This hobby is funny and fickle; I’m not a major opera fan, mainly a Wagner/Strauss kinda guy, I don’t think I’ve posted on this forum, just the classical music forum.
Recently I met Robert Merrill’s daughter, Lizanne, at a local fundraising event. After a little conversation she casually mentioned: “your wife says you like records, we’re clearing the house out, so if my brother has not tossed them you can have them."
So, by chance I am now the proud possessor of Robert Merrill's record collection.
Before last week I had only one opera with Robert Merrill singing: Beecham’s Boheme. I really love this performance and one of the highlights is the beginning of the first act and it is Merrill that makes it so special. But other than that I had nothing with him. Now that’s changed, I have a lot of Merrill. Six boxes of him, and two with operas & highlights, assorted collections with and without Merrill and assorted classical and a few jazz LPs.
Like many musicians Merrill did not like to listen to records, so even though it seems like a lot - it's really just his discography. Which I am happy to have. I have about everything he recorded, with the exception of the Broadway and later crossover material. Luckily Merrill recorded for RCA, so there’s a lot of nice pressings. Much of it in mono. Though there is no shortage of the London recordings. In addition a bit of solo Bjorling, and of course the great LP of their work together. For some reason he was interest in Gilels and Oistrakh
so I have a bunch of early U.S. LPs of Soviet recordings.
When I was sorting everything in the record lair, playing a mono plum label opera compilation LP, I had a really nice feeling that I was preserving an important artist’s collection.
Better my basement than the dumpster. Lizanne and her brother Dave are two incredibly nice and generous people. Not as into material stuff as I am, but no one’s perfect!
I’ve got the mono cart back on the table and over the last week I've listened to a couple of things and I am warming up to Verdi.
I’m curious, if there are any Merrill fans out there, what opera performances of his do you like best?
Gregg
