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MP3 Robert Merrill - The Finest Italian Opera Collection
9 MP3 Songs
CLASSICAL: Verdi, CLASSICAL: Arias
Details:
Robert Merrill
One of the Metropolitan Opera''s most enduring and acclaimed baritones, Brooklyn-born Robert Merrill was born Moishe Miller on June 4, 1919 (some sources list 1917), the son of Polish émigrés. His father, Abraham, was a shoe salesman and mother Lillian was an operatic soprano who performed in concert before her marriage. His parents changed their last name to Miller upon their arrival in the United States. His mother was the one who encouraged and guided Robert during his early operatic training after an initially promising career as a semipro pitcher subsided. Overweight and unhappy as a child, he was further hampered by a stuttering problem that only went away when he sang. His first audition for the Metropolitan Opera in 1941 was not successful. He made ends meet by singing for bar mitzvahs and weddings. Robert finally made his operatic debut in 1944 voicing the role of Amonasro in "Aida" in Trenton, New Jersey, then successfully joined the Met the following year, taking his first company bow in December as Germont in "La Traviata." Displaying an amazingly vigorous yet smooth and effortless baritone, other roles in his standard repertoire would include the title role in "Rigoletto," Figaro in "The Barber of Seville," "Tonio in "Pagliacci" and Escamillo in "Carmen." He was deemed one of the finest Verdi baritones of his generation. Unlike most of his peers, Robert extended himself willingly into the radio, film, nightclub and TV arenas. He even performed in Vegas. A featured soloist on radio''s RCA Victor Show in 1946, he abandoned the Met for a time to jump at a chance to co-star in a film. This led to a volatile falling out with the Met''s general manager, Rudolf Bing. Robert''s part in the innocuously-titled Aaron Slick from Punkin Crick (1952) with Dinah Shore and Alan Young ("Mister Ed" (1961)), in which he played an on-the-lam crook, was an unmitigated disaster. Realizing his mistake, he returned quickly to the company after several public apologies to Mr. Bing. Robert''s first marriage to the Met''s reigning soprano, Roberta Peters, lasted but three months. They remained friends, however, and would perform together from time to time. They were both frequent guests on Ed Sullivan''s variety show, "Toast of the Town" (1948), during the 1950s and 1960s. Two children were born from his second marriage to pianist Marion Machno. Robert continued to sing at the Met until 1976, performing sporadically after that as a recitalist. He died of natural causes in 2004.
1944 gab er in Trenton (New Jersey) sein Operndebüt als Amonasro in Verdis Aida, und zwar an der Seite des einstmals weltberühmten Tenors Giovanni Martinelli, der nach dem Abschied von der Bühne mit einer eigenen Operntruppe durch die amerikanische Provinz reiste. Nachdem er den Radio-Nachwuchswettbewerb Auditions of the Air der New Yorker Metropolitan Opera gewonnen hatte, debütierte er an diesem Opernhaus 1945 als Germont in Verdis La Traviata. Unter Intendant Rudolf Bing wurde er endgültig einer der Stars des Ensembles der "Met", wo er bis 1976 sang. Durch seine insgesamt 787 Auftritte dort und zahlreiche Rundfunk- und Schallplattenaufnahmen (unter anderem mit Arturo Toscanini) wurde er weltweit bekannt. Zusammen mit dem schwedischen Tenor Jussi Björling bildete er über mehrere Spielzeiten hinweg das "dream team" der Metropolitan Opera. Sie traten erstmals gemeinsam in der Spielzeit 1949-50 in der Oper Don Carlo von Giuseppe Verdi auf. Die Tenor-Bariton-Duette aus Opern von Giuseppe Verdi, Giacomo Puccini und Georges Bizet, die beide im Winter 1950-51 einspielten, gelten bis heute als unübertroffene Referenzaufnahmen. Die Aufnahme des Duetts "Au fond du temple saint" aus Bizets Oper ''Die Perlenfischer'' wurde in die "Hall of Fame" als eine der wichtigsten und vollkommensten Musikeinspielungen der Schallplattenära aufgenommen.
Neben seiner Dauerverpflichtung in New York absolvierte Merrill zahlreiche Gastspiele an den großen amerikanischen und europäischen Opernhäusern. Neben Leonard Warren, dessen Nachfolger er an der Metropolitan Opera wurde, gilt Merrill als der bedeutendste amerikanische Bariton.
Merrill wurde einem breiten Publikum bekannt, als er alljährlich die amerikanische Nationalhymne zur Eröffnung der Baseballspielzeit im Stadion der New York Yankees sang. Außerdem wurde dort vor jedem Heimspiel seine Schallplattenaufnahme der Nationalhymne gespielt.
1993 erhielt er die National Medal of Arts.
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