Tenor John McCormack, Violinist Fritz Kreisler, Pianist Vincent O'Brien: Le Nil (1914)

For "mayatatyana1" / Tenor John McCormack (1884-1945) / Le Nil (Renaud-Leroux) / with violinist Fritz Kreisler (1875-1962) and pianist Vincent O'Brien (1871-1948) / Recorded: March 25, 1914 --

LE NIL / Xavier Henri Napoleon Leroux (1863-1919)
(special thanks to "AulicExclusiva" for the translation)

Les eaux du Nil, toutes pâles, s'écoulent
The waters of the Nile, colourless, flow
Sous les étoiles de la nuit,
Under the stars of night,
Des sphinx, aux bords, sur deux rangs se déroulent...
While sphinxes file by on rows on each shore...
Au milieu, notre barque fuit.
In between, our boat flees.
Le bienaimé, s'accoudant sur la proue,
The beloved boy, leaning on the bow,
Laisse errer sur moi son oeil doux;
Lets his sweet eye roam over me;
Moi, renversant la tête, je secoue
Turning my head I shake
Mes cheveux d'or sur ses genoux.
My golden hairs over his knees.
Et les grands sphinx, dans la plaine infinie,
And the great sphinxes on the infinite plain
Nous regardant passer près d'eux,
Watching us pass near them,
Confusément versent une harmonie,
Confusedly pour forth a harmony
Qui tombe en amour sur nous deux.
That falls like love over us two.

John Count McCormack (June 14, 1884 - September 16, 1945), was a world-famous Irish tenor and recording artist, celebrated for his performances of the operatic and popular song repertoires, and renowned for his diction and breath control. He was also a Papal Count. The full wikipedia article can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/John_McCormack_(tenor)

Friedrich 'Fritz' Kreisler (February 2, 1875 - January 29, 1962) was an Austrian-born violin virtuoso and orchestral composer. One of the most famous violin masters of his day, he was known for his sweet tone and expressive phrasing. Like many great violinists of his generation, he produced a characteristic sound which was immediately recognizable as his own. Although he was a violinist of the Franco-Belgian school, his style is nonetheless reminiscent of the gemütlich (cozy) lifestyle of pre-war Vienna. The full wikipeia article can be found here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fritz_Kreisler

Vincent OBrien remains best known as the first singing teacher of Irish celebrities John McCormack and Margaret Burke Sheridan; in fact, James Joyce was his pupil, too. In Irish musical history, however, he is better represented as the long-time organist of the catholic St Marys Pro-Cathedral in Dublin (1902-1946) and conductor of the cathedral choir, one of the outstanding choirs in Ireland at the time. As McCormacks first accompanist, he also traveled with the singer on his first world tour and appeared on McCormack's early gramophone recordings from 1914. OBrien was also the first music director of Radio Éireann (1926-1941) and conducted the first public concerts of the stations orchestra in the 1930s. He was less important as a composer; he wrote the opera Hester (1893), some organ and choral music and a number of songs. (Source: http://www.cmc.ie/composers/composer.cfm?composerID=122)

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Category:

Music

Tags:

• Irish
• Tenor
• John
• McCormack
• Violinist
• Fritz
• Kreisler
• Acoustic
• 78RPM
• CurzonRoad

[mayatatyana1]

Doug, this is very beautiful! Thank you very much. Maya

[CurzonRoad]

@mayatatyana1

Thank YOU, Maya... very much!

Doug --

[fan2jnrc]

Oh my God! I never hear this before! He's even best than Vallin and Gluck!

Unbelievable! That brings tears to my eyes...

[CurzonRoad]

@fan2jnrc

Thank you... very much!

[abendstunde49]

Have never heard this before either. It is wonderful!

[CurzonRoad]

@abendstunde49

Hi abendstunde49:

Thank you, very much!

Cheers, etc.

Doug --

[2ndviolinist]

Better all around than the Gluck/Zimbalist, especially Fritz though I like it sung by a female voice.

[eclecticdufus]

Beautiful piece of singing, with that beautifully managed G above the staff at the end. Where can you hear that nowadays? Odd not to hear him change the gender to bienaimee, lol.

[SuperLuckydream]

The rapturous singing and perfectly matched violin. Combined they create perfection. Bravo!

[jehovahuponyou]

YOU PEOPLE ACTUALLY LIKE THIS LONG HAIR MUSIC? DAMN! LOOK, GET YOU SOME MERLE HAGGARD AND A SIX PACK IF YOU REALLY WANT TO LIVE!

:^)

GOOD STUFF, THANKS FOR POSTING THIS, FRITZ IS AMAZING!

[AmhranaiAlainn]

Thanks for posting Doug. IMO, the McCormack & Kreisler recordings are probably the most symbiotic in the history of recorded collaborations of this nature. With Le Nil, once again we see McCormack's genius at being able to vocally depict the imagery of a song in such a mysterious and evocative way equally with the sensitive and emphatic interweaving of  Kreisler's polished violin, the result of which, carries the mind of the listener to the places conjured up by the two masters of their art.

[mayatatyana1]

Doug, thank you very much. Maya

[stuartliff]

Unbelievable! One can only shed tears over the loss of singing of this calibre from our current society. McCormack was simply incomparable. Listen to his Figlia del Reggimento aria and then try any version by one of our ranking tenors. There is simply no comparison. Symptomatic of how everything has been dumbed down. Many thanks for the opportunity to listen to this master-singer once more. Vivian