Robert Merrill: Rossini, ’La Danza’

Robert Merrill (June 4, 1917 -- October 23, 2004) was an American operatic baritone, who was also active in the musical theatre circuit. He received the National Medal of Arts in 1993. Merrill’s 1944 operatic debut was in Verdi’s Aida at Newark, New Jersey, with the famous tenor Giovanni Martinelli, then in the later stages of his long operatic career. Merrill, who had continued his vocal studies under Samuel Margolis made his debut at the Metropolitan Opera as winner of the Metropolitan Opera Auditions of