Research Catalog

Details

Additional authors

1. Peerce, Alice
2. Rothafel, Samuel Lionel, 1882-1936.
3. Toscanini, Arturo, 1867-1957.

Description

1. 99.5 linear feet (166 boxes)

Summary

1. The Jan Peerce papers encompass both the public and private sides of his life.

Subject

1. Jewish singers > United States
2. Motion picture plays
3. Scores
4. Scrapbooks
5. Rothafel, Samuel Lionel, 1882-1936 > Correspondence
6. Television scripts
7. Memorabilia
8. Speeches
9. Interviews
10. Correspondence
11. Toscanini, Arturo, 1867-1957 > Correspondence
12. Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984
13. Programs
14. Clippings
15. Radio scripts
16. Plaques (flat objects)
17. Tenors (Singers) > United States
18. Photographs
19. Peerce, Alice > Correspondence

Genre/Form

1. Clippings.
2. Correspondence.
3. Interviews.
4. Memorabilia.
5. Photographs.
6. Plaques (flat objects)
7. Programs.
8. Radio scripts.
9. Scores.
10. Motion picture plays.
11. Speeches.
12. Scrapbooks.
13. Television scripts.

Call number

1. JPB 95-6

Biography (note)

1. Jan Peerce (1904-1984) was an American tenor whose career as an opera star and concert performer extended more than fifty years.

Language (note)

1. The Clippings series includes items in Afrikaans, French, German, Hebrew, Russian, and Swedish.

Indexes/finding aids (note)

1. Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Author

1. Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984.

Title

1. Jan Peerce papers, 1918-1985.

Biography

1. Jan Peerce (1904-1984) was an American tenor whose career as an opera star and concert performer extended more than fifty years. Born Jacob Pincus, he studied violin as a child and began his professional musical career by putting together a small dance band. Under the names Jack Pearl and Pinky Pearl, he began singing the vocal choruses with the band, utilizing his impressive tenor voice. In 1932 a job brought Jacob together with impresario Samuel "Roxy" Rothafel, who changed his name to "John Pierce" and hired him as a singer at Radio City Music Hall. Jacob convinced Rothafel to compromise and call him "Jan Peerce". The new name had the sound that Rothafel wanted, but made Jacob feel more comfortable and closer to his own identity. As Jan Peerce, he also worked in radio. His repertoire grew wider and began to include operatic arias as the 1930s wore on. In 1938, Peerce successfully auditioned for Arturo Toscanini for a concert performance of Beethoven's Ninth Symphony. This appearance with Toscanini expanded Peerce's reputation greatly. Though Peerce was unsure of his suitability for grand opera, his wife, Alice Kalmanowitz Peerce, who was serving as his agent, booked him to appear in Rigoletto in Baltimore. Peerce received great acclaim for his operatic debut and would make his Metropolitan Opera debut in La Traviata on November 29, 1941. Peerce became a fixture at The Metropolitan Opera for twenty-five seasons. He was one of the institution's most famous and commercially popular tenors and was in constant demand as a concert performer from the 1930s through the 1980s. Although throughout his life, people mistakenly claimed he had been a cantor, Peerce did incorporate Passover services at various hotels into his appearance schedule. Peerce also was a frequent and successful recording artist and pioneered a trail between classical or operatic singing and popular music. His recording of The Bluebird of Happiness was immensely popular, eventually becoming one of the best-selling records by a concert artist and Peerce's most requested number.

Language

1. The Clippings series includes items in Afrikaans, French, German, Hebrew, Russian, and Swedish.

Indexes

1. Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Connect to:

1. Request Access to Music & Recorded Sound Division Special Collections material
2. Finding Aid

Occupation

1. Tenors (Singers)

Added author

1. Peerce, Alice.
2. Rothafel, Samuel Lionel, 1882-1936.
3. Toscanini, Arturo, 1867-1957.
4. Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984. Bluebird of happiness.

Research call number

1. JPB 95-6