Alma Gluck

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Alma Gluck, "Old Black Joe" (Stephen Collins Foster), recorded 1915

Alma Gluck (May 11, 1884Template:Spaced ndashOctober 27, 1938) was a Romanian-born American lyric soprano.<ref name=obit/>

Biography

Gluck was born as Reba Feinsohn to a Jewish family in Iași, Romania, the daughter of Zara and Leon Feinsohn.<ref name=marston>{{#invoke:citation/CS1|citation |CitationClass=web }}</ref> Gluck moved to the United States at a young age in 1889. Although her initial success came at the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, Gluck later performed widely in America and became an early recording artist. Although various sources claim that her recording of "Carry Me Back to Old Virginny" for the Victor Talking Machine Co. was the first celebrity recording by a classical musician to sell one million copies, Victor ledgers do not support the claim—nor did Gluck ever make such a claim herself. It was awarded a gold disc, only the seventh to be granted at that time.<ref name="The Book of Golden Discs">Template:Cite book</ref> Gluck was a founder of the American Woman's Association.

Her daughter Marcia Davenport was the child of her first marriage (to Bernard Glick, an insurance man).<ref name=marston/> Gluck later married violinist Efrem Zimbalist and had two children, the actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (1918–2014)<ref>Template:Cite book</ref> and Maria Virginia Zimbalist (1915–1981). Gluck evidently adopted her professional surname as a variation of her first husband's surname ("Glick").

Gluck retired to New Hartford, Connecticut, to raise her family in 1925. Although by background an assimilated and nonpracticing Jew who continued to consider herself ethnically Jewish, she found herself attracted, along with her husband Efrem, to Anglican Christianity, and they regularly attended the Episcopal Church in New Hartford. Efrem Jr. and Maria were both christened there, and the couple placed Efrem in an Episcopal boarding school in New Hampshire. Efrem Jr. later became active in evangelical circles and was one of the founders of Trinity Broadcasting Network.<ref name="Efrem Zimbalist: A Life">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="EZimablist Jr ">Template:Cite journal</ref><ref name="Lives Charmed: Intimate Conversations with Extraordinary People">Template:Cite book</ref><ref name="Efrem Zimbalist Jr. Revitalized His Faith Through Christian TV">Template:Cite news</ref> Gluck recorded several Christian hymns in duet with Louise Homer, among them "Rock of Ages",<ref>Template:YouTube</ref> "Whispering Hope",<ref>Template:YouTube</ref> "One Sweetly Solemn Thought",<ref>Template:YouTube; retrieved 2011-04-08</ref> and "Jesus, Lover of My Soul".<ref>Template:YouTube</ref>

After a long illness, she was taken to the Rockefeller Institute Hospital in Manhattan, New York City, but died from liver failure several days later, on October 27, 1938, at the age of 54.<ref name=obit>Template:Cite news</ref>

Legacy

Gluck is the grandmother to actress Stephanie Zimbalist,<ref>Template:Cite news</ref> the daughter of her son the actor Efrem Zimbalist Jr.

External links

• Fan site with photos and biographies

Recordings

• {{#if:Alma Gluck|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs|{{#if:Template:Wikidata|Template:Wikidata Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at DiscogsTemplate:EditAtWikidata|Template:PAGENAMEBASE discography at Discogs}}}}
• Alma Gluck recordings at the Discography of American Historical Recordings.
• Collected Recordings of Alma Gluck available for download at Internet Archive
• MP3s of every known Alma Gluck recording that exists.