Thursday, August 12, 2010

Opera books, opera records, even an opera autograph!

The three of us went to an estate sale on Friday. What an estate sale. A 70 yr old lady had to liquidate her parents house (Father died in 73, Mother died in 84. We don't know why it took so long). The daughter actually studied opera and spent 10 years in Austria. Actually, her half-sister (25 years older than she is) was an actress back in the 40s. Jane Randolph.

Anyway, we got a cabinet full of vocal scores and music. Sarah found it (the entire house was set up as a sale, with a lot of the furniture still where it had been and not emptied!) and Mom asked the guy who was running the sale how much the sheet music pieces were. He said that normally he would charge $1 a piece, but if we would take the entire lot we could have it for $10! I couldn't believe it! She had the two scores that I had been thinking about buying, so I was thrilled even if I only got the two books. So, Sarah and I spent an hour packing it up. Five full boxes! Also, she had a collection of opera records to die for. Just my era, too. Mostly 50s, and tons and tons of Renata Tebaldi. Boxed sets, complete operas, recital singles. Well, we got four large boxes for another $15. I am thrilled because, aside from having lots of complete operas I don't have already, there are some titles where mine got ruined when our plumbing burst.

Another very cool thing . . . on Saturday night I was going through a stack of Met librettos (to see if there were doubles) and I found one that is autographed by Renata Tebaldi! I was thrilled as she is one of my favorite opera singers. I couldn't believe it when I found it!

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