Beverly Sills Tribute

I am really sad to hear of the death of Beverly Sills. She has brought a
lot of joy into my life and the lives of many with her beautiful voice and
personality. I experienced the thrill of seeing her in Siege of Corinth
when the Met brought the opera to Dallas. Also I managed to get front row
center seats in Dallas when Beverly came for a concert. Before the concert
the rostrum was on stage left and a spokesperson came out to make an
annoucement. I was fearful that Beverly had cancelled, which she had not,
but was even more upset that the rostrum and microphone was so far from my
center row seat that I would find it hard see her. Just before she came
on stage a stagehand moved the microphone to center front stage and she
stood 10-15 feet in front of me the entire concert. I will never forget
that night. After her appearance in San Antonio I was privileged to
attend an after-opera party for her. Most people wore black and white
formal wear. When Beverly arrived with her daughter Muffy and husband, she
was wearing this green taffeta gown which contrasted perfectly with her
bright red hair. Her entrance reminded me of Wizard of Oz when everything
turned to technicolor.

We will miss her.

By the way, just coincidently I received the DVD "Beverly Sills - Made in
America" today. I recommend it to anybody who is a Beverly Sills fan. It
is a wonderful tribute to her and one of the best DVD's I own.

On Jul 3, 5:15 am, "MezzomanUK"
wrote:
> This is very sad news of course. I never saw Ms.Sills `live` but got to know
> her artistry through a friend who used to live in NY and told me of her
> performances at NYCO (why do we NEVER read of that company on this group by
> the way?!) I adore her 3 Donizetti Queens sets and I Putitani etc. PLEASE
> can we have her Norma on CD now ?!
> I read both her books which were hard to put down.
(snip)

My favorite Sills studio recordings are The Ballad of Baby Doe, the
Bellini-Donizetti Heroines album, the Giulio Cesare and the Manon.
All find her in wonderful voice and superb dramatically.
I did see Sills once in performance, but not in one of her better
roles (Thais). I envy those who saw her Donizetti Queens, Lucia,
Manon, Cleopatra, etc.
Dominic Cossa tells the story of when he performed Valentin to Sills's
Marguerite in Gounod's Faust. During his death scene, Sills leaned
over Cossa with her back to the audience. The audience could not see
her face, but Cossa could. He said the power and sincerity of Sills's
portrayal of Marguerite's grief moved him to tears.
RIP, Beverly Sills. We are all the beneficiaries of your legacy as a
singer and advocate for the arts.
Best,
Ken