Monday, July 02, 2007
Beverly Sills, 78, is dead
We've lost Beverly Sills:
Beverly Sills, America’s first Prima Donna, died a few hours ago in her Manhattan home – its all over the news here in New York. She was the first truly American Diva – at a time when singers were going to Europe for training, she received all hers in the United States.
Her singing, which I know well, was distinctly American; she was straightforward, acted the parts well, and had flawless technique. She achieved fame in the lesser New York City Opera for quite some time before finally making an international career, then her debut – well at the end of her vocal peak – at the Metropolitan Opera (with a 19 minute ovation). She was the singer that set the standard as Violetta in La Traviata well before I’d ever heard it live: Her recording is listed in the New York Times as the greatest recording of this soprano-crusher.
And her fame also reached popular status. For people who never put their foot inside an opera house or even heard an opera, she was opera. She appeared regularly and as a guest host with Johnny Carson and Carol Burnett. Ms. Burnett said, at one point after doing a duet: “You must sing an aria now.” Millions of Americans even heard their first aria that night.
Despite her fame, it was a long, hard, fight before she was recognized as a leading singer. Nonetheless she would triumph in all the major opera houses. Personally, she had overcome more than most: A deaf daughter, a mentally retarded son, left her with little more than her work as a singer. Nonetheless she rose, not only to stardom, but to head up as chairman of the New York City Opera, than the Metropolitan Opera, than all of Lincoln Center, where she would introduce American audiences to the first English surtitles that dominate the world today.
I also remember an interview with her in the Met’s Playbill where she accused today’s media for underestimating the attention span of the general public for the fine arts.
For me, she was the first time I’d heard La Traviata, Rigoletto, Manon, and Faust: She hooked me.
Who would have known this Brooklyn-born, hardscrabble Jew would be on the cover of Time and have some of the greatest recordings of the operatic staples.
Her life was tough, but music that kept her going. We should all be so productive with our misfortunes.
I, and most Americans, will miss cultural life without Mrs. Sills. For just a few months ago she was hosting the first HD theater broadcasts of Il Trittico, Barbiere, and other triumphs of the reigning singers.
More in the New York Times.
Beverly Sills, America’s first Prima Donna, died a few hours ago in her Manhattan home – its all over the news here in New York. She was the first truly American Diva – at a time when singers were going to Europe for training, she received all hers in the United States.
Her singing, which I know well, was distinctly American; she was straightforward, acted the parts well, and had flawless technique. She achieved fame in the lesser New York City Opera for quite some time before finally making an international career, then her debut – well at the end of her vocal peak – at the Metropolitan Opera (with a 19 minute ovation). She was the singer that set the standard as Violetta in La Traviata well before I’d ever heard it live: Her recording is listed in the New York Times as the greatest recording of this soprano-crusher.
And her fame also reached popular status. For people who never put their foot inside an opera house or even heard an opera, she was opera. She appeared regularly and as a guest host with Johnny Carson and Carol Burnett. Ms. Burnett said, at one point after doing a duet: “You must sing an aria now.” Millions of Americans even heard their first aria that night.
Despite her fame, it was a long, hard, fight before she was recognized as a leading singer. Nonetheless she would triumph in all the major opera houses. Personally, she had overcome more than most: A deaf daughter, a mentally retarded son, left her with little more than her work as a singer. Nonetheless she rose, not only to stardom, but to head up as chairman of the New York City Opera, than the Metropolitan Opera, than all of Lincoln Center, where she would introduce American audiences to the first English surtitles that dominate the world today.
I also remember an interview with her in the Met’s Playbill where she accused today’s media for underestimating the attention span of the general public for the fine arts.
For me, she was the first time I’d heard La Traviata, Rigoletto, Manon, and Faust: She hooked me.
Who would have known this Brooklyn-born, hardscrabble Jew would be on the cover of Time and have some of the greatest recordings of the operatic staples.
Her life was tough, but music that kept her going. We should all be so productive with our misfortunes.
I, and most Americans, will miss cultural life without Mrs. Sills. For just a few months ago she was hosting the first HD theater broadcasts of Il Trittico, Barbiere, and other triumphs of the reigning singers.
More in the New York Times.
# posted by otas : 9:49 PM
