I was honored to present my father's program to a huge audience at Mirasol Resort on Feb. 29, 2024 about his remarkable liturgical and operatic career.
The response that evening was overwhelming , and made me so proud to be part of his lasting and continued memory.
Listen to two of his unforgettable renditions.
I was proud to speak via the L`Chaim Club at The Mirasol CC in Palm Beach Gardens, Florida, about the majesty
and power of my father’s influence in my memoir “The Hard Bargain”. During this program I described my life
as Camelot due to solid parenting, privileged education, and exposure to world famous individuals. I was happy
to see the significant number in attendance and appreciated their wonderful response.
As we celebrate Memorial Day in this beloved country, I remember with great pride my mother and father's journey to Vietnam in 1967 during the height of that conflict. My father, Richard Tucker, was among many artists who entertained our troops.
My high school classmate, retired Army Colonel Arnie Daxe, recently sent me the following email which expressed his experience and gratitude for my parents' visit. In this spirit, I would like to share his recollections to every soldier who has sacrificed so much to protect our country.
“Sitting here watching the PBS salute concert to Memorial Day, couldn’t help but return to my Vietnam days and remember the sacrifice your dad made in traveling to Vietnam at the height of the war. I won’t forget him or others who made the ultimate sacrifice. I will always remember his kindness and sincerity. In my whole year in the war zone, he was the first and only person I spoke to from my home town in 12 months! He made my day, week, month, and year more bearable. I salute him. 🇺🇸❤. I’ll be at Arlington National Cemetery in two weeks laying my wife, Lorraine, amongst all those heroes. Peace U.S.” Arnie
Additionally, I think all Americans can find comfort by listening to my father's rendition of "The Lord's Prayer."
https://youtu.be/XHPkvRRPRuk
I had a wonderful time and an enthusiastic response from attendees at the Miami International Book Fair in November. As you can see, my book signing appealed to all ages , and I gave out nearly 100 books that day. It was most satisfying to share this experience with my wife, Lynda, and one of my daughters-in-law, Alexandra, at this event.
Two great opera Icons, Tucker { my father } and Tebaldi singing together in Manon Lescaut at the Met. They thrilled opera lovers all over the world many times with their glorious voices during their stellar careers. We miss them both!
Check out part 2 of " Celebrating Richard Tucker " at the Met Opera Guild Podcast.
https://www.metguild.org/…/Metropolitan_Opera_Guild_Podcast…
Photo of Richard Tucker in La forza del destino. Duet with Robert Merrill at the Bing Gala featured in this program.
Richard Tucker was unquestionably one of the world’s most eminent tenors. After beginning his musical career as a cantor in New York’s most prestigious synagogues, he went on to reign over the Golden Age of opera as one of the Metropolitan Opera’s superstars. This episode is Part 1 of a live event at The Metropolitan Opera Guild, celebrating the astounding life and career of America’s greatest tenor presented by one of Tucker’s sons, Dr. David Tucker, and biographer James A. Drake. They take us on an intimate journey, highlighting the life and career of this unparalleled artist!
Met Guild Podcast of Richard Tucker Program in May 2019.
So appreciative to the Met Opera Guild for their world class production of my Richard Tucker Program. This podcast of the presentation should resonate with opera aficionados around the globe
Wonderful to come full circle with my father's musical legacy at the Met Opera Guild. I recently presented with my co-host, Jim Drake, a tribute to Richard Tucker's life and artistry to a sold out audience in a venue that was his "second home." Special thanks to the Met Opera Guild for sponsoring this event. Also appreciation to Gale Martin for her complimentary review on Operatoonity.com.
https://operatoonity.com/…/an-unforgettable-homage-to-a-me…/
“I want to tell you that what you did for your father, Richard Tucker, was in its own way an opera
dedicated to him.
The selections were well chosen and illustrated why Richard Tucker was a singing force of nature.
The selection from Forza del Destino with the great Robert Merrill was a seminar on operatic excitement
at its highest. From this member of the audience, a personal “thank you” for including it.
