Research Catalog

Jan Peerce papers

Title: Jan Peerce papers, 1918-1985.
Author: Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984.
Supplementary Content: Finding Aid

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166 Items

Item details
Status	Container	Format	Access	Call Number	Item Location
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 1	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 1	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 2	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 2	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 3	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 3	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 4	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 4	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 5	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 5	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 6	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 6	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 7	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 7	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 8	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 8	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 9	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 9	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 10	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 10	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 11	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 11	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 12	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 12	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 13	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 13	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 14	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 14	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 15	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 15	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 16	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 16	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 17	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 17	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 18	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 18	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 19	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 19	Offsite
Request Appointment Available - Can be used on site. Please visit New York Public Library - Offsite to submit a request in person.	Box 20	Text	Supervised use	JPB 95-6 Box 20	Offsite

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Details

Additional Authors

Description

99.5 linear feet (166 boxes)

Summary

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

Subjects

Genre/Form

Clippings.
Correspondence.
Interviews.
Memorabilia.
Photographs.
Plaques (flat objects)
Programs.
Radio scripts.
Scores.
Motion picture plays.
Speeches.
Scrapbooks.
Television scripts.

Biography (note)

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

Language (note)

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

Indexes/Finding Aids (note)

Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

Call Number

JPB 95-6

OCLC

NYPG06-A134

Author

Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984.

Title

Jan Peerce papers, 1918-1985.

Biography

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

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

Indexes

Finding aid available in repository and on internet.

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Finding Aid

Occupation

Tenors (Singers)

Added Author

Peerce, Alice.

Rothafel, Samuel Lionel, 1882-1936.

Toscanini, Arturo, 1867-1957.

Peerce, Jan, 1904-1984. Bluebird of happiness.

Research Call Number

JPB 95-6

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