Group of photographs from Horne's performance on Arthur Godfrey's television show Talent Scouts 1955
318987 photographs each 90 x 130 mm. Black and white glossy. In a blue cardstock Kodak "Album Prints" wrapper with Horne's manuscript annotation to upper "The Arthur Godfrey Show 1954!."<br/><br/>From the collection of the distinguished American mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne b. 1934. Horne auditioned for Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts in Los Angeles singing for radio star Goodman Ace 1899-1982. She recounts the experience in her autobiography Marilyn Horne: The Song Continues p. 72:<br/><br/>Goodman a brusque Runyonesque heart-of-gold character had had a bellyful of talent by the time I got to him.<br/>"Okay kid whatcha gonna do" he queried disinterestedly.<br/>"I'm going to sing an operatic aria."<br/>"Esshhh" sighed Goodman obviously not bowled over by my announcement. He sat back with his eyes closed as I sang "Ritorna vincitor" from Aida. When I finished his eyes were wide open.<br/>"What else can you do kid" he asked enthusiastically.<br/>This time I sang a popular song of the day and when I finished Goodman blasted me.<br/>"Are you crazy to sing junk like that with a voice like yours!"<br/>"Listen" I shot back "I'll sing anything!"<br/>"That's the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. You stick to opera kid."<br/><br/>She was given a spot on the show in 1955 and performed "Un bel dì" from Madame Butterfly. In Horne's words: "I sang the hell out of it and won." It was her first appearance on national television and her success meant that she was able to sing on Godfrey's radio show every day for a week. <br/><br/>"Horne had a voice of extraordinary range rich and tangy in timbre with a stentorian chest register and an exciting top. In concert she once achieved the feat of singing in a single programme Rossini arias and Brünnhilde's Immolation Scene proof of her exceptional versatility. Throughout her lengthy career she was an admired recitalist singing lieder mélodies Spanish and American songs with equal aplomb." Alan Blyth in Grove Music Online. unknown books
