Oh, how I love the voice of Joseph Schmidt - loved it from the very first moment, when I heard him on one of those wonderful "Nimbus Prima Voce" compilations of recordings by pre-WW2 classical singers, instantly and spontaneously I picked him out as my favorite amongst the rest of the very distinguished crowd. Who can say or explain what was it exactly that attracted me so much, specially because the rest of the artists compiled there were all giants (Caruso, Melba, Tauber, Gigli and Schipa for example) but from the very first moment I heard Schmidt singing "Wiener Bonbons" that was it, his warm tenor voice appealed to me ever since much more than anybody else
Than I read the rest of the story about this small, short singer whose gigantic talent excluded him from opera houses but brought him huge adoration via radio and concert performances where he was affectionately called "pocket Caruso" - just to tragically end his life in concentration camp at the age of 38. Its really ironic that he lived his biggest popularity in German-speaking countries just as very same Germans eventually haunted him to death. These things really upset me and perhaps my love for Schmidt is coloured not with beautiful music but also by knowledge of it all. From purely music point of view, this first part of complete EMI recordings set is absolutely recommended joy because he glides trough everything from Flotow, Korngold, Massenet, Tchaikovsky, Lehár and Schubert (and this is just CD1) to songs composed by his good friend and colleague Richard Tauber. CD 2 moves on to Verdi, Puccini, Donizetti and Leoncavallo along with traditional Italian folk songs. Honestly Joseph Schmidt might be my all-time favourite pre-WW2 singer and even in field that was crowded with legends, for me he is the one. He had a beautiful, warm voice that goes straight to my heart and to my ears he goes further than Tauber towards pure perfection (I still love Richard Tauber, mind you).
The only regret I have is that I did not purchased second part of collected EMI recordings, because at that moment I thought it makes more sense to start in chronological order. Rest in peace, wherever you are Joseph Schmidt, they called you "pocket Caruso" but for me you are giant and will never be forgotten.
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