”
Just returned from Cincinnati, Ohio, where I had discussions with Lynn Meyers, Artistic Director of the Ensemble Theatre, about the staging of my play, Divo and Diavolo. Proud to announce that this dramatic comedy will be part of their 2020-21 season. Kudos to my playwright, Adam Kraar, who took my story from pen to stage
I am delighted to announce that my memoir, The Hard Bargain, received recognition from the 2019 Eric Hoffer Book Awards in 3 categories: Grand Prize Finalist,... Memoir Honorable Mention, and First Horizon Finalist for first time authors. Kudos to my co-author , Burton Spivak, who captured my voice with his elegant and vivid prose.
The Hard Bargain takes the reader through the ups and downs of his difficult relationship with his father, the realities of wanting to become a singer under the shadow of his larger than life dad, and the incredibly competitive world of medicine. With scandalous anecdotes from backstage at the opera as well as from inside the surgery room, David’s life is ever as intriguing. Burton Spivak did a wonderful job capturing David’s voice and crafting vivid, elegant prose. The detail that went into the chapters on David’s medical career, from pre-med at Cornell, to interning and working in Europe, Columbia, and Florida, tales from the emergency room, the surgeons table, his time at Mount Sinai in New York, his research at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases in Bethesda, Maryland, his thirty-five year career as chief of the Department of Ophthalmology of the Jewish Hospital in Cincinnati and all his many other residencies, posts and clinics around the world are fascinating and filled with the sort of medical detail that make for a truly engaging story. As an opera lover, I never expected to learn so much about the medical world in this book. I’m sure the same could be said for anyone interested in medicine in general, or ophthalmology who picks up this memoir, as they would read an incredibly interesting story about a star surgeon while learning about the realities and lifestyle of a star opera singer.
“The Hard Bargain is David Tucker’s valentine to his dad and a memoir of his own short-lived career in music.”
Many years ago, I recorded an interview for WOSU with soprano Licia Albanese. She was a favorite of Toscanini’s. Her career in opera went back to the 1930s.
“Tenors?” she said. “The Tenor was Tucker! Tucker was the tenor. Everybody else, OK. But for me – Tucker!”
On Sunday, March 3, the Savannah Friends of Music presents a special afternoon of music and narrative remembering Richard Tucker through a memoir, The Hard Bargain, written by his middle son, Dr. David Tucker. This event features intimate stories as well as musical excerpts from Tucker’s more than 30 year career as the featured tenor at the Met. Co-hosted by James Drake (biographer of Richard Tucker) and honored guest, Sherrill Milnes at the JEA in Savannah. For more information visit www.savannahfriendsofmusic.com.
Richard Tucker was unquestionably one of the world’s most eminent tenors. After beginning his musical career as a cantor in New York’s most prestigious synagogues, he went on to reign over the Golden Age of opera as one of the Metropolitan Opera’s superstars. The event, celebrating the astounding life and career of America’s greatest tenor presented by biographer James A. Drake, and one of Tucker’s sons, Dr. David Tucker, takes us on an intimate journey highlighting the life and career of this unparalleled artist.
Join us on Tuesday, May 14th from 11am - 12:30pm for this personal look at one of opera’s most celebrated singers, featuring archival interviews with Richard and Sara Tucker and footage of memorable performances including “E lucevan le stelle” and “Vesti la giubba”.
Very nostalgic to be back at my Dad’s second home this year. Stay tuned for more info.
UPDATE: THIS EVENT IS SOLD OUT!
Follow this link : https://www.metguild.org/MOG/For_The_Community/Lectures/Musical_Chairs/Special_Events.html
From humble beginnings on the Lower East Side in New York City to an acclaimed Hazzan and then to an internationally celebrated operatic tenor, Richard Tucker's life bridged many different circles of our social and religious societies. Some profound examples are: receiving his first honorary doctorate from Notre Dame in 1965 from Rev. Theodore Hesburgh, selected to sing the Panis Angelicus in Latin at Robert Kennedy’s funeral in 1968 at St. Patrick’s Cathedral, being the first and only artist to have a funeral on the stage of the Metropolitan Opera House on January 10, 1975, and being the first Jew to have a Requiem Mass delivered by Father Hesburgh at St. Patrick’s Cathedral on October the 14th, 1975.
