Charles Mintzer. David Akins is a gentleman who I first met in the opera autograph world several years ago. David is a diligent, exhaustive and knowledgeable collector and he and I had several long conversations about singers over the years at autograph shows in New York.
Not only did he hear many legendary artists, but in later years he both interviewed and often photographed them. I hope this is merely installment number one of many of his observations and thoughts. David often heard the San Francisco opera on their annual visits to Los Angeles where he lived, but he did journey up to San Francisco on occasion.
For a brief time David was living in Houston and his first Metropolitan operas were there on the Met national tour May 2 and May 3, that year David told me that he also heard Flagstad, Bjoerling and De los Angeles in concert in Houston that season. Even as a very young man, David would go backstage and ask singers to sign his autograph book.
Bidu Sayao told David she never met a fan who asked her so many good questions. David can regale you for hours with his memories of the artists he heard over the years, so here is his Del Monaco, and to an extent his Bjoerling, tribute in the form of a letter to our editor. I want to thank you for your very nice letter of October 31st, and I apologize for not responding sooner.
Unfortunately, I am so up to my ears in things to do that I am still a computer illiterate, and depend upon my wife for on-line communications. Thank you for your greetings from Flanders, as I have been to Ghent, Bruges, and Antwerp on a number of occasions, and I believe Bruges to be the most beautiful small city in the world. And as you know, that's saying a lot because there are so many beautiful small cities in the world. Although I had heard opera over the radio at age 13 Mario Lanza and the Met broadcasts , and went to my first vocal recitals of great singers at age 14, my first opera experience was at the age of 15 during the Met's season.
