SHE IS A COLORATURA GODDESS

[@erinmatt]

The extraordinary Beverly Sills. The clarity of her tone, the accuracy and even joy with which she sings her runs, fioritura, and trills, the way her singing seems almost effortless and communicates so clearly - I could weep. There is no one who can sing like that now.

[@marsha831]

She made it look like an effortless walk through Central Park on the way to a picnic - impeccable foundation and tosses out ornamentation as if it was scattering rose petals. So exceptional she veils the technical difficulty. Thank you Babbino!

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

Truly...the whole point is to make it look easy and she mastered this. Modern day opera is missing that. I don't NOT want a total performance, but when the current state of opera is making everything look like everything is full of effort, it's clearly trying to overcompensate for something. I'll bet anything there is someone like her somewhere, but sadly that kind of talent isn't welcome on those stages anymore and hasn't been for a while. And they won't be until opera comes back full circle.

[@vittoriopassanante2601]

You’re so right. With all due respect to young singers, there are NONE who sing the bel canto coloratura repertoire with the ABSOLUTE command of SIlls and Sutherland, nor is there a tenor who can possibly equal Pavarotti. The bel canto legacy these master artists left us has NEVER been equaled in history-as recordings dating back to Caruso and Galli- Gurchi

[@daphnewilson7966]

@@vittoriopassanante2601 Surely you have not heard Fritz Wunderlich. Boy, are you in for a thrill!

[@vittoriopassanante2601]

@@daphnewilson7966 I will keep an open mind Daphne and “take a listen”- as long as he sings in Italian! A dear friend of mine is a conductor for an opera house in Germany- they just produced the bel canto jewel- “Lucia di Lammermoor” in GERMAN! UGHHH! I’m not ethnocentric- when I have the patience and FORTITUDE to listen to Wagner I only want to hear it in German.

[@luizamsalgado]

Unforgetable and divine Beverly Sills. Thank you Babbino !

[@pasqualeperrone1560]

Absolutely adore the way her top notes sound like soft bell tones. Her voice just pops up there with lots of bloom yet delicateness. She had no issue singing the most challenging repertoire.

[@GarthAstrology]

This is one of the first times that the USA got to hear the 1912 version of Zerbinetta's aria,and despite leaving out the 2 F-sharps in alt, Sills totally nails it. This is from a concert performance in Boston from 1968 or 1969. Sills was such a great combination of sterling musicianship, technical virtuosity, musical expressiveness and theatrical veracity.

[@BentonHess]

I had played a couple of rehearsals of this. Beverly was kicking herself for having signed the contract for this before looking at the score. AND she had a cold!!!

[@GarthAstrology]

@@BentonHess I love it. It would have been fine for her in D. Who else at the time do you think could have sung it?

[@BentonHess]

@@GarthAstrology …Colette Boky, perhaps. Mady Mesplé was singing Zerbinetta in those days, and Gruberova not long after.

[@GarthAstrology]

@@BentonHess I was wondering mostly about Boston/NY. Did Boky have the upward extensión for the 1912? Reri Grist might have been able to handle it as well. Gruberova rocks it in 1983.

[@BentonHess]

@@GarthAstrology …I can’t really think of anybody in Boston or NYC who sang this repertoire in those days. Rita Shane sang it, but it wasn’t really her thing. She was a real dramatic coloratura for whom QOTN was perfect. Patricia Brooks sang Zerbinetta once, at the Lake George Opera Festival in 1969. I was the assistant conductor, played all the rehearsals and the piano part in the orchestra. She didn’t really have the Fs, much less the F#s for the original version. But she was enchanting in the part, so nobody really cared or even noticed. Leinsdorf wanted to do this version so badly he could taste it and convinced Beverly it would be perfect for her. But this is not anything like Cleopatra, and certainly nothing like Baby Doe. She signed the contract, then looked at the score. She wanted to kill Leinsdorf!

[@andrewschreiber112]

Absolutely brilliant. She was very much underappreciated in her own time.

[@thomasdeansfineart149]

Everyone I knew adored her. Her Julius Caesar was one of the great performances/ recordings of the era. And there were many other of course

[@Highinsight7]

Back in her day... My Goodness.... what a voice... Her Baby Doe was just OUT OF THIS WORLD...

[@onitasanders7403]

I first heard this aria on KZbin in a 1978 production. Edita Gruberova sang it with such coquettishness, that it brought the aria to life. It was as if this aria was composed with her in mind. It was really great to hear Beverly Sills and Edita Gruberova back to back. Enjoy.