I am so proud to be one of Richard Tucker’s three sons, and to have had a father who was so much larger than life. A man who lived the American Dream, and was honored to sing for five U.S. presidents at the White House.
To learn more, visit: www.thehardbargainbook.com
Richard Tucker was a great American tenor and international operatic star, as well as a proud Zionist. His love for the United States and Israel was even demonstrated by performing not only for the American troops in Vietnam (1967) but also for the IDF in Israel during the 1967 Six-Day War. So impressive!
My father’s love of his country and passion for the nascent State of Israel truly influenced and shaped my life as I grew up in the Tucker household. Subsequently, I have tried to instill these qualities upon my family through philanthropy and adhering to traditional Jewish values.
The simple pleasures of life can be more appreciated and accentuated when one confronts a serious and morbid experience. For example, a beautiful sunrise, a conversation with friends or loved ones, the satisfaction of a job well done, preparing for the day independently, or even waking up alert one more time.
As a senior resident in ophthalmology, I faced such a life-threatening challenge. In 1972, I was admitted to a university hospital in Miami with an acute and undiagnosed illness of progressive paralysis and with nothing but uncertain medical options. There were no existing MRI’s or CAT scans, and all the attending physicians had conflicting opinions. I chose to follow the advice of one medical expert from the department of neurology who explained to me and my family that his unorthodox treatment would either stabilize or cure my paralysis, or possibly kill me outright! He even described to my wife among the several outcomes that a life in a respirator was a possibility.
That night I laid in bed with a tracheotomy surgical kit at the ready in case my breathing became incapacitated.
Upon awakening the next morning, I looked out my window to a welcoming and beautiful sunny day. However, at the windowsill was my hospital roommate, a young resident from neurology who just stared at me. He had been admitted for metastatic melanoma and was undergoing treatment. So exhilarated that I was breathing on my own, I spontaneously exclaimed to him my joy at the sight of a simple sunny day. “Only for you,” was his sad and melancholy response.
Light can have different meanings for various people, but for me, light is part of “creation” and the beginning of a new and positive day.
Chapter One Opening - Page 3 from The Hard Bargain
I never had a chance to say goodbye to my father before he died suddenly on January 8, 1975. He was scheduled to perform a concert in Kalamazoo, Michigan, with his close friend and colleague, the great baritone Robert Merrill, but that never happened due to his premature and sudden death hours before the performance.
His funeral on stage at the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center attended by four thousand mourners was singular and a testament to his long and celebrated career as a leading tenor for over 30 years. A front page obituary in the New York Times and major news reports shocked the world with the news of his untimely death. There was no time initially for me, nor my two brothers, and more importantly, for my mother, to mourn privately since this tragic announcement was so public.
But following the ritual of Shiva at my parent’s home in Great Neck, Long Island, I returned to my house in Cincinnati, Ohio, with my wife and four children on a frigid winter day. It was at my house that we experienced a “paranormal” event as we entered the front door. With freezing temperatures and snow and ice on the ground, I witnessed a dead robin lying at the door post and a fresh flowering red rose rising above a snowdrift just be behind this fallen bird. A red rose was always present backstage in my dad's dressing room; the robin was his favorite bird; and the color red was emblematic for his nickname, Ruby.
At that moment, when asked by my wife what this all meant, I could only respond that I “had no doubt that the robin and the rose were blessed reminders that my father would dwell in my house and in my heart forever.”
I have been told many times that I am an excellent raconteur , and thus, always attracted great interest and enthusiasm when people have inquired about my life experiences with my iconic father. This memoir is a testament to the extraordinary life that my dad lived and the awesome career he helped me to pursue. My story illuminates the world of opera, the long path to become a physician, the importance of hard work and the lucky break, and the Jewish American saga.
However, this riveting story needed a special writer to capture my voice and reveal the clash of wills between a famous father and his hard-driving middle son. After trying a few writers, I finally found Burton Spivak who was that gifted person. Serendipitously, I connected with Burton on the golf course at my club in Connecticut. He captured the narrative in vivid detail and elegant prose with a compassionate and honest guide to both young and older men and women about the turmoil and love in relationships between parents and children.
Although the libretto was mine , Burton was my Puccini in its expression.
Stay tuned for more: www.thehardbargainbook.com.