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There are truly great singers,

we believe there is more to singing than a voice

and Jeanette had it all!

By Gio

Jeanette--The Greatest Soprano

Thank you N. J. for your comments. We understand what you mean and appreciate your view.

The world has been treated to truly great voices: Flagstad, Galli-Curci, Moore, Pons, Callas, Tebaldi, Nilsson, de Los Angeles, Schwarzkopf, Freni, etc. They were all great in their own rights; however, the article looks at more than the voice, it looks at the whole person and what they bring to a performance. In 1938, 22 million people chose Jeanette MacDonald as the Queen of the Movies. She was number 1 in France, Spain, England, Germany--even China.

She is considered one of the great sex-goddesses in the world, a true beauty, and her acting-singing is beyond compared. We do agree, Moore, Pons, Milizia Korjus, Callas, Stevens all appeared in movies, but never were able to capture the magic that made them box office stars.

Yes, place these singers on an operatic stage and they are all great queens, but when Jeanette, even with her light voice took to the opera stage, Cassidy, a very tough Chicago musical critic was mesmerized by the beauty and acting ability Jeanette brought to the operatic stage. Where opera singers are singers who just pump out notes, Jeanette graced the stage with beauty, elegance and charm. In her day, 1942, the light, lyrical voice was in vogue and Jeanette could well have performed in this genre, if she had wished.

Put 1000 soprano together, close your eyes and listen to them sing, and it would be difficult for most people to pick out who is singing. Put Jeanette among them, and everyone would pick out her voice in a second. She had a distinct and very unique lovely sound and quality to her voice.

What today's fan seems to forget, that Verdi, Bellini, Lalo', Bizet, and most of the other composers of the 19th century Italian and French opera world wrote for, prior to the French Tenor Gilbert-Louis Duprez (1806-1896), was for the lyrical head-voice sound. The voice was light in weight, and perfectly suited to the Bel Canto style of singing.

As time goes by, how many people remember that when Puccini wrote Turandot, he had Gigli and Albanese, a lyrical tenor and soprano, in his mind to sing the lead roles of Calaf and Princess in 1926; and not voice like Nilsson or Corelli. What was pure and lyrical, when originally composed back then is today forte, forte, and more forte!!!

Yes, Callas changed the opera scene in 1948, and Corelli solidified the big voice forever in opera 1951. From this point on the world would seek out big voice singers, and if they could not find them, well, the use of using miniature, wireless microphones to amplify the voice to achieve the big voice is gaining in practice.

There has never been an opera singer who was successful on the silver screen, like Jeanette. Opera singer's acting and demeanor looked so out of place on the big screen with their huffing and puffing. And when you see singers singing on the opera or concert stage, their facial grimaces distract from the performances.

If you give some thought to what Jeanette accomplished, Jeanette sang full voice during filming and always was able to look beautiful. Her face never took on a distorted look. She had a flirtation that endeared her to the audience that only a few singers like Schwarzkopf (who copied Jeanette's style) possessed this charm. If you think Jeanette was less than adequate, just imagine what Elizabeth Schwarzkopf thought of her. She was wise enough to know what was needed to charm an audience, and used Jeanette MacDonald as her model.

We agree their are great singers, but there is only one Jeanette MacDonald, who does hold her high notes for 18 seconds. In her day, they could not fiddle around with the voice, like they do today. In her day, it was go from the beginning of the recording. You have to remember, they cut their songs on clay records and you could not stop or edit a recording.


We here at the JMFC are great opera lovers. Yes, we would take Björling and DE Los Angeles recording of La Boheme over any other recording. Yes, we would take Nilsson and Corelli's Turandot over any other recording. As for Callas, there is no better performance then her Norma with Corelli, Ludwig and Zaccaria, conducted by Serafin. But this is about the last of the Callas legacy. Her voice eventually developed a hole in it, and the vibrato turned into an uncontrollable wobble, and her top voice went flat. But even the great Tebaldi and Maria del Monaco have been replaced.

To this very day, with all the sopranos who have sung in films, has ever been able to replace Jeanette MacDonald. Her voice is like a rare Diamond, and it glitters brighter than all the other stars in the sky. If you go to our Memorial Webpage on President Ronald W. Reagan, you will see how 20,000 soldiers would have a hard time understanding what you feel. And they heard her live, and saw her in person, close up.

