Peerce, Jan (real name, Jacob Pincus Perelmuth)
Peerce, Jan (real name, Jacob Pincus Perelmuth)
Peerce, Jan (real name, Jacob Pincus Perelmuth) , noted American tenor; b. N.Y., June 3,1904; d. there, Dec. 15, 1984. He played the violin in dance bands, and sang at various entertainment places in N.Y. In 1932 he was engaged as a singer at Radio City Music Hall in N.Y. He made his operatic debut in Philadelphia as the Duke of Mantua in Rigoletto (May 14, 1938), and gave his first solo recital in N.Y. on Nov. 7, 1939. His lyrical voice attracted attention, and he was engaged by the Metropolitan Opera in N.Y; made his debut there as Alfredo in La Traviata on Nov. 29, 1941; sang also the parts of Cavaradossi in Tosca, Rodolfo in La Bohème, and Gounod’s Faust; remained on the staff of the Metropolitan until 1966, appearing again in 1967–68. He continued to make occasional appearances until his retirement in 1982. He was the brother-in-law of Richard Tucker .
Bibliography
A. Levy, The Bluebird of Happiness: The Memoirs of J.P. (N.Y., 1976).
—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire