Beverly Sills: Anna Bolena: Coppia iniqua: Philadelphia: 1974

Beverly Sills
Anna Bolena: Coppia iniqua
Philadelphiaa - 1974

[@wotan10950]

Great memories. I had no interest in opera until I saw Sills on Johnny Carson and got tix to see her three queens. The luck of a fool! Long before subtitles, I wasn’t really sure what was going on, but I thought Sills was an extraordinary actress with a miraculous voice.

[@darylgimmillaro7149]

Oh my God...to hear this kind of performance again...Stupendous!

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@petelovesbevsills]

All new to me! Thank you, Donald, this is prime and sumptuous Beverly and NO she certainly isn't a bit sharp at all. The audience agrees too! :) ( I get such a kick out of hearing these Beverly 'treasures' for the first time!)

[@alwaysnew189]

stunning!!!!!!

[@Rebecca_0602]

Brava my bubbles

[@vincec8218]

Please check out soprano Kasondra Kazanjian

[@magicmonkichi]

Brava~. Sills always adds a lil of herself into the ornaments....and I'm not mad about it! :D Thank you for sharing this. Do you happen to have any more of this performance, perhaps the Come innocente giovane ? :D

[@OperaMyWorld]

Could you please upload the whole?? Concert maybe??

[@marylambcarter]

pleaseeeeeeeeeee

[@orion8835]

It’s furious manic and absolutely a lot of fun. That said I prefer the movement after the final note in the score versus these weird truncated versions.

[@user-cz5mo1lo1t]

Лучше нее никто не спел Анну Болейн

[@jeffreymiller4814]

Donald, was this a Philadelphia Orchestra pension fund gala? She never sang a complete Anna Bolena in Philly. She sang a Lucia with Kraus and a I puritani with Pav for Philadelphia Lyric Opera.

[@Shahrdad]

I think her Baby Doe was miraculous and her Manon and Louise fabulous. This repertoire was a couple of sizes too big for her essentially light voice, which lacked the gravitas and grandiloquence that Anna or Elisabetta demanded. And I felt that she inserted far too many meretricious ornaments and unnecessary high notes which distracted from this music rather than enhanced it; perhaps this was as a compensation for lack of proper weight of voice for these roles. I think she could make the roles work on stage, as she was a very good and intelligent actress, but on recording not so much. On the commercial version of Bolena and Norma, I felt that Verrett sounded much more like the lead than Sills did. Of the three queens, I think she was best suited to Maria Stuarda.

[@crazyorganist1609]

Way too many ornamentation. The melody's is lost. The melody should always be there

[@ransomcoates546]

This is hardly her prime. It is her ‘in decline’ voice. She had no business singing this music, which at no point in her career was meant for her kind of voice.

[@crazyorganist1609]

Of course she didn't. Sutherland did it in her decline but her voice held up bette. Richard ransposed it down for her which was a sensible idea. Not her best byt still she coped better with it better than Sills

[@petelovesbevsills]

@@crazyorganist1609 of course you would know what Beverly should and should NOT have sung. Why she didn't consult with you before she sang or recorded anything and what ornamentation you felt was appropriate for her to use is a complete mystery to me. The melody is staring you in the face but you are so hell-bent on putting in your sills-bashing that you missed it completely.

[@Shahrdad]

I agree with you. Her voice was essentially a light lyrico-coloratura that was best suited to the French rep than the Italian, and I think she herself admitted so. Her Baby Doe was a miracle. Sutherland did the role too late, but I don't think that she could have pulled it off in her prime, as she lacked the long cantilena legato line that so much of Anna's music involves. I think Sills' Queens worked better in the theater, as she was a very good actress, and her acting and stage presence could fill in what the voice was lacking.

[@gergerg]

It’s wonderful but a bit sharp