Warmest Wishes,
JMFC

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Singing takes a toll on a Singer's body and life.

By Gio

So many people do not realize just how delicate singers are.  Oh, sure, they may be healthy physical specimens, but the throat, with all the glands in it, makes singers very susceptible to colds and other throat ailments.  As I mentioned, many singers have to cancel at the last minute because they physically can't sing.  Their glands are swollen, the nerves in the neck wreaks havoc on their system, the sinuses are draining--if one really understood the complexity of the singing mechanism, I think one would then have an idea of who Jeanette and Nelson and these other great voices were and how they had to come to turns with the difficulties they constantly incurred. 

Yes, a singer can and does sing with a head cold, but if the throat is involved, and if it travels to the chest, you might as well put a gun to their head and shoot them like a sick horse.  For they are truly in pain.  I see Nelson as a singer.  Others seem him in many other ways.  I know Nelson as a singer.  Others may know all about his personal life, but you I can't imagine anyone really knowing Nelson if they have not sang. 

Just like in the Olympics and you hear the commentator discuss a move--be it diving, ice skating or any other event, their eye catches everything in real time, where as we, the laymen, have to wait until we see the replay in slow motion--and only then do we realize what the person who has performed that sport for years saw.

Singing take a terrible toll on a person.  A singer can loose as much as 10 pounds during a performance with the heavy costumes, bright lights, and the constant breathing.  It is truly a feat.  This is one reason many singers die of heart attacks, it is a tremendous strain on the heart holding a note or singing musical line for fifteen seconds at a time in rapid succession. 

Perhaps now you can understand why Leonard Warren died on the Met stage singing, and Nelson during a performance, or Jeanette's heart giving out. 

Yes, they are strong, but as time goes on, they become weaker and perform even more rigorous roles.  When I think of singers, be it Caruso, Björling, Jeanette and Nelson, I only see the lives of singers, and what they have to go through.  To sing as a star, always in peak form is a strain on the strongest of people.  Singers, they sing on nerves.  I can understand very well why Nelson would not be able to perform--and knowing him, he would really have to be ill not to, for we all know how much he loved d to sing.

Just an insight I have of Nelson and all singers.  Such wonderful joy they give the world, and such a price their body's pay.
 

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 "How did Caruso died?"

The death of Enrico Caruso!

By Gio

This cross my desk about Caruso smoking...and also Nelson....

Nelson did smoke.

Enrico Caruso--smoked. Many singers smoked. The idea of throat cancer and smoking was not part of medical science then.

To our many true opera buffs, here is a brief sketch on Enrico Caruso. Caruso was the first child to live after his mother had many miscarriages. He was christened Errico Caruso and later changed his name to Enrico. He had a brother, Giovanni, born in January, 1876.

Like many tenors in those times, they tried different methods to relax the throat from the heavy use of the "Tenor's Open Throat". Caruso was no different and eventually began to strain his voice. In 1910 the opera world was buzzing on whether the Great Tenor would ever sing again. Having suffered with bouts of throat nodules, it was rumored that he had had another operation as to his two previous ones. But his voice was still as great as ever, even though the so-called "experts" had detected a shade darker timbre in his voice. But then most singers' voices mature and ripen around the age of 35. (Art of the Bel Canto Singing Voice by Gio)   

I do mention this hesitantly, because I realize some people have a fixation with birth dates. Now, according to whom you speak with, you will get a different year or day of his birth. Some have him born Feb. 27, 1873. Others Feb. 25, 1873. The Met Opera celebrated his 100th birthday on Feb. 25, 1973.

Ah, who can really tell. When you think about it, who was keeping records of babies born at home in the slums of Naples, Italy? We do know he made his singing debut at the age of 21, in L'Amico Francesco at the Teatro Nuovo, Naples, in 1894.

As to the cause of his death, authors have written much. In Stanley Jackson's "Caruso" biography, he explains that on Dec. 4, 1920, Caruso caught a chill while driving with his wife Dorothy in Central Park. The cough worsened. Just before he walked onto the stage Dec. 8 to sing I Pagliacci, he smoked a cigarette. Most unusual, during singing the famous tenor aria "Vesti la giubba" his voice, known for his great high "C's" broke on the high "A", and he then stumbled and fell, laying semi-conscious. He complained of acute pain in his left side and his doctor wrapped the tenor's ribs for the second act, saying he had an attack of "intercostal neuralgia".

