Joseph Schmidt - Una furtiva lagrima
Josef Schmidt (1904 – 1942) was a Jewish tenor and actor. He was born in Austria-Hungary, later Romania, and now part of Ukraine (The borders of Europe certainly changed alot in the past century)
As a child of musical parents, young Josef was influenced by many cultures. In addition to his native Yiddish, he learned Hebrew and became fluent in Romanian, German, French and English.
Ironically, Josef Schmidt enjoyed his greatest successes during the rise of the Nazis, who subsequently prohibited Jewish artists and writers from working. In 1937, he toured the United States and performed in the Carnegie Hall. The Nazis banned him from performing in Germany and Austria, but he was still very much welcome in The Netherlands and Belgium.
In 1939, he visited his mother for the last time. When the war broke out that year he was caught in France by the German invasion. He attempted to escape to the United States but, unfortunately failed. Making a dash for the Swiss border, he was interned in a Swiss refugee camp near Zurich in October 1942. He had been already in frail health. Harsh camp life and lack of medical care brought about a fatal heart attack on November 16, 1942. He was only 38 years old.
He had a sweet lyric tenor voice with an easy high register, sailing up even to a high D. His warm timbre was perfectly suited for the melodies of Schubert and Lehár. His popular song recordings were the best-sellers of that age.
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