#claribel

Merle Alcock sings “I Cannot Sing the Old Songs”, recorded on October 14, 1920

She was born Merle Tillotson and studied singing at the Drake Conservatory in Des Moines, later training with William Wade Hinshaw, Paul Savage, and Herbert Witherspoon. Under her real name, she made her debut in 1914 in a concert in London. In 1914, she married the tenor Bechtel Alcock and thereafter performed under this name. In 1915, she appeared in New York as a soloist with the New York Symphony Orchestra, becoming a well-known oratorio contralto. That same year, she appeared at the Worcester Festival, and in 1918, she achieved triumphant success in a concert with the New York Philharmonic. She was regarded as an excellent interpreter of the works of J.S. Bach and G.F. Händel.

It was not until 1923 that she made her operatic stage debut, appearing at the Metropolitan Opera in New York as Beppe in L’amico Fritz by P. Mascagni. Until 1929, she enjoyed great success at the Metropolitan Opera, with a repertoire that included Maddalena in Rigoletto, La Cieca in La Gioconda by A. Ponchielli, and Lola in Cavalleria Rusticana. She also performed in Le Roi de Lahore by J. Massenet, Le coq d’or by N. Rimsky-Korsakov, U. Giordano’s La cena delle beffe, and La vida breve by M. de Falla. In 1929, she appeared in the premiere of the opera Fra Gherardo by I. Pizzetti. In 1924, she sang the role of Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Ravinia Festival. In 1930, she undertook a tour of America with the San Carlo Opera Company as Carmen. After her retirement, she taught singing in New York, where her pupils included soprano Eileen Farrell and tenor George Maran.

From Can't help singing : the life of Eileen Farrell by Farrell, Eileen, 1920-2002:

My biggest challenge was Merle Alcock. She was a very glamorous woman in her mid-fifties, with jet-black hair and beautiful ivory skin. When she taught, she always wore huge, dramatic caftans, which gave her an imposing presence. Al-though she never had been an important singer, she was a solid, reliable contralto who had sung lots of concert and oratorio en-gagements. During ten years, she had sung more than thirty comprimario roles at the Met. She may never have been a real prima donna on the stage, but off it she definitely knew how the part went. My time with her was one of the strangest appren-ticeships any young singer ever had.

From Charlie Schwab President of Carnegie Steel, U.S. Steel and Bethlehem Steel Autorzy William R. Huber:

Another woman identified by previous Schwab biographers as his mistress was unnamed but described as "a contralto at the Metropolitan Opera who was several years younger than Myrtle and considerably more attractive, with dark-dyed hair and a small waist which accentuated her figure. But she was married."32 That woman was Merle Til-lotson Alcock, but it is unlikely that she was Charlie's mistress.

Merle Tillotson, born in Andover, Missouri, in 1884, debuted as a contralto in London in 1914. That same year, she married tenor Bechtel Alcock.

Merle's big break came in 1916 when she was invited to sing at the Schwabs' River-side mansion, accompanied by organist Archer Gibson. Her voice reminded Rana Schwab of the long-ago time in 1883 when Charles Schwab first heard Rana sing in the Dinkeys' boardinghouse in Braddock. Rana immediately "adopted" Merle and became her patron, opening doors for her that would otherwise have been inaccessible.

In 1917, Merle Alcock was praised as having "a lovely voice, splendid deliv-ery and a highly intelligent conception of music," in Wal-ter Damrosch's opinion of … the gifted American contralto, who has to her credit no less than forty appearances with the New York Symphony Orches-tra. "No contralto since Schumann-Heink," said the Montgomery, Ala., advertiser, "has gone straight into the hearts of an audience as did Meryl Alcock." These are strong words of praise-but not exceptionally so-for this remarkable contralto's every appearance calls forth similar praise.

Coincidentally, American conductor Walter Damrosch was a close friend of Andrew and Louise Carnegie.

Four days later, a rival newspaper reported on a visit by Merle to Immergrun II:

One of the great admirers of Merle Alcock's beautiful contralto voice is Mrs. Charles M. Schwab, wife of the famous steel magnate, whose interest in music is well known. The gifted American singer spent a recent week-end visiting Mr. and Mrs. Schwab at their wonderful home in Loretto, Pa. Apropos of Mrs. Alcock's singing the St. Louis Globe-Democrat said of a recent appearance in that city, "Merle Alcock is as fine a contralto as the American concert stage holds today.""

TINSEL … 5E00-0012-5B75 … by @mayor-brianne

ERISED … 4E00-00A9-61DA … by @espeon-krossing

KODAMA … 5F00-000F-7BCA … by @mischacrossing