There could never have been a more perfect rendition than this!! Merrill and Bastianini possessed the most gorgeous baritone voices I've had the privilege to hear.
My all time favorite baritone. In his prime, the beauty of that golden voice could just about make one cry. If you think he was good with opera, you should hear his renditions of popular songs. His recording of "Begin the Beguine" will give you goosebumps. Regardless of the genre, that sound is unmistakable, with that unique timbre and dark, meaty growl in the lower register. We are so lucky to have had him in our lifetimes.
I saw Merrill in Don Carlo at the Met when I was 15. He was great! Opera became my passion because I thought opera was always so fantastically sung… now I realize that isn’t the case!?😂😂😂😂😂😂
The story goes that Toscanini listened to this audition, and was sufficiently impressed to cast him as Germont in his 1946 Traviata broadcast with NBC Symphony. And no wonder….what an audition!
It doesn’t surprise me in the least. I saw him live only once. I was 5 and went to the Met for the first time with my father. It was Il Barbiere di Seville. My. God. That man could sing! I remember it to this day. Then later in life when I got into jazz and swing music and hearing him sing modern tunes? Unreal.
This recording is pitched almost a full half step above the actual pitch, which I imagine was A=440 at the most. I suspect the sound he actually produced was much more like the mature sound we know so well. It's easy enough to slow this down and lower the pitch to a more realistic one if anyone is so inclined.
Almost is an exaggeration. I would say it's at most a 1/4 tone high, which I would attribute to the recording. No way did the Met orchestra tune A=450.
Hello, can you please tell me where you found this? Are there more recordings like this? New to opera, would love to hear more. Thanks for posting this!!
Merrill (June 4, 1917 - October 23, 2004) was born Moishe Miller, later known as Morris Miller, in the Williamsburg section of Brooklyn, New York. His singing and Italian would improve greatly. Great voice.
How in heavens name was this a dreadful piece of music? I think it was absolutely amazing and I would love to hear some of the the so called opera stars today, sing it half as well!
Anyone know if Merrill actually sang this in C# instead of C? This recording is in C# which I find quite odd, but I know that sometimes things happen to the pitch of older recordings
@@flanplan5903it's surprisingly common for skinny guys with cute faces to turn around and sing with big dark bass and baritone voices. My voice is quite deep, but I had a teenage looking face until 30 😂
@@jasonblack4208 Not quite a baritone but I think of the Chairman of the Board who was as skinny as a skeleton with skin. Where did Frank's resonant voice come from? He was also amazing.
