RICHARD
CROOKS
[b.
New Jersey 1900 d. California 1972]
Life
At
the age of nine, Alexander Richard Crooks began singing in
the local church choir. Later in his early teens, he went
to New York , continuing to sing in church thus broadening
his knowledge of oratorio and religious music. At the age
of eleven, he sang in Mendelssohn's Elijah with the celebrated
Ernestine Schumann-Heink.
In
1917, he lied about his age and joined the Air force, learnt
to fly and very briefly served before the armistice. He found
a professional job as a singer in 1920 and on July 20 1921
, he married his childhood sweetheart and accompanist, Mildred
Pines. By 1925, Crooks was a successful concert singer in
America and acclaimed tours of Europe followed.
His
success was considerable, singing Cavaradossi at Hamburg in
1926 and recording Recondita armonia from Tosca in German.
He debuted as Des Grieux at the Met in 1933, where for the
next ten years he undertook by contract to sing Faust, Cavaradossi,
Pinkerton, Wilhelm Meister, Ottavio and Romeo.
Despite
all this activity, he appeared in opera in San Francisco,
Chicago and continued to make concert appearances from coast
to coast in the U.S. and Canada, which were broadcast frequently.
In 1936 and 1939, he made extensive tours of Australia and
South Africa with enormous success.
When
asked to nominate who were then the finest male operatic singers,
the celebrated soprano Rosa Ponselle (not noted for praising
other singers) placed Crooks at the top of her list, followed
by Martinelli, Gigli and Tibbett.
In
the early 1940s, he underwent abdominal operations and, in
1945, he retired from the opera stage but continued singing
for his friends and his church. He was sumptuously farewelled
at the old Met in 1966 and settled in a beautiful home at
Portola Valley , south of San Francisco . There, after a long
illness, he died in 1972.
Voice
Crooks
was one of the most successful and popular tenors of his time.
He was a true lyric tenor with no hint of a baritone. His
was a fine, ringing and manly voice, capable also of soft
and floating head notes, which he used with much versatility
to give considerable pleasure to a very large number of music
lovers of different tastes. Sound musicianship and consistent
standards were at the base of his solid technique.
His
1929 (also shown as 1927) recording of Recondita armonia
may sound strange when sung in German but it is done
in an evocative manner with superb legato and an increasing
ardency to where the final declamation rings out in fine style.
E
lucevan le stelle
made in 1938 in the original Italian, conveys all the despair
of Cavaradossi without resort to over-emphasis. His
use of diminuendo is finely placed, without excess, and the
change to forte is achieved smoothly and effortlessly, again
in ine ringing tones.
Passing
by shows Crooks
in a completely different style. Recorded in 1941 with Frederick
Schauwecker at the piano, it is a singing lesson in its own
right. Here there is everything; a perfect diction,
which was the hallmark of Crooks, a perfect legato and a perfect
delivery. The voice is free from any sort of strain and with
great breath control. A marvellous piece of singing
exudes from it.
Even
though Richard Crooks retired from the operatic stage in his
mid forties, recordings made by him at the age of 67 show
a voice in excellent condition, the envy and despair of many
operatic tenors twenty years his junior, at the very least.
Audio
files
Recondita
armonia sung by Richard Crooks in 1929.
E
lucevan le stelle sung by Richard Crooks in 1938.
Passing
by sung by Richard Crooks in 1941.
(g.m.)
Comment
E
lucevan le stelle sung by Crooks is an artistic
and interesting rendition. The recitativo is impressed
with particular articulation of “fragranTE” and
"mi cadeva FRA le braccia". The smorzatura
(i.e. decrescendo) is not on "disciogliea" but on
"veli", which conveys a more erotic significance.
"MAI TANTO la VITA" and "TANTO" accentuate
the feeling of despair with more efficacy. The diction is
superb except for a small blemish: "carrezze" instead
of "carezze". All in all, the famous cantabile is
enhanced by an excellent rhythm and beautiful timbre.
[The
syllables and words which articulate the music notes are shown
in capitals]
In
my view, his rendition should find a place among those of
great Italian tenors in history:
Lauri-Volpi (1928), Di Stefano (1945), Del Monaco (1954) and
Corelli (1967).
Audio
file
E
lucevan le stelle sung by Giacomo Lauri-Volpi in 1928.
The
recitativo is languidly executed where "fragrante" and "braccia"
are rightly and beautifully sculptured to convey libido. "Oh!
dolci baci" is sensually intonated, "o languide carezze" and
"disciogliea dai veli" are classic filature of extraordinary
dimension and colour. The second "disperato" is
lowered by a semi-tone and then raised, a messa di voce conveying
resignation splendidly. In the last quartina, the vocal interpretation
of a now despaired Mario is convincingly executed a tutta
forza and the squillo is rich in harmonics, intense in vibrations
and colours. The last line "...la vita" is a fragrant slancio
amply arched.
(j.f.)
Recalls
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”There
is one thing to be said for glory - you can take glory
with you, when it is your time to go”