Beverly Sills summons her Entire Coloratura Arsenal and causes Pandemonium

[@lamiremilamila]

E viva BUBBLE ...! Les Huguenots de Meyerbeer.

[@mariarosacortes3857]

😊

[@worththepriceofadmission5546]

"My voice had a long, nonstop career. It deserves to be put to bed with quiet and dignity, not yanked out every once in a while to see if it can still do what it used to do. It can't." Beverly Sills She will never be replaced!

[@artdanks4846]

Thank goodness we can yank out her recordings and still listen to her phenomenal voice!

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

I could so imagine her saying that - thanks for sharing that lovely bit of Bubbles memorabilia!🙂

[@derherrvonhabenichts7462]

Beverly Sills' musical pedigrée is impressive: Student of Estelle Liebling, who studied with Mathilde Marchesi, who taught Melba, Eames and Calvé among many others, and was herself student and assistant to Manuel Garcia II!

[@siegfriedderheld7806]

I was very fortunate to have heard her sing Cleopatra and Elizabeth I as the New York City opera often visited Los Angeles. She was very gracious and friendly back stage. I don’t think her instrument recorded as well as other singers. But in the opera house, she electrified audiences, as she does here. Thanks for posting these!

[@mrkiplingreallywasanexceed8311]

5.50 is like a butterfly alighting on a flower. 10.50 to 11.20 is like a laser show. Truly outstanding. When I hear these voices from the past (which they inevitably are), it allows one to keep appreciating the world as it is not as you might wish it......

[@kagitsune]

I like how this clip shows that a coloratura can be warm and comforting, instead of just shrill and robotic. Thank you as usual, Lohengrin!

[@chesterfieldking2967]

It tickles the ear; it pierces the heart. Bless you for posting.

[@DavidTucker-x5y]

Beautiful voice and excellent coloratura and control ❤❤

[@davidallen3687]

Incredible! She made the cabeletta her own, as she often did. Never, ever disappoints. A wonderful singer, described as 'America's favourite colorotura soprano'! Easy to get her CDs in England.

[@shicoff1398]

Sadly the English press I've read, rather did not like her well done Lucia in the early 1970's, perhaps because it was a Sutherland specialty and Sills was an American.

[@davidallen3687]

I'm not sure if that's true, but anyone who would loved coloratura sopranos would love this!

[@shicoff1398]

​@@davidallen3687 Some just make up false facts, but I listened to Sills Lucia (in I think it was 1971 London) it's live from there, London Covent Garden and on you tube, and I read in a reply on that post, that the English critics did not give her very good reviews and one person mentioned that Sutherland was a huge favorite there at Covet Garden in the role, so Sills singing there in that role was the reason for a mediocre review, which I did not see, but I must say IMO she sounded very good in that London Performance I heard on you tube, I don't know if it was just one performance or not, I've not checked the London archives for that, but all the Sills trills and high notes where wonderful and she sang the role with great emotion, warmth and good diction, so even if she was more famous and successful in some other roles, she still was one of the best in Lucia, yes I've seen Sutherland sing it many times from 1961 on (in Chicago with both Bergonzi and Tucker ) and years later, many more times with Pav. and Kraus, saw JS in concerts also in Calif. etc. JS kept her prime really very well and for a long time, I saw Sills also in concerts and opera's, from Baby Doe in 1969-70, on and in concerts in Calif. and other opera's did not see her Lucia , saw her also very early as I've said often in Chicago's Grant park around 1968 in opera, and IMO I enjoyed her over most any Coloratura, I saw most all of them, saw Callas when she was a bit past it, so I cannot say , but Sills was more a Callas type in her singing and acting then a Sutherland type, of course she did not sound anything like Callas, both where unique in sound.

[@augustovalenca796]

Astounding. A truckload of notes... and the whole thing is delivered with her usual panache and purposeful, buoyant mastery of musical phrasing. Thank you Lohengrin O for yet another gem.

[@LohengrinO]

2 tones of coloratura

[@kgarmaker123]

@@LohengrinO Its perfect singing too.

[@DavidTucker-x5y]

Beautiful voice excellent coloratura ❤

[@jjh2456]

Now Beverly had some the most precise coloratura runs ever recorded or heard. Whether going up or down you heard every single note and an knew when she was trilling.

[@vittoriopassanante2601]

La Fenomena had the BEST trills in the business. In French coloratura opera, NOBODY- not even Pons, Callas or Sutherland could touch her! As a child I knew her, she was funny, warm and maternal. She sometimes made me potato latkes which were yummy. I also knew (causally) La Divina, but Callas never dropped the “diva” persona, while being with Beverly was like being with one’s favorite auntie.

[@perdelacruz7123]

Her French Opera arias was the first opera recording I ever listened to in the 1970s. I was hooked, went to live in NY, and spent many nights at the NY City Opera listening to her. Lovely and unforgettable memories.

[@vittoriopassanante2601]

@@perdelacruz7123 OMG! What an incredible story and journey you had! That you were so LUCKY-FORTUNATE-BLESSED (take your pick) that you got to witness La Fenomena at the peak of her powers in groundbreaking productions NEVER equaled. Sadly my family left N.Y. making it impossible for me to have an experience like yours. But I did see her in La Fille du Régiment at The Tufts University gymnasium (Yes, GYMNASIUM!). The cuckoo clock fiasco brought the house down, I’ll never forget it… or HER

[@naapurinnorrponarri3944]

Beverly...❤️❤️❤️

[@ramonmontedeoca2879]

Maravilloso timbre de voz limpio y con un color parejo y una técnica admirable. El placer de escucharla es de asombrar. Queremos más de esto POR FAVOR.

[@ef7952]

FYI, La Sills, had just gotten back to the States from her La Scala debut and those astounding performances in L'Assedio di Corinto, promptly did the Ed Sullivan Show, another television special for Camera Three on CBS, and then capped it with her Carnegie Hall performance here! And then turned right around and flew to London to record this on her "Scenes and Arias From French Opera "LP, along with the complete commercial recording of Roberto Devereux!

[@polemius01]

Was this a complete "Les Huguenots" or a concert of opera excerpts?

[@ef7952]

@@polemius01 The full opera in concert form

[@polemius01]

@@ef7952 Thanks. I wish I had attended that night.

[@ef7952]

@@polemius01 Beverly was magical that night. it is available on KZbin.

[@tristanhnl]

@@ef7952 ,can you provide the link to that performance, please? =]

[@JoanBette]

The cadenza duet with the flute is simply unbelievable!! Wow!

[@maxchodos7256]

I was fortunate to have been in the ensemble for a number of her performances at San Diego Opera. My first Opera I was standing right next to her as she sang Casta Diva in Norma. I'll never forget it.

[@moirbasso7051]

Ditto, Mordechai! Though my operas with her were Traviata, Merry Widow, and that amazing Fledermaus with Sutherland!

[@maxchodos7256]

@@moirbasso7051 Don't forget Juana la Loca. And weren't you in Don Pasquale?

[@moirbasso7051]

@@maxchodos7256 oh, duh!

[@artdanks4846]

San Diego Opera was where I saw Sills as well. First in Daughter of the Regiment, then in Norma! What a thrill!

[@maxchodos7256]

@@artdanks4846 I was in Both.

[@Cor6196]

Great God almighty! Or Goddess! Surely this is beyond all human possibility! And the ease, the nearly matter-of-fact ease, as if she were singing Row, Row, Row the Boat in the shower! How many heart attacks accompanied the applause? How could the show possibly go on when the earth itself stopped spinning and all the angels in heaven put down their harps and never dared pick them up again? Thank you, Lohengrin!

[@markpettis2896]

Thank you so much Lohengrin for posting this I was shocked that I recognize the opera at the very beginning! What a beautiful aria and Beverly Sill is the best😘

[@SarahBertaglia]

Incredible singing! And, it was live!

[@sarahfleiss]

She looks so gorgeous in that portrait .. what an immortal joy

[@LohengrinO]

I always try in the photos I choose for the singers to look at their most Beautiful

[@eberlinpascal2837]

Le rôle de Marguerite de Valois est vraiment fait pour elle car l'écriture musicale en est si difficile ,que Sills peut y déployer à merveille sa fabuleuse technique de coloratura .En plus d'une diction française impeccable .Du grand art !!

[@valeriemontourcy9889]

Je n'ai pas compris un seul mot de ce qu'elle chante ! Dommage car très belle technique colorature

[@BradHoover-m1i]

One of my all-time favorites.

[@pauls.9228]

When singers could sing! Incredible.

[@Edeskenney]

I’m so happy I got to hear her in Boston.

[@rk100364]

Dang, the crowd gave her a rather lukewarm reception at the end... NOT. What it must be like to receive that kind of applause!

[@renzo6490]

Just a pedantic note... a reception doesn't come at the end.

[@rk100364]

are you sure? the action or process of receiving something sent, given, or inflicted: "the reception of impulses from other neurons" · [more] synonyms: receipt · receiving · getting · acceptance · recipience the way in which a person or group of people reacts to someone or something: "the proposal continued to get a lukewarm reception on Wall Street" synonyms: response · reaction · treatment · acknowledgment · recognition

[@chocolatesouljah]

@@rk100364Agreed!

[@sarolta101]

BEVERLY FOREVER LOVE.

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

Astonishing as always in her prime. Thanks for posting! Hadn’t heard this before - what an unrelenting scene :)

[@LohengrinO]

more sugar? sorry! more coloratura?

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

@@LohengrinO I don’t get it!

[@jjvd01]

Nadie como la Sills, reina entre las reinas! GRACIASSSSSS X TUS VIDEOS!

[@delibeslakme6451]

Una enorme soprano ligera de bellísimo timbre....

[@florence775]

To me she was and will always be the very best bar none.

[@carlosgustavorubio1332]

MAGNIFICA!!! Rest in Pace, Divina!

[@Mawrdew]

Holy moly! The chromatic scales are mind-boggling.

[@jmiller05]

I think Sills was unbeatable in this rep. I never found her convincing in the dramatic Italian roles but here she sings with an almost hallucinatory effect. Those beautifully glassy messa di voces.

[@gregorywiederecht]

She was amazing in French music!

[@Jameseus18]

I always thought this was her best rep. Do you think she is better than Sutherland in this role?

[@jmiller05]

@@Jameseus18 Definitely more musical than Sutherland's, who knows what she was singing in most of these high coloratura roles because her husband added so much superficial crap. Not that Sills was a master of taste either but I find her ornaments and interpolations more expressive somehow. And yes, her voice was absolutely perfect for the french repertoire. It suited her middle voice much, which was very glassy and translucent unlike Italian opera which requires a lot more weight and punch in the middle.

[@Jameseus18]

@@jmiller05 Yeah I would have to agree with that statement. The worst offender that springs to mind was the extra staccato nonsense he added in Taccea la notte in Il Trovatore in the Sutherland studio recording. What on earth was he thinking? I understand what you mean. Her ornaments and interpolations in L'assedio di Corinto are out of this world whereas I find the say the ornaments in I Puritani -on the repeat of the mad scene cabaletta for instance - loses the original melody too much. When I first started listening to Sills I was only only really listening to her bel canto readings and thought she had no middle voice but when she sings the french rep it is in full effect and suits the music like a glove so I agree with you on that. I think it was he recording of the Mignon aria which impressed me the most when I first heard it. Middle voice, effortless coloratura and attacks the E flat at the end with zero scooping and all of it is in the original score as well. Out of interest, who would you say has recorded the best rendition of Ophelia's mad scene from Hamlet between Sills and Sutherland?

[@josephalexandergemmell9979]

thank you! for this post. sills sounds GREAT!

[@LohengrinO]

She is in her prime here...

[@naapurinnorrponarri3944]

@@LohengrinO I think she is always in her prime👍🏻👍🏻

[@Ruffiello]

Incredible singing!

[@fan2jnrc]

Oh my God. Sills in "Ô beau pays de la Touraine", something Meyerbeer could definitely have composed just for her. Of course it works well 🤩

[@raybercse1]

The flexibility that Sills possessed was a marvel. Is this from the Carnegie Hall performance of Les Huguenots that also included the wonderful Angeles Gulin as Valentine.

[@highbaritone]

It's wonderful people love this. This is my bedtime story. ❤️👍

[@ЕленаМишукова-э4я]

Бриллиант!!

[@fabriziogarzi9892]

L'accuratezza e finezza dell'esecuzione fa la Grande!

[@rugby8-Philadelphia]

How freakin Awesome!!!! 😊😊😊

[@LohengrinO]

I think she tried to surpass dame Joan here... and she succeeded

[@dramaturge231]

I actually coincidentally dreamed last night that I met her!!!

[@LohengrinO]

was she young? good looking?

[@dramaturge231]

@@LohengrinO Ummmm...60’s-70’s? Normal?

[@LohengrinO]

@@dramaturge231 it means a lot the way u see a dead person

[@dramaturge231]

@@LohengrinO In what way?

[@purtigodo]

Did she notice ?

[@UMVELINQANGI]

Spectacular!

[@loralayons1120]

Formidable! Oh Belle, tu es véritablement belle.

[@polemius01]

Saw her at NYCO as Cleopatra, Lucia & Elisabetta ("Devereaux"). So sad that the company is no longer at the "New York State Theater." But, I would never attend a performance at the Koch Theater, no matter who was performing, even New York City Ballet.

[@Tatiana-yp2bk]

Thank you for this discovery. Never heard of her before.

[@luanllluan]

That was INSANE

[@antonioalhais8150]

Fantastica!!!!

[@albertovelez-grilo3967]

Amazing!

[@sethtack2955]

OH MY LORD

[@BellaFirenze]

Ô beau pays de la Touraine! Riants jardins, verte fontaine, Doux ruisseau qui murmure à peine Que sur tes bords j'aime à rêver... Belles forêts, sombre feuillage, Cachez-moi bien sous votre ombrage, Et que la foudre ou que l'orage Jusqu'à moi ne puisse arriver! Raison austère, Humeur sévère, Ne règnent guère Dans notre cour! Sous mon empire, On ne respire Que pour sourire Au dieu d'Amour. Amour...! Amour...! Oui, déjà la fauvette Dans les airs le répète, Et des tendres ramiers les sons mélodieux Se perdent en mourant sur les flots amoureux. Sombre folie Ou pruderie, Soyez bannie De notre cour! Sous notre empire, On ne respire Que pour sourire Au dieu d'Amour. Ô beau pays de la Touraine! Riants jardins, verte fontaine, Doux ruisseau qui murmure à peine Que sur tes bords j'aime à rêver... Oui, je veux chaque jour Aux échos d'alentour Redire nos refrains d'amour: Écoutez ... Écoutez ... Les échos d'alentour Ont appris nos refrains d'amour. À ce mot seul s'anime et renaît la nature, Les oiseaux l'ont redit sous l'épaisse verdure; Le ruisseau le répète avec un doux murmure; Les ondes, la terre et les cieux Redisent nos chants amoureux.

[@davidmolina7543]

I’ve always said that sills was in the shadows of Sutherland however it should’ve been the other way around sills in my opinion had a sweeter voice and a more precise and agile technique brava.

[@LohengrinO]

have u heard what Horne said to Sills once? I much prefer dame Joan to YOU! and Sills replied: So do I!

[@felipehiemstra4478]

Can't stand Sutherland

[@LohengrinO]

@@felipehiemstra4478 love her... they were all Superhuman

[@greatmomentsofopera7170]

@@LohengrinO why would Horne say that? Bitchy! When did she say it? Perfect response though.