[@kenbarfield9319]

She always seems to be having fun while singing. I still remember her singing “Let the Bright Seraphim” on Johnny Carson. Brought opera/classical music to the masses and had fun doing so. She literally bounced while singing!

[@vittoriopassanante2601]

So do I! And it was wonderful to see Doc Severinsen, accompany Sills, who despite his flashy clothes etc, was a superb musician. You can revisit this wonderful memory on KZbin.

[@clefnoteproductions6695]

There's so much joy and fun in her singing

[@dennischiapello3879]

Incredible accuracy and clarity married with a supple lightness. Excuse my word salad, but I’m trying my best to describe it!

[@d.r.martin6301]

In the mid-60s she came to Duluth, Minnesota to sing in productions of Faust and La Traviata. I got to meet her, chat with her, and get her autograph. And, of course, see the shows. A really fun lady and great singer. "Bubbles" Silverman, right?

[@thedorehendricks8256]

Unthinkable to be expected to perform a piece so difficult!! Only a genius…….a new hat off to Madame Sills!!!!

[@jo-anneclarke7801]

Oh my gosh! Utterly amazing

[@luisjo1962]

The Best

[@riccardo50001]

This is the most interesting and varied performance of this incredibly difficult aria that I've heard. I probably shouldn't probably make a public confession like this, but "Ariadne" was my first (too soon) challenge in the operatic world at a very prestigious university. The music is incredibly sophisticated and difficult and I was cast as the music teacher. All the other cast members were much more experienced than me and I had the first entrance in the opera. I got through it, but it was not much fun. I wish I had had a teacher who had had the sense to dissuade me. i did not come from a location where I could even coach it properly. I had to learn the score completely from recordings. Ugh! I was never too excited by the coloratura aria, though we had fine Zerbinetta. Sills made it interesting and exciting all the way through. I'm glad I saw this because it makes me appreciate the music much more.

[@KarlaMatus79]

Very nice. Thanks for sharing. Beverly was a great coloratura soprano.

[@rdsteyer]

Una Diva de la ópera.

[@noejimenez4406]

!Vaya qué es extraordinaria!.

[@Sacred-Heart-of-Jesus829]

What a gorgeous voice! 😍

[@lindanorris2455]

GORGEOUS!

[@emilcealiscioni5111]

Está persona no es humana, esto que realiza con su voz es "sobrenatural". Extraordinario!!!!!!

[@paulsomers6048]

I heard her do this, the original version of Zerbinetta, with the BSO in Carnegie Hall in 1969. After Ariadne's big aria the audience began to applaud, but conductor Erich Leinsdorf hushed them up with a wave of his hand. After Sills got done with Großmächtige Prinzessin, he turned to the audience and let them know that NOW was the time to applaud, which they did for many minutes!

[@stephaniecarrow4898]

Many years ago, a musician friend told me that the voice is also an instrument. Never has that been more clear to me than in this performance. Truly astonishing.

[@patrickgomes2213]

Oh, definitely.

[@tabarro1877]

Stunning! And great fun!

[@annhicks7127]

Amazing agility!

[@thomasmiles340]

This was in fact THE American premiere of the original version, broadcast on WGBH in Boston in January 1969. The complete performance is available on DVD. I remember thinking that Sills and Leinsdorf didn't have a lot of rapport with each other, but he seemed to love Claire Watson (Ariadne). On the complete recording of the original version conducted by Kent Nagano, Sumi Jo is Zerbinetta. Thanks for providing this, and Cheers!

[@carlberg7503]

One word sums up Leinssdorf as a conductor: boring.

[@poturbg8698]

@@carlberg7503 you should familiarize yourself with some of his live performances from the 1970s, such as the fantastic Tchaikovsky 5😂 with BSO and a Mahler 5😂 with Chicago from 1978.

[@sanfordpress8943]

A great woman

[@shirleyanne6573]

Imho, sang the loveliest version of Ruhe Sanft, Mein Holdes Leben

[@desperatehell]

È Beverly Sills che canta l'aria di Zerbinetta "Grossmächtige Prinzessin" dall'Ariadne Auf Naxos di Richard Strauss. Un'aria acrobatica e tutt'altro che facile. Ricordiamo, per quest'aria, anche le bravissime Mady Mesplé e Natalie Dessay, superbe Zerbinetta, a cui la grandissima Beverly Sills non ha niente da invidiare.

