James Johnston 1903 - 1991 Compilation of the amazing Irish tenor!

MY FAVORITE IRISH TENOR EVER!!!! 0:00 Oh inferno! Sento avvampar nell'anima from Verdi's Simon Bocanegra sung in english (Was at the english premiere of this role!!) 5:05 Salut! Demeure chaste et pure from Gounod's Faust sung in english 9:46 Che gelida manina from Puccini's la boheme sung in english 14:25 La fleur que tu m'avais jetée from Bizet's Carmen sung in english 18:43 Vesti la giubba from Leoncavallo's Pagliacci sung in english 22:41 Mamma Quel vino e generoso from Mascagni's Cavalleria rusticana sung in english 26:31 Comfort ye my people from George Frideric Handel's Messiah 33:50 Ye people, rend your hearts from Mendelssohn's Elijah 37:35 Then shall the righteous shine forth from Mendelssohn's Elijah 40:06 Mattinata by Leoncavellio 42:57 The dark eyed sailor 46:12 Ireland, mother ireland James Johnston (11 August 1903 – 17 October 1991) was a Northern Irish lyric tenor, principally in opera. He was born in Belfast, to Thomas and Margaret Johnston; he sang in the church choir and in 1917 won his first competition as a baritone.[1] Johnston had no formal training and began his working life as a butcher in his father's shop. He entered numerous competitions - winning all but one he entered - and supplemented his income by singing in semi-professional performances around Ireland. After positive notices of a performance in Rigoletto in Dublin in 1940, he was offered a contract with Sadler's Wells Opera, where he stayed for almost ten years, becoming principal tenor.[2] During his career Johnston played a wide range of roles, despite no formal acting training, from Pinkerton in Madama Butterfly to the title role in Gounod's Faust. He appeared as Adorno in the British premiere of Simon Boccanegra in 1948, and created the role of Hector de Florac in Arthur Bliss's opera The Olympians, premiered a year later. He made his Covent Garden debut in La Traviata opposite Elisabeth Schwarzkopf in 1949.[1] During his career he also appeared with Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland and Victoria de los Ángeles amongst others. James Johnston was principal tenor at Sadler’s Wells and Covent Garden for 16 years, from 1945 until 1960, and during that time he sang more than two dozen leading operatic roles opposite such legendary singers as Maria Callas, Dame Joan Sutherland , Victoria de los Angeles, Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, Sylvia Fisher and Dame Joan Hammond. Before going to London, he spent four years with Dublin Operatic Society and Dublin Grand Opera Society, for which he continued to appear as a guest up to and after his retirement from London. His vast repertoire included fine oratorio in, among other works, “Messiah”, “Elijah”, “The Creation” and Verdi’s “Requiem”. He was always in huge demand for oratorio, and in 1946 was chosen by Sir Malcolm Sargent for a recording of “Messiah”. His records sold as well in America as in Britain, and the boxed set of “Messiah” 78s broke all previous sales figures in the United States. James Johnston appeared on concert platforms all over the British Isles, delighting audiences with his interpretation of songs such as “Catari, Catari”, “The English Rose” and “My Love’s an Arbutus”, as well as with excerpts and arias from his varied oratorio and operatic repertoire. Among his favourite traditional songs were “Ireland, Mother Ireland”, “The Bonny Labouring Boy” and “The Lark in the Clear Air”. In 1952, audiences at the Henry Wood Promenade concerts voted him one of the two most popular singers of the the season – one of several in which he appeared. Johnston combined clarity with what the critics called “a ringing Italianate tone”; James Johnston gave 130 performances with Dublin Grand Opera Society (as well as 284 with the Royal Opera Company at Covent Garden, at least 270 with Sadler’s Wells (details of many more are missing) – always as their starring tenor. During his early career in Dublin, Johnston appeared on stage about twice a month. He continued with his oratorio and concert work, singing at venues all over Ireland, but his schedule was such that he was able to continue to manage his butcher’s shops in Belfast or to ensure their efficient running when he was not there. All that changed when he moved to Sadler’s Wells towards the end of the war; but the milieu in which he found himself was full of uncertainty: for those reasons not only did he retain his Crumlin Road butcher’s shop but bought two more on the Lisburn Road and Sandy Row in Belfast. He retired in 1958 at the peak of his powers, and resumed work in the family butchers business. Despite making several recordings, very few survived into the CD era, and it was not until 1994 that Testament Records released a CD devoted to his recorded performances, made between 1947 and 1951.