George Rasely

George Rasely (October 27, 1890 – January 3, 1965) was an American tenor born in St. Louis, Missouri, whose career encompassed opera, concert performance, musical theater, and radio broadcasting across the first half of the twentieth century.

Rasely made his Broadway debut in 1917 in the musical Chu Chin Chow, portraying the role of Nur-Al-Huda in Frederic Norton's production. He subsequently appeared as part of The Greenwich Village Follies between 1922 and 1924. His competitive achievements during the late 1920s brought him recognition in the classical vocal world: he won the National Music League singing competition in 1927 and the Walter W. Naumburg Foundation vocal competition in 1928. That same period saw him affiliated with the Philadelphia Civic Opera Company, where he took on the role of Schweiker von Gundelfingen in the United States premiere of Richard Strauss's Feuersnot on December 2, 1927, at Philadelphia's Metropolitan Opera House, conducted by Alexander Smallens.

In 1936, Rasely joined the Metropolitan Opera in New York City, debuting with the company on May 15, 1936, as Vasek in Bedřich Smetana's The Bartered Bride, a performance that featured Muriel Dickson as Marenka, Mario Chamlee as Jeník, and Wilfred Pelletier on the podium. During his eight years with the Met, he created the role of Harman Blennerhassett in the world premiere of Walter Damrosch's The Man Without a Country on May 12, 1937, and portrayed Gherardi in the United States premiere of Richard Hageman's Caponsacchi on February 4, 1937. His additional Met roles included Don Curzio in The Marriage of Figaro, Fellah in Mârouf, Gherardo in Gianni Schicchi, Nathanael in The Tales of Hoffmann, Paolino in Il matrimonio segreto, and the Poet in Louise. His final appearance with the company came on March 22, 1944, as Bardolfo in Falstaff, with Leonard Warren in the title role.

Alongside his operatic work, Rasely maintained an active presence on American radio throughout the 1920s, 1930s, and 1940s. He returned to Broadway in 1939 to play Mr. Scratch in The Devil and Daniel Webster, and continued appearing on the Broadway stage into the mid-1940s, with credits including La Parisienne in 1941, Helen Goes to Troy in 1944, and the musical Hollywood Pinafore in 1945.