The last tour

Georges Bizet; L'Arlesienne Suites 1 & 2; Carmen Suite; London Symphony Orchestra; Claudio Abbado, conducting

In June of 1986, the Metropolitan Opera made its last national tour. For decades, this American musical treasure hit the road, with several operas, opulent sets and gorgeous costumes in tow, to bring its art to the people who perhaps don’t have the time to make a visit to NYC to catch a sampling of their wares. In true repertory fashion, when the Met came to town, they would stage a different opera each night for six nights and probably one matinee. The logistics of such an endeavor would more than likely stupefy the layman.

So, in March of 1986, Mrs. V., a vocal instructor at SDSU, informed many of us about a timely opportunity to hear some of the finest singing any one of us might ever hear. That this tour, coming to Minneapolis in June, brought about the end of an era. That, to make this curtain call a massive celebration, the Metropolitan Opera would pull out all the stops, packing their best productions and booking a cast for the ages.

My friends and I could only afford the final three performances, unable to attend the Monday through Thursday opera presentations. So we all arrived on Friday afternoon in time to get changed into our opera best to go out for dinner and a show. And what a show! Friday night was “Carmen” night. Spain had picked herself up, walked across the drink and plopped herself on the stage of Northrop Auditorium on the campus of the University of Minnesota. On Saturday afternoon, we immersed ourselves in Gounod’s setting of Romeo and Juliet. After a dinner at a restaurant in Dinkytown, - yes, an area across the river from Minneapolis calls itself Dinkytown, so just get over it – the Met brought to a close its place in Midwestern opera history with opera’s finest international ambassador, Giuseppe Verdi’s La Traviata. And the musical finery that the instrumentalists and singers offered to us on that evening filled every inch of Northrop Auditorium and our very souls.

Mezzo-soprano Grace Bumbry played the roll of Carmen in Bizet’s opera on Friday night. What fire! What passion! What ardor, fervency and fury! What a tempest! Ms. Bumbry tore the hottest part out of all of us and spit it back at us in Spanish gold. The four acts of Carmen accounted for only the first four of nine to ten hours of opera that my friends and I would confront within a twenty-eight hour period. I really didn’t know how this farmer’s kid could emotionally make it through five or six more hours of these hot-blooded, loud-mouthed shenanigans. Thank God for my Day’s Inn bed.

One of the LP’s that my sisters and I were not to touch when we were growing up came from the Goodyear company. The album, called “Great Songs of Christmas Album 8”, included Robert Merrill singing “March Of The Kings”.

Three great kings I met at early morn


With all their retinue were slowly marching


Three great kings I met at early morn


Were on their way to meet the newly born


With gifts of gold brought from far away


And valiant warriors to guard the royal treasure


With gifts of gold brought from far away


Their shields all shining in their bright array

Mr. Bizet, the composer of the opera Carmen, featured this carol as a farandole in his incidental music for the play L’Arlesienne. “March Of The Kings” provides a suitable musical setting for this open-chain community French dance. Whenever you hear an orchestral version of “March Of The Kings”, it probably has come from the version included in the L’Arlesienne Suite No. 2.

This Saturday at a dinner hosted by the State Department, Grace Bumbry will join four other artists to receive the Kennedy Center Honors. President Obama will host a reception at the White House for the honorees, followed by a program at the Kennedy Center that highlights the careers of these five masters who have given their life to the perfection of their craft.

Credits: To Grace Bumbry, for a lifetime of commitment to excellence, and for overcoming racial barriers during a time when Americans saw with clouded vision. To Robert Merrill, for that same lifetime of artistic dedication. And for singing “The Star Spangled Banner” devoid of superfluous ornamentation. Rest in peace, sir. Go Yankees!