Editor's note: Bill Morelock co-hosted Bob and Bill with Bob Christiansen for many years, and they remained close friends outside of the studio. Read below as Morelock offers a tribute to Christiansen, who died recently. And then relive their award-winning show 'Bob and Bill' through a classic episode from March 20, 1996, by using the player above.
Instead of a eulogy for our friend Bob Christiansen, I propose an elegy, in his own words.
Given his talent for synthesis, for distilling down the details of an opera plot or a composer's character into strong concentrate, I offer a single-verse assertion, in limerick form, for an impish force was strong with this one.
His description of young Walther von Stolzing, the hero of Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, serves equally well as an example of his craft and a description of his own long song.
Farewell, my friend; it's been a privilege.
There once was a knight from Franconia
Whose singing was pure and unphony-a.
The contest was won
By singing for fun
Without all the rules and baloney-a.
More
In memoriam: Classical host Bob Christiansen
30 Days of Classical: Presented by Bob Christiansen
See the gallery below for photos of Bob Christiansen through the years.
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