Alma Gluck Zimbalist sang professionally under the name Alma Gluck. She was born Reba Fiersohn on May 11, 1884, in Lasi, Romania and moved to America at a young age. In 1910 she married Bernard Gluck. They were divorced two years later. In 1914 she married concert violinist Efrem Zimbalist. She is the mother of actor Efrem Zimbalist, Jr. and grandmother of actress Stephanie Zimbalist.
Although she sang and learned to play the piano when she was young, she began to take voice lessons as an adult. She made her professional debut singing with the New York Metropolitan Opera led by Arturo Toscanini in Massenet’s opera Werther,
on November 16, 1909. During Gluck’s first season with the company, she sang eleven in 11 roles in three languages.
She left the Metropolitan Opera in 1913 to study in Berlin and Paris. She then turned her attention to performing in recitals as a concert artist. Gluck became the most popular concert singer of her time in the United States. She performed in all forty-eight states as a recitalist and orchestral soloist, performing in almost 100 recitals a season until 1925.
Between 1911 and 1919, Gluck made 124 recordings. In addition to her classical repertoire, she was famous for her renditions of American folk songs and became a best-selling artist. Her recording of “Carry Me Back to Ol’ Virginny” sold almost two million copies. During this time she earned $600,000 in recording royalties.
Alma Gluck, along with Lawrence Tibbett and Jascha Heifetz founded of the American Guild of Musical Artists in 1936. In 1930, Alma Gluck was diagnosed with liver disease and she died in New York City on October 27, 1938 at age 54.
Discography of Alma Gluck: Link