[@baritonebynight]

@@greatmomentsofopera7170 That's not quite the comment if you read Sills autobiography.

[@aetion]

Καταπληκτική κολορατούρα! Να είσαι καλά, φίλε.

[@LohengrinO]

500 κιλά κολορατούρα...

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

Huge.

[@edwardseymour4930]

...wow!

[@FotografoMuscle737]

pure merveille ... brava, arcibrava !!!

[@tonio7367]

re is no other than SILLS American Diva

[@marshmallow3253]

Where was this performed?

[@johnfitzpatrick6544]

It must have been a great sadness to her that her daughter was born deaf. Sometimes fate is so cruel.

[@juanmorales569]

This is pretty astonishing regardless of whether you want to compare it to anybody else's rendition or simply appreciate it for the marvel that it is. Does anyone know the date of this performance? Just curious. Thank you again Lohengrin.

[@petelovesbevsills]

69-05-14 Meyerbeer Huguenots Marguerite New York NY, Carnegie Hall Gulin, Kay Creed, Tony Poncet, Justino Diaz Reynald Giovaninetti Sills' first appearance in New York after her La Scala debut

[@juanmorales569]

@@petelovesbevsills thank you for the information that’s very kind of you. I had actually forgotten about this question. Sills was a remarkable talent.

[@petelovesbevsills]

@@juanmorales569You are most welcome. Beverly was remarkable and is sorely missed.

[@johnthomas1686]

SPECTACULAR!!!!!!!!!! What year and where was this recorded?

[@ctmagnus760]

WOW!

[@manuelc.3286]

Superbe!!!!!

[@fclpjg]

Another singer much missed...

[@Pallasathena-hv4kp]

Pipes and pneuma ❤❤❤

[@dennischiapello3879]

I've never heard cheering like that outside a sports stadium! By the way, where was this performance?

[@cz2165]

Could you post the same aria with Sutherland and others so we can compare?

[@LohengrinO]

dame Joan's is all over youtube I think I have posted it as well in the past

[@artdanks4846]

@@LohengrinO I STILL can't say which I prefer on this aria! Both are amazing!!

[@4qwe4rty]

Please tell which opera was that. What a phenomenal performance

[@j.markbaker2172]

Les Huguenots by Giacomo Meyerbeer. Premiere: Paris, 1836.

[@topherv4229]

@@j.markbaker2172 Thank you.

[@smtaz7631]

👏👏👏👏👏👏👏

[@markdarenvillanueva7740]

over cadenza

[@mao1878]

I think her and Corelli would have been an even better match and blast than him and Sutherland 🤭 On a funny note I think their French together would have been just as “bad” as Sutherland’s diction in pretty much anything 😅😬

[@512gontran]

Every soprano is difficult to understand in the high part of the voice but, as a french man, I can assure you that Sills's french was quite good and clear.

[@mao1878]

@@512gontran yes but still one can always understand where she came from ( American)..also the same went for Sutherland’s pronunciation which was just as bad in English too ( very strange..). On the other hand there were some artists who had a much better diction in languages who weren’t their native mother tongues ( Callas, Ponselle, Zeani just to mention some)

[@gokouson180]

@@mao1878 I would have to agree with 512gontran. Her French is excellent. Have you heard Callas giving interviews in French? She didn't have the accent of a native speaker. So she suddenly had better diction when she sang?

[@mao1878]

@@gokouson180 Callas french? Are you kidding me? Ofcourse she didn’t have the accent of a native speaker.. because she wasn’t one, but her diction ( slightly something different than the accent ;)) was impeccable! Let’s leave Callas and her French ( spoken or sung) away, especially since she also lived in Paris for quite a number of years so she was speaking it daily. Unlike the others ;) Diction is a certain care for the spoken word, for the phrasing itself, no matter of what /how the music goes. There are artists who one understands no matter how high or low they sing or what the volume/outage is. One of them was Callas, another was DiStefano..just examples. Other had better and worse days and better and worse languages ( one of them was Corelli.. whose French and even Italian had troubles over the years- his lisp years?!).

