Word: melchior
(lookup in dictionary)
(lookup stats)
Dates: during 1970-1979
Sort By: most recent first
(reverse)
Undaunted, Melchior moved to Hollywood and embarked on a heavy schedule of successful cross-country concert dates. In the lulls, he appeared in movies and revived his recording career, which spanned four decades and earned him a fortune...
Pride. Life offstage was no less strenuous. Melchior consumed mammoth meals, washed down by heroic quantities of aquavit and Danish beer. He traveled widely and was an enthusiastic big-game hunter. (He liked to wear the skin of a deer he had bagged as his costume in Siegfried.) He took great joy in entertaining friends with his wife "Kleinchen" during festive holidays like Christmas, when he unabashedly decked himself out as a jolly Santa Claus...
...jovial nature, Melchior had his share of pride. He departed from the Met in 1950 after General Manager Rudolf Bing approached lesser singers first with new contracts. Melchior threatened to withdraw unless his agreement was renewed immediately; Bing, notoriously unsympathetic to any ultimatum...
...energy seemed illimitable. In his last years, Melchior continued to hunt big game in Africa, served as international president of the Danish Royal Guard, and last fall conducted the orchestra at the San Francisco Opera's 50th anniversary concert. He grew as deaf as Beethoven, but his passion for music was not impaired, nor his concern. A sizable portion of his time was devoted to administering the Heldentenor Foundation, which he established in 1968 to encourage new talent in an annual competition...
...some, the name of Melchior will always have a Wagnerian ring. Others will remember him singing The Star-Spangled Banner on opening day of baseball season-another of his passions-at Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles. But for most of the world, Lauritz Melchior will simply remain the grandest heldentenor in memory-a magnificent giant with a golden voice...