[@sergiosanchezsanchez8712]

Las 3 mas espectaculares son: Roberta Peters, Beverly Sills y Edita Gruberova

[@desperatehell]

@@sergiosanchezsanchez8712 la ringrazio per la sua risposta, ma se posso darle un consiglio ascolti bene Mady Mesplé in questo ruolo.

[@sergiosanchezsanchez8712]

Gracias. Si, tengo en CD de EMI el aria de Mesplé y lo canta maravillosamente (al igual que lo maravillosamente, Dessay) Pero, en mi humilde opinión, Las 3 más espectaculares ("casi inhumanas"de sublimes) son mis 3 mencionadas.Y en especial, Roberta Peters, que lo borda a la perfección.👌🏻(Recording Studio Decca).

[@desperatehell]

@@sergiosanchezsanchez8712 grazie mille per il suo contributo. Certamente, Roberta Peters é stata una grandissima cantante. Non conosco il cd della Recording Studio Decca che lei ha citato, ma avrò, sicuramente, il piacere di sentirlo. Grazie per il consiglio.

[@eva4adam451]

Realy godess of coloratura

[@johnpickford4222]

She is sing the original version of Zerbinetta’s aria from Richard Strauss’ ARIADNE AUF NAXOS which is available in VAI video from which this taken.

[@Feisenbach]

I wonder why she chose to sing that version when it was out of her range...? She would have been great in the more traditional version.

[@Roheryn100]

@@Feisenbach How is she NOT great here ?

[@Feisenbach]

@@Roheryn100 She has to leave out the highest notes. She wouldn't have had to do so if she had sung the second and more traditional version.

[@quequitoAR]

@@Feisenbach she left two notes out and you consider the whole aria out her range? A couple of names who kept singing "out of range" roles through their whole careers come to my mind. And top famous also...

[@Feisenbach]

@@quequitoAR I know she's not the only one who has made a peculiar choice now and then. I just still find it a bit strange that she didn't stick with the other version, now that there ARE two versions to choose between. That one would have been more comfortable for her in general. But if you like it, fine by me!

[@william-michaelcostello7776]

I remember this well. In the 60‘s, Leinsdorf/ Boston Symphony at Symphony Hall

[@leighbesstoad]

One of the great tragedies was that Sir Rudolph Bing kept her from singing at the Met just because she was a star at NYCO. He was a pompous fool at times (I can't imagine how he'd react to having broadway stars singing at the Met like now, and Met stars on Broadway). It wasn't until he was gone that she made her long deserved debut. It should have happened decades earlier.

[@vittoriopassanante2601]

Bing was a pompous, egotistical ass. But Beverly got her revenge- as her friend Carol Burnett so aptly put it: “Beverly did NOT make her debut at the Met- the Met made its debut WITH BEVERLY!”

[@ranabhattacharyya9991]

Joy!!

[@siegfriedenea]

Remember that all the aria during 14 minute … this is only the end!

[@aaronmalone7065]

Note perfect. Dead accurate intonation, easy all the way to the very top, and it was so bright that it could cut right though dense orchestration. In her prime she was unmatched, by anyone before or since.

[@jimbuxton2187]

Aaron... that high E natural was not that easy! She was wonderful though..

[@walterwynn3562]

Makes it so easy....

[@Shahrdad]

I think this is before she started pushing her voice into the heavier roles where it never belonged. This along with the French roles such as Manon and Louise were where her voice belonged. Her Baby Doe is still unmatched.

[@tttd904]

The best of Zebinetta’s aria with the original rendition in 1912!!

[@rickcabral6226]

Try to find a copy of her performance as the Queen in RK's Golden Cockerel. Short but sweet.

[@wotan10950]

By sheer coincidence, I saw Sills on a tv show in the early-70s. I bought tix to see The Three Queens, quite a start for a complete newbie to opera. I adore her still, although I acknowledge that her forays into heavy dramatic roles shortened her career - a lot. FWIW, tapes and videos don’t do her any justice; like many singers, her voice needed the space of a big auditorium to expand and unfurl. She sounded much bigger and warmer in the theater.

[@smurf902]

This is a different version for all those thinking what is she doing? Higher and longer

[@eugenewindchy417]

I remember "Rinso White"

[@johnpickford4222]

Eugene