and translations for both works.) It's a shame Warfield was not asked to record more of this repertoire.

Otto Herz

The fluid accompanist on the LP was Otto Herz, who at the time was much in demand by young performers making their debuts  at New York's Town Hall, as did Warfield in 1950. The download includes an obituary for this sensitive pianist.

Also included is an interview with Warfield by the Chicago Tribune's John von Rhein dating from 2000, when the vocalist was 80 and still teaching at Northwestern. He died two years later.

More William Warfield Recordings

I promised another early recording by the great bass-baritone William Warfield, and here it is. This brief collection of songs of folk origin or folk influence was recorded in May 1952 in Columbia's 30th Street Studio, and issued in the label's low-priced AAL series. I don't believe it has been reissued - a pity; it's superb.

The cover is likely a reflection of both Warfield's then-fame from his portrayal of Joe in the 1951 film version of Show Boat, as well as the repertoire.

William Warfield

The conductor for this record is the estimable Lehman Engel. It's possible, even likely, that he authored the arrangements.

A few comments on the contents:

"Deep River" is an anonymous spiritual of African American origin. It has been used in several films, including the 1929 film version of Show Boat, although it was not in the stage production. This and two other songs on this record had also been recorded by Paul Robeson, one of Warfield's acknowledged inspirations.

"Water Boy" apparently originated as a work song. This version is apparently based on the arrangement made by Avery Robinson for Roland Hayes (another Warfield inspiration), although that arrangement was for piano and this is an orchestral arrangement. (I also have an odd version of the song recorded by Clara Rockmore on theremin.)

"Without a Song," a show tune with music by Vincent Youmans and lyrics by Billy Rose and Edward Eliscu, is from 1929. It would seem to have been influenced by "Old Man River." (And I suppose this entire LP was an attempt to capitalize on Warfield's famous rendition.)

"Mah Lindy Lou" is a superb song by Lily Strickland, who was influenced by African-American songs she heard in the American South. The song was published in 1920, and Robeson and the operatic soprano Amelita Galli-Curci had popular versions (both are on YouTube).

"Jeanie with the Light Brown Hair" is of course by the remarkable Stephen Foster, written in 1854.

"Dusty Road" has been claimed by two different songwriting teams - René and René and Parish and Perkins - which suggests that the song may have a folk origin. Its theme of enduring hard times on the path to an eternal reward is often found in the genre. Interestingly, the opening fanfare of the arrangement is influenced by the music written by English composers for nobility.

Leontyne Price and William Warfield

I mentioned in my previous Warfield post that he was in a famous production of Porgy and Bess with Leontyne Price. I've enclosed as a bonus their recording of "Bess, You Is My Woman Now" from that production. It was recorded live in Berlin in September 1952 - a few weeks after Warfield and Price were married.

Good sound on these fine recordings, now (June 2023) newly remastered in ambient stereo.

William Warfield in Copland and Dougherty Song Settings

William Warfield was one of the finest bass-baritone talents of the post-war period in the US. Today he is perhaps most closely associated with the role of Joe in Show Boat and of Porgy in Porgy and Bess, and the "Old American Song" settings of Aaron Copland, first issued on this LP.

Following service in the armed forces, Warfield had achieved some success on the lyric stage, first in the touring company of Call Me Mister, singing such numbers as "Going Home Train" and "Face on the Dime". He then was Cal in the original cast of Marc Blitzstein's 1949 opera Regina.

Warfield's pivotal appearance was a well-received 1950 recital in New York's Town Hall. One critic wrote, "He is endowed with a noble voice, warmth of temperament, a feeling for the stage and great sincerity." This success seems to have led, at least indirectly, to being cast in Show Boat and to a recording contract with Columbia. This record, taped in Columbia's 30th Street studios in August 1951, was the first to be issued under that contract.

Warfield and Copland at the recording session

Warfield had introduced the "Old American Songs" earlier in the year. The Copland settings have become justly famous because of Warfield's marvelous interpretations, which are in turn sharp, tender and witty. The composer soon produced a second book of such songs, which he and Warfield recorded in August 1953. These remained unissued until 1999. (I have included the second set in the download.) Copland later orchestrated both books; he and Warfield recorded them for a 1963 Columbia LP, which also included Benny Goodman's second recording of Copland's Clarinet Concerto.

The fame of the "Old American Songs" has overshadowed the other songs on this record, which is a shame because they, too, are very worthwhile. These five Sea Chanties were arranged by Celius Dougherty, a pianist and composer who specialized in song settings.

Celius Dougherty

Dougherty had made a living for many years as an accompanist. (Strangely, he does not accompany Warfield on his songs; Otto Herz does.) When this record appeared, Dougherty was part of a successful two-piano team with Vincenz Ruzicka. As a composer, Dougherty often worked with nautical themes in tribute to his brother Ralph, a sailor who was killed in the 1941 attack on Pearl Harbor. These particular chanties form a most enjoyable set, with clever accompaniments and Warfield again in splendid form.