All recordings are from the original source material
and digitally re-mastered to reduce surface noise.

John Francis McCormack was one of the greatest singers of this century.
A tenor of the bel canto school, he enjoyed an immensely successful career in opera, on the recital stage, and with the sale of his recordings.
Born in Ireland in 1884 to working class parents, he early evinced a strong interest in a career as a singer.

In 1903 with very little formal training he won the gold medal as a tenor at the Irish National Music Festival, the Feis Ceoil.
He studied briefly in Italy under Sabatini.
In the fall of 1906 he returned to London seeking opportunities to sing professionally.
It took him less than a year, for in the fall of 1907 he made his debut at Covent Garden, at age 23 the youngest principal tenor ever to sing there.

In less than three years he was singing opera in the United States too, as well as beginning a career on the recital stage.
In 1919 he became a citizen of the United States, his adopted country, and the one where his concert appeal had proven to be nearly universal and unrelenting.
McCormack's active career lasted over forty years.
He made his first recordings in 1904 and his last in 1942.
He first sang professionally as early as 1902 and retired (in England) in 1938.

One year after that farewell concert he was back singing for the Red Cross and in support of the war effort.
He toured, broadcast, and recorded in this capacity until 1943, when failing health forced him to retire again.
McCormack died in September 1945.
 

This CD includes popular recordings and Irish songs recorded at the peak of his career.
His pleasant rich tenor voice is heard in several of the songs that span the years 1910 to 1919.