Alma Gluck (May 11, 1884 – October 27, 1938) was a Romanian-born American lyric soprano.[1]
Biography
Gluck was born as Reba Feinsohn to a Jewish family in Iași, Romania, the daughter of Zara and Leon Feinsohn.[2] 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.[3] 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).[2] Gluck later married violinist Efrem Zimbalist and had two children, the actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. (1918–2014)[4] and Maria. Gluck evidently adopted her professional surname as a variation of her first husband's surname ("Glick").