On Dec. 11, Caruso sang at the Brooklyn Academy of Music L'Elisir, to sing Nemorino, and had a coughing fit. He became alarmed when he saw blood after he gargled. The night turned into a nightmare as drops of blood began to stain his costume and blood poured from his mouth. Dabbing his mouth with towels handed to him from the wings as the chorus passed it, one-by-one to him, he sang on. During the intermission, the doctor said Caruso had a small burst vein, and when it stopped bleeding, he declared himself fit and went out to sing the second act. But upon pleading from his wife and others, the house manager, Herbert T. Swan asked the attending audience, even though Caruso would continue to sing, if they wished, did they want him to. And they explode with a loud "NO!" as many cried.

He sang La Forza del Destino on Dec. 12, with a rousing ovation. On Dec. 16, he had an agonizing attack on his left flank and had to cancel L'Elisir. However, on Friday, Dec 24, he went out to perform his 607th Metropolitan performance, to sing Eleazar in Halevy's La Juive. The opera went off with great authority in his singing, but during the intermission, he was in pain, holding his side.

The next afternoon, Caruso, while in the bath, let out an ear-piercing scream and the doctors were summoned. They had gravely diagnosed Caruso having acute pleurisy. He later had a sever attack of bronchial pneumonia. Numerous operations were performed, and part of his rib had to be removed to get to the pleural cavity. It was understood by the doctors and family members, but not told to Caruso, that his career was over. In Feb. 1921, after more surgery, Caruso went into coma lingering between life and death for seven days. So near to death, his wife had the last rites administered.

The Greatest singers of the time: Scotti, Lucrezia Bori, Ponselle and Amato, came to his bedside, unable to contain themselves and hugged the Great Tenor. All of New York waited and prayed, and eventually Caruso began to recover. Now Scotti, Farrar, Tetrazzini, McCommack came and happily greeted the tenor.

During the summer of 1921 he and his wife Dorothy (Doro) and their young daughter, Gloria, sailed back to his home town for him to rest. Dorothy wrote in her book about a young Neapolitan singer who came to audition for Caruso, "M'appari" from Martha not too well, and Caruso began singing to everyone's astonishment. He burst out and said, "Doro, I can sing! I can sing! I have not lost my voice. I can sing!"

As to the cause of his death, on July 27, Caruso, in great spirits, felt he could sing for another 20 years. On July 28, he collapsed. Two famous surgeons were summoned and said that a kidney had to be removed, but the operation could wait a week until they move him to their Rome clinic. On a hot July 31, and Caruso's temperature high and in great pain, Dorothy checked her husband into the Hotel Vesuvio and a local doctor, who was so overwhelmed by seeing the great tenor, was unable to inject morphine to easy the pain, and Doro had to do it instead. Other doctors who were summoned discovered an abscess in the kidney area, but refuse to take responsibility to operate, saying it meant certain death.

Half drugged, Caruso lingered for hours, then, just before 9:00A.M., on Aug. 2, 1921, the Greatest singer the world will ever know--gasped to his beloved Doro at his bedside, "Doro, I can't get my breath." and closed his eyes.

The whole world mourned. New York flew at half mast. The facade of the Met was draped in black for the entire month. Queen Mary sent a wreath from England, and Italy, including the King came out to pay him tribute. Six black horses pulled the hearse along Santa Lucia as a hundred-thousand people lined the route.

A bit of trivia \....

Much like our Sweethearts, Caruso use to say when he died, that no one should cry, but instead, celebrate. Have a great time. Live life to the fullest. How strange when I think of Caruso, I think of Jeanette in San Francisco. Caruso was also in San Francisco the day of the Great Earth Quake. Of the many possessions he had with him, and when Caruso traveled, he traveled with 21 steamer trunks--he clutched with him all through those dreaded days a photograph of President Theodore Roosevelt, with the inscription "To Enrico Caruso. From Theodore Roosevelt." His valet, Martino seeing the portrait asked the Great Tenor to give it to him and it might help him get some official help."

