I wanted to reach out and tell you how much I have been enjoying your opera surveys. They have given me the motivation to go back and listen to a lot of these sets that have been sitting on the shelves for a long while. An example is your recent survey of the Pagliacci and Cavalleria Rusticana operas. Except for a couple I have all the sets that you reviewed but some I just never sat down and really listened to. For example, the Gardelli Cavalleria with Bonisolli and Arroyo and the Rahbari Pagliacci. Once I played them on one of my primary systems I found them to be good solid enjoyable performances. One other thing that I have appreciated is your recognition of the unique voice and talent of Mario del Monaco without the usual carping of his so called excesses. I started buying his recordings over 60 years ago and it used to drive me up the wall when I would read a critic parroting the usual complaints that the performance didn’t work because he was too loud, too coarse, yada yada yada. No one is perfect but he was a special talent and voice that should have been appreciated for what he was. As a matter of fact the very first opera set that I acquired was his second recording of Cav/Pag. It was a gift from my mother on my 16th birthday. I remember the look on the clerk’s face when we went to pay because mom had picked up a record for herself; an Elvis Presley record! She had to explain that yes, the opera set was for the juvenile delinquent standing next to her but the Elvis record was hers. Even before he started to wear the Liberace suits that Elvis boy had his hooks in those middle aged ladies. Again, thank you for your endeavors. Stay well and be safe.
George
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