Jan Peerce - Recordings

Recordings

Peerce recorded almost exclusively for RCA Victor as a "Red Seal" artist from the late 1930s to the early 1960s before switching labels. Among his first RCA Victor recordings were as a featured soloist in Nathaniel Shilkret's 1939 tribute album to Victor Herbert. The year before that Peerce had been the tenor soloist in Toscanini's broadcast concert of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, but it would be years before the Maestro would approve one of his performances of that symphony for commercial release.

Peerce sang in Toscanini's 1944 performance/broadcast of Beethoven's Fidelio with Rose Bampton, followed by the complete performances of Verdi's La traviata, Puccini's La bohème (both with Licia Albanese), and Verdi's Un ballo in maschera (with Herva Nelli), all eventually released on LP and CD. Peerce did not sing in Toscanini's broadcasts of Verdi's Otello, Aida, or Falstaff; he was offered the tenor parts in the latter two but declined, believing his voice was not right for those roles. He also sang in the Madison Square Garden concert in 1944, which featured the final act of Rigoletto with Leonard Warren, Zinka Milanov, and Toscanini conducting the combined New York Philharmonic and NBC Symphony Orchestra; this performance was recorded and also released on LP and CD. In 1952, he participated in Toscanini's studio recording of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony, which the Maestro finally allowed to be released commercially on the RCA Victor label.

Among the operas Peerce recorded commercially for RCA Victor were Verdi's Rigoletto in 1950 with Leonard Warren singing the title role, Erna Berger, and Nan Merriman, Bizet's Carmen in 1951 with Risë Stevens singing the title role, Licia Albanese, and Robert Merrill, and also Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor in 1957 with Roberta Peters singing the title role, Philip Maero, and Giorgio Tozzi. Several opera excerpt albums with Peerce were released by RCA Victor as well including Samson et Dalila with Risë Stevens and Madama Butterfly with Licia Albanese. Many broadcasts of performances from the Metropolitan opera and other houses with Peerce have been released on LP and CD as well. In Peerce later recorded several operas and oratorios for Vanguard, a good majority of them Handelian.

For Westminster Records in 1961 Peerce again recorded Fidelio opposite Sena Jurinac and for Columbia Masterworks Records he sang the title role in a 1963 recording of selections from Sigmund Romberg's The Student Prince, opposite Roberta Peters, and also featuring Giorgio Tozzi. The Student Prince album not yet been released on CD. Peerce's final religious, pop, and recital albums from the late 1960s through 1980 were released on Vanguard Records.

Peerce's best-selling record was his 1945 RCA Victor recording of "Bluebird of Happiness" (music by Sandor Harmati, lyrics by Edward Heyman and Harry Parr-Davies). It became his "signature tune", and as of the late 1970s, among the all-time best selling recordings by opera and concert singers, "Bluebird" was second in sales only to Enrico Caruso's 1918 recording of George M. Cohan's "Over There".