But Caruso said, "No! The picture stays with me! It's my passport." Later, when people were boarding the ferry for Oakland, Caruso shouted, "I am Enrico Caruso. The singer."
"I am a friend of President Roosevelt," and showed the picture to the officials. One of the officials said, "You, Enrico Caruso? Then sing!" And Caruso sang a few bars from Carmen and thus, he, Scotti, and Martino all boarded the ferry to safety. As the ferry headed away from San Francisco, Caruso said to the other two, "You see--it was my passport!" (excerpts from Gordon Thomas/Max Morgan Witts "The San Francisco Earthquake" ].
 

The greatest voice the world had or will ever hear was silenced forever. He had a heart of a lion and the tenderness of a soft cloud. He sang more than 50 roles in his career, and gave generously to all. At the time of his death, they had a child name Gloria, and he left an estate worth over $9 million dollars. He was the highest paid performer in New York.

There are truly great, great, great singers! Ah, then there is Caruso!
 

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Response to fans about the voice maturing!

By Gio

If you ever get a chance to read an article I wrote about the human singing voice, you will see how the voice matures. Yes, Nelson at 35/36 was just  entering his mature stage of singing. From this point on, a singer usually has a good 20 years of great singing ahead. The voice continues to grow, and the color changes. If you listen to a singer sing an aria at 35 and 45, there is a world of difference.

It is usually, as a singer grows older, and their voices mature and strengthens that they take on the more dramatic works.

In Nelson's case, his voice did change. We can hear his light and high baritone voice in Naughty and Rosemarie, and just 5 years later, in New Moon, when he is humming, you hear how his voice has matured and darken. It became richer. However, to continue to perform singing in the movie genre, the lighter, crooner voice sounded better on screen and Nelson did whatever he could to lighten his ever-maturing voice.
 

Dick Powell had surgery done to try to keep his voice high and had told Nelson about it, and Nelson had hoped it would help him, but it didn't.

If you listen to Jeanette in 1938 singing Sweethearts song and then in 1947 singing the same song in My 3 Daring daughters, she has all the same vocal charms, except, in 1947, her voice was richer and had a more velvet tone to it.  She sang the same notes, but he voice was in her mature stage.

So, yes, the voice matures as both male and female singers grow older. Wayne Newton doesn't even come close to what he sounded like when he was 20 yr. old. Elvis had to use a second singer to sing his high notes when he was 40. Sinatra voice lost its soft, floating tones of 25/30 years and we hear a darker, lower, and huskier voice at 40/45.

It is the nature of the singing voice, and many singers plan ahead in their career as they mature, to start singing a different repertoire, and they continue with a successful career. But the day comes when the voice no longer can hold the tone and its time to stop.

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 Jeanette had three voice teachers!

By Gio

The person who placed and opened Jeanette's voice was Ferdinand Torriani.  Grace Adele Newell was his singing assistance.  Grace Adele Newell understood Torriani's singing method and she continued to help keep Jeanette's voice placed.  She was more of a vocal coach, who would warm up and workout her voice everyday.  The third person who helped in building Jeanette's voice was Lotte Lehman.

For more about the terms of  "Placement" and "Opening the voice" see JMFC's Art of the Bel Canto Singing Voice by Gio   

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A letter to IMDB

Topic: Adding/correcting other data
Your name:
Jeanettemacdonaldfanclub.com
Your email address:
Talemaker1@aol.com

Subject:
11-12-2k4 Question...What source are you quoting for this statement?

Comments:
On your info sheet about Jeanette MacDonald you included: "After her death it was revealed that Jeanette had a real-life romance with Nelson Eddy that lasted for decades. Circumstances made them unable to get married. "What we at the JMFC would like to know is what source are you quoting.  There are no authorized books that we know of that states this as a fact. 

We have found IMDb to be a fabulous resource site that we visit on a regular bases.  From time to time we come upon little errors or mistakes, but this is only natural when dealing with the volume of information you handle. We at the JMFC wish to send our congratulations for doing a great job, and we understand how much you really wish fan feedback. 

There are two people who know Jeanette MacDonald better than anyone else, today: Clara Rhoades and Tessa Williams, Presidents of the Jeanette MacDonald International Fan Club--a fan club now in its 67th year.  Jeanette, herself, hand-picked Clara Rhoades to be the President of her fan club in 1962, and for 42 years has been publishing a Journal that was selected the best Fan Journal in the World in 1980, Best Cover 1980, and Best Fan Club President 1980.  In Turk's book the "The Diva" the last two people he mentions in his book as he closes is Clara Rhoades and Tessa Williams. 

Now these are two "Well Known" sources.  There is only one book that makes a claim about this fictional romance, and this book has been denounced by every reliable source as a fraud.  This book is riddle with mistakes, errors, and misinformation.  If you have use this book as your resource book, then we do believe you should remove this statement until you can find reliable sources to confirm it.  We do believe you have an obligation to state the "Facts" and not hearsay, or someone's opinion. Thank you, Gio & Gia Host of JMFC website.

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All great singers have a wide range to their voice--

Jeanette had this and also sang in different languages!

By Gio

Jeanette was so talented.  She perfected her art craft in so many ways.  One of them was in languages.  Did Jeanette need someone to dub for her like hundreds of other actresses--No! She sang the French version of he songs for her movies, the Spanish version as well. 

In regard to the human voice, Jeanette had a wide vocal range, which means that she had to have a lot of bottom to her voice. This we see in many of her movies and on recordings where she does sultry singing.  In listening to My Three Daring Daughters, you actually hear Jeanette singing real time in a lower voice.  It displays her bottom voice and the richness she had. 

Let's not forget, she had a 27 inch waist, which was a well developed diaphragm.  She also had a large back rib cage, which helped produce a richer and fuller tone to her voice and singing.

I suppose, if one hasn't sung, they don't realize all the things the human voice can do.  But it is capable of many demands placed on it, and Jeanette met these demands and surpassed them.

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The life of an opera singer is one of many tightropes!

By Gio

We are so fortunate to have members in our group who have a true love and understanding for opera. Seeing our Sweetheart Jeanette was part of this beautiful world, I venture to extend my remarks a bit further and also reply to emails received.

The life of an opera singer is one of many tightropes. Staying healthy is a major life crossing. The throat is very delicate and can easily be sought upon by outside elements. A simple little draft can cause havoc. Believe me, I know. Nodules or ulcers on the vocal bands or just like a runner who pulls a hamstring--singers, can pull a vocal band or throat muscle.

The Great Caruso was a very regimented artist. He would get plenty of sleep, take a 30 minute steam bath every morning, humming and warming up the vocal box. He did watch in his later years his eating pattern, and he did have a yen for Turkish cigarettes.

For every singer you found who smoked, there were hundreds and hundreds that avoided smoke or strong smells and odors. Jeanette, like many singers, Joan Sutherland who had bad sinuses comes to mind, had to be strict with themselves and disciplined. Unlike Sutherland, Caruso, or Kiri who possessed strong voices and could weather a vocal ordeal now and then, Jeanette voice was delicate like a bird and she had to be very disciplined in her life style.

I think the heart, if anything is the thing that gives out on singers. They use it so much and as the body ages, wear and tear can eventually end the career if not the life of a trained concert or opera singer. This was the case with Jeanette, Nelson, and Warren who died on the Met Stage.

You mentioned the name Richard Tauber. Only a few will recall this beautiful tenor. Ah, what he did to music, God did to the heavens--Tauber made notes sparkle like Stars
 

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Things we like and things we like more!

By Gio

There are certain things we love and other things we love a little less. For me, I just find pure enjoyment watching Jeanette and Nelson. I enjoy them better together, but can enjoy them separately. There are times I love listening to Pinza or Frick, and times I love listening to Tebaldi or Callas. But, at all times I love listening to Caruso, Gigli, and Corelli! Hearing these three great tenors sing is sure heavenly music to my ears. Hearing, watching, and feeling Jeanette and Nelson at anytime is just a spiritual uplifting in my life, and yes if I may say--damn the critics. What do I care what someone else thinks. Why should they do my thinking or feeling? I have brains! I have a heart! I have eyes! I have ears! And I have a right to love the Silver Screen Sweethearts no matter what anyone says or thinks.

At the same time, one has a right to express their feelings, and I for one always except someone's opinion, if based on some sort of merit as legitimate grounds for an open discussion. I have watched the Girl of the Golden West close to 50 times. I listen to it as I work and hear so much from just the audio track. As a onetime photographer, I guess I miss it. I don't understand the thing about Nelson's hair being lighter or darker. I would love to have someone hand walk me through some of these scenes. As to the makeup, he is an actor! Moreover, he is an operatic actor and just not a film actor. Opera singers makeup for the roles they play. As Amonasro in Aida, he played King of Ethiopia, and was in dark paint and plotted with his daughter Aida to betray her lover for her country. Dark paint, dark hair, and a dark personality.

I believe Nelson always brought his operatic experiences to the silver screen. This is why he might seem wooden at times, but on a live stage, in a live performance, he would be alive and thrilling. Makeup is part of an actor's trade. Makeup is part of an actor's toolbox, be it live or filmed. What I think a lot of people just never understood about Nelson was that he was so much an actor as he was his own, individual personality that came across to the audience loud and clear. He was super-star material and because he just did not play the Hollywood game, got a bum rap.

I love the Girl. I love New Moon, Marietta, Rosemarie, and of course Maytime! I love them no matter what, but, Bittersweet, Sweethearts, and I Married an Angel are 6, 7, and 8 in my listing of their 8 films. So, yes we love them, sometimes more so in certain roles than others. Be it the custom, be it the music, be it the popcorn that they were selling at the time.

So, yes, all of the opinions I hear are interesting and as fans and friends we should feel free to express our views without any hard-feelings. I can say one thing for certain, I am sure Christine, you love Jeanette and Nelson deep in your heart like we all do, and for this, we are what is known as a fan club. So, let's cheer on our Sweethearts, and if there is something interesting to say, hey, say it for I would love to hear it.

Me personally Christine, I have always loved the sound of a pure baritone or bass: Ruffo, Scotti, Gobbi, Warren, Merrill, Pinza, Feodor Chaliapin, Zaccaria, Kippin, Christoff, Frick are voices as beautiful to the soul as God could make a voice, and still--right at the top--I would put Nelson. He was special in so many ways, that it is pure gold to listen and watch him. In the Girl, I thought he looked so different, that it intrigued me. He was in character and he used the tools of the makeup box as a true actor should. He created a personality different than in his other movies and this we should see as a positive note, an actor making up for a role that was different than all of his other roles called for.

I thought I just drop a word or two to you to let you know, I agree with you True Loyal Jeanette fans that "YES!" we love our Sweethearts, and no one can take that away.
 

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People in the Limelight are always Targets!

By Gio

I think Jeanette said it best when she was talking about Nelson being sued in an auto accident; although  he was found innocent of--he settled out of court like so many celebrities do. The question is--why do they settle out of court? True, it is costly--but more so--it is a free meal to anyone to come in to one's life and look at everything there is to see. Records, documents, personal items, letters, Emails, computer data, pictures, I think you get the picture. Jeanette said that she and Gene had their share of law suits and just dealt with it. It is an ugly frog that has leaped into one's life. Gene dealt with much that was written (rightly or not) about him, and just bit the bullet. I think more of the "Mommy Dearest" type of books that vultures just lay in wait for one to kick the bucket so they can cash in on someone else's hard work, discipline, fame, and success. These so-call--revisionist always seem to turn white in to black, good into dirt. They take an innocent kiss, and make it a life-long heated romance.

When I said, I wish they had written these things while Gene was alive, I was really thinking, I wish Gene had challenged them like Carol Burnette had done and one over 1.25 million dollars in damages from one of the yellow rag sheets. He was going to sue a certain author three times, and three times his attorneys advised him not to.  Why, you ask if he was innocent?  Simply because, by doing so--sure he would win--and at the same time he would be making that person a famous person off his name.  So he didn't!  And that person is still an unknown personality.  

What I like so much about our JMDD group is the real love and spirit behind each one's comments. I don't think I have ever read an intentional malicious or vicious statement from anyone. If anything, I believe we are all in contempt for those who continue to find something guttural towards Jeanette and Gene. I, for one, really enjoy our chats. They are lively, informative, well searched out, fun, and warmhearted. This is the spirit that we, as a group, can put out for the rest of the world to see and hear. If we stand united in our love and support for our Sweethearts, no one can ever tear them down, because, they will know there are those of us who do and will continue to speak only the positive, and turn a deaf ear on all the rest of the garbage being toss.

I, for one, am proud of all of you and look forward to hearing more of the fascinating things you write about. I can only say, thank you for sharing them.
Most Respectfully, Gio

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Jeanette fans are indeed rare!

By Gio