Louisiana Tech Bookstore

It was here, during the summer band camp of 1969, that I spotted the Angel recording of Verdi’s Rigoletto with Reri Grist as Gilda, Nicolai Gedda as the Duke, and Cornell MacNeil as Rigoletto. At age 12-1/2, I had not yet purchased an opera recording for myself, but I determined right then and there that I wanted that recording. It must have been several months later in the fall when I returned with cash in hand and grew crestfallen upon discovering that I did not have enough money for the 3-LP set. Glum, I rifled through the bins, looking at the other selections. I was disappointed that the only complete opera I could find that was within my price range was one I had never heard of, the title of which failed to beguile: The Daughter of the Regiment. How boring it looked. “Oh, well,” I thought, “I’m not going home empty-handed.” I bought it, little prepared for the ecstasy that awaited me: a melodious romp with glorious performances by Joan Sutherland and Luciano Pavarotti. It was a great lesson to learn at so early an age about taking risks, in the Universe of Opera, at least.

(Please see Shreveport > Civic Theatre for my story about my introduction to opera.)