My friend Scott broke the news to me about death of Robert Orth, a wonderful American baritone who we saw as Nixon in *Nixon in China* in St. Louis back in 2004. Scott had also done a show with Bob (as he called him) at Madison Opera and spoke warmly of him. Here he is singing Nixon's opening aria:

My friend Robin said that she imagined Bob and Richard Nixon having a conversation "upstairs," except for the fact that there's no way Nixon would be up there. Ha!

One more laugh. Here's a bio of Orth that he wrote himself:

ROBERT ORTH is the best baritone in his price range. A man of average looks and more than adequate vocal skills, he has somehow made the difficult climb from Chicago Opera Theater (his first operatic engagement) to Opera Grand Rapids (his most recent). It has often been said of him, “He has clawed his way to the middle.” A high baritone, he has been referred to as “half man, half tenor.”