[@gokouson180]

@@mao1878 You were the one who brought up accents when you disparaged hers by saying "one can always understand where she came from ( American)." So now it's not about accents but diction. Well other people seem to be comprehending her singing just fine. Also it's "I think SHE and Corelli...", "and blast (what?? blast??) than HE and Sutherland", "in languages THAT weren't their native tongue (native mother tongue is redundant)".

[@mosesa.3386]

I love the titles of these videos lol. Make a mock one of Netrebko and her terrible singing. Id title it “Netrebko 🐽 invokes the powers of the underground sewer systems and spews out her usual vocal garbage.”😹😹🐽

[@LohengrinO]

well I dont make negative posts... (plus Netrebko in her prime was not that bad... very few singers I find ridiculous in my mind deserving to be mocked that much)

[@rugby8-Philadelphia]

Unnecessary, and mean-spirited

[@blackkguyga]

@@LohengrinO 👌🏿❤👌🏿

[@CarlosLopez-zc3xb]

Why trash talk Netrebko when this video has absolutely nothing to do with her?

[@Porn05Mouth]

This made me spit my coffee out. 😂😂😂😂. Poor Trebs. She’s really wrecked her voice.

[@operafan9162]

Oh my God her cadenzas never ends ... tasteless

[@LohengrinO]

they are a bit TOO much but from a musical point of view not out of the spirit... the aim here I think was to surpass dame Joan

[@ThomasDawkins88]

Who said anything about taste? This is intended as an "if you've got it, flaunt it" vehicle for the prima donna, and Sills proved beyond a doubt that she very definitely had it!

[@jmiller05]

A lot of Meybeer's music was stupid anyway. Beautiful, yes, but often expressively stupid.

[@stavrosanthias7876]

One man’s meat is another man’s poison! 😄 For me, this is absolute perfection. 👌🏻

[@randywolfgang4943]

Sills is SO much better than Sutherland here. Better trill, diction and a femininity totally lacking from Sutherland

[@Romper566]

Why compare them at all? They were each glorious in their own right! The real tragedy, and getting back to the original comment, was as DavidAsset78 said, Rudolph Bing's decision to keep Sills out to the Met in her prime! That was a catastrophic decision on his behalf, not to mention a loss to the world of Opera!

[@sergiosanchezsanchez8712]

👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻Beverly Sills: Soprano perfecta...en aria ideal perfecta👌🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻👏🏻❤️👍🏻

[@stefanodallasen796]

La Sutherland non riesce mai ad esprimere sentimenti. È quindi più adatta a ruoli astratti ma alla fine risulta noiosa proprio perché non convince emotivamente. Cosa che la Callas sapeva fare anche con la voce a brandelli. E così la Sills

[@juliogonzalezcampayo3201]

Sills demuestra que no ha habido una virtuosa como ella... y de paso evidencia lo vacua y aburrida que es la música de Meyerbeer.

[@richardrodriguez5359]

The beginning was great but Sadly she doesn’t surpass Sutherland in the slightest. I wish she would have avoided all these embellishments, kinda takes away from the aria and her amazing voice.

[@LohengrinO]

what aria? absolutely no aria in either dame Joan's or Bev's rendition... this is classic 100 kilos of coloratura as a vehicle for the Virtuoso Soprano Coloratura... and it is quite a legitimate response by Bev because dame Joan says in an interview that the composers allowed the singers to overload their arias with embellishments...

[@rugby8-Philadelphia]

@@LohengrinO Exactly!!!

[@skipnyc]

@@LohengrinO Sutherland couldn't do those embellishments.

[@arcot9]

Are you nuts?! It’s not meant to surpass Sutherland ! You sould try to enjoy this brilliant rendition.

[@Porn05Mouth]

Sutherland always sounded like she was singing with a mouthful of mashed potatoes. 🥔

[@feeniix6]

Legend