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(More customer reviews)We are fortunate to have any movie of the spectacular German tenor Joseph Schmidt. Although diminutive in stature, he was vocally the peer of any tenor who ever lived, bar none. In "My Song Goes Round the World" we have a great voice trapped in a sentimental film about a little man who loves and loses the girl of his dreams. What matters here is the magnificence of Schmidt's voice, its timbre, range, effortless delivery, bel canto technique, and rare quality. No present-day tenor surpasses him, even with modern recording technology. To think that this tiny man with the great voice lost his life because of the madness of World War Two is tragic. Buy this DVD, along with his "A Star Fell from Heaven," not to nitpick about the story or to criticize the primitive production values, but to marvel at Joseph Schmidt's glorious vocal gift. He belongs with Bjorling, Caruso, and Gigli. Too bad his life ended before he was given the opportunity to mature fully or to claim the legacy that should have been his.
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"Ein Lied geht um die Welt originally was to have beentitled Der Sänger des Volkes (The People's Singer), but the censorsbalked because Schmidt was a Jew. But popular he and his films were andthis one, his fourth (out of a total of seven), was the most so. The presswrote that 'the voice of Joseph Schmidt is recorded in its full clarity andnatural warmth' and that the audience was 'delirious' at the premiere, onMay 9, 1933. Then and there, at the crowd's insistence, he performed songsfrom the film. Even Goebbels applauded enthusiastically--he reportedly saidhe was going to have him declared an honorary Aryan. The film is noteworthyfor, among other things, Schmidt's sensitive portrayal of a man consumed bylove. In the Buzzi Peccia song 'Mal d'amore' his shadings and, especially,his rubatos are so subtly graduated that one has to listen again and againto fathom them. (I've watched this segment of the film about 40 times.)"In general, Schmidt's virtues are tonal beauty, accuracy of intonation,plasticity of rhythm, seamlessness of legato, ease of emission andbrilliance of trills and other coloratura. His high Cs and Ds come easily,without his having to resort to "covering" the tone. Critics at the timesometimes claimed his voice was small, the middle and bottom weak. Morelike a Bjoerling than a Gigli, Schmidt, I think, is inclined to bemonochrome; however, this is not true of his 'Mal d'amore.'"--StefanZucker
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