America had a profusion of baritones in the 20th century. One of the most prominent then is much less so today. He’s the subject of this article. John Charles Thomas (1891-1960) was born in Meyersdale, PA. He was interested in singing from an early age. From 1910 to 1912 he studied voice at Baltimore’s Peabody Institute. After touring briefly with a musical troupe he settled in New York.

After appearing with a Gilbert and Sullivan company, he was hired by the Shubert Brothers to appear in the Broadway show The Peasant Girl. For the next decade, he appeared in a succession of hit musicals. His attention then turned to opera. First, he sang arias in recitals, and then in complete performances. He honed his operatic skills in Europe. By 1928 he was singing at the Royal Opera House, London in Faust alongside Feodor Chaliapin. Though he could make more money away from opera he persisted in this side of his career.

He was active as a recitalist, in movies, on the radio, and in operetta. His repertoire ranged from popular songs to musical comedy, art songs, Italian songs, lieder, and the standard operatic repertoire. In 1934 he made his Met debut as the elder Germont in Verdi’s La Traviata. He sang 55 performances with the company over the next nine years. This number would have been larger had he not been in great demand in so many different kinds of venues. During the 30s and 40s, he was one of the most popular entertainers in the US.

Thomas’s voice was bright. resonant, and had a very easy top. His years on Broadway had given him great skill in selling what he was singing. The following selections should convince the listener unfamiliar with his work that he belongs among the top group of American baritones active during the last century – a very distinguished cadre.

Home on the Range was a song often performed by Thomas. This recording is from a radio broadcast. He adjusts his very big voice to a size ideal for the song. He turns the familiar tune into a moving experience.

Three popular American show tunes show his facility with this genre. Ol’ man river by Jerome Kerns, The last time I saw Paris also by Kerns (both with lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein), and Oh, what a beautiful mornin’, by Richard Rogers again with words by Hammerstein are sung to great effect in a style appropriate for the music. Notice Thomas’s impeccable diction.

In questa tomba oscura is a song by Beethoven. He wrote it for a competition in 1807. Not surprisingly, it’s the only one from that competition that has endured.

Next selections from operettas. Thomas started his career, mentioned above, doing Gilbert and Sullivan. When I was lad is from HMS Pinafore. His rendition is perfect and shows the extraordinary versatility this exceptional artist possessed. The Gypsy Baron is one of Johan Strauss’s most successful efforts for the operetta stage. The open road is sung with zest and elan. The voice is as good as a baritone can produce.

Now on to opera. First Thomas sings Thomas – Ambroise Thomas. The Drinking Song from Hamlet is the opera’s best known piece.

Thomas Met debut was greeted with rave reviews. Di provenza il mar is from Traviata’s second act. Rossini’s Barber was a regular part of Thomas’s repertoire. His version of Largo al factotum is full of verve. Iago’s Credo from Verdi’s Otello is cloaked in menace. Nemico della patria from Giordano’s Andrea Chénier is completely realized. Leoncavallo’s Zazà was done at the Met as a vehicle for Geraldine Ferrar. When she left the company so did the opera which hasn’t been done since. Ironically the work’s best known aria is the baritone’s Zazà, piccola zingara.

Thomas clearly belongs in the pantheon of great American baritones. His versatility is unmatched by any American singer I can think of. Why we turn out so many first-rate baritones compared to tenors is as mysterious as it is true.

John Charles Thomas

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