Jan Peerce
Jan Peerce , actually Jacob Pincus Perelmuth (born June 3, 1904 in New York City , † December 15, 1984 ibid) was an American opera singer ( tenor ).
Life
The son of a Jewish New York family, he first studied medicine at Columbia University and became a violinist in an entertainment orchestra in 1920.
His singing career began in 1932 with a concert at Radio City Music Hall , where he was initially engaged as a radio and concert singer. This led to a certain fame, because of which he received his first opera engagement in 1938, as Duke of Mantua in Giuseppe Verdi's Rigoletto in Philadelphia.
Due to strong anti-Semitic tendencies in the USA , he changed his Jewish-sounding name to Jan Peerce - just like many other artists ( Roberta Peters , Robert Merrill and Peerce's brother-in-law Richard Tucker ) in order not to harm his career.
In 1941 the singer was finally engaged at the Metropolitan Opera in his hometown of New York, of which he was a permanent member of the ensemble until 1966.
Arturo Toscanini subsequently frequently used the tenor in his concerts and recordings with the NBC Symphony Orchestra , for example in Beethoven's Fidelio and as a tenor soloist in the 9th Symphony , in Verdi's La traviata and Un ballo in maschera , Puccini's La Bohème and in the legendary film Hymn of the Nations , in which Verdi's Hymn of the Nations was performed. The conductor repeatedly praised Peerce's professionalism as well as his musicality.
In the 1950s, Peerce appeared together with other Met stars such as Eileen Farrell , Richard Tucker and Robert Merrill in open air concerts at Lewisohn Stadium in New York, which increased his popularity not insignificantly.
Concert tours with the Met ensemble and alone have taken the singer all over the world. In 1956, Peerce was the first American to appear as a “cultural ambassador” at the Bolshoi Theater in Moscow .
In 1966 he left the Metropolitan Opera ensemble, but continued to appear as a guest. However, he reduced his appearances and began to give master classes.
In 1971 he appeared on Broadway as Tevye in the musical Fiddler on the Roof . The singer did not take his final stage farewell until 1982 at the age of 78, without his voice having been seriously damaged.
Two years later he died in his hometown.
He left behind a large number of important opera and concert recordings, especially those under Toscanini.
Web links
- Jan Peerce at Operissimo on the basis of the Great Singer Lexicon
- Jan Peerce in the archive of the Austrian Media Library
personal data | |
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SURNAME | Peerce, Jan |
ALTERNATIVE NAMES | Perelmuth, Jacob Pincus (real name) |
BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American opera singer (tenor) |
DATE OF BIRTH | June 3, 1904 |
PLACE OF BIRTH | New York City |
DATE OF DEATH | 15th December 1984 |
Place of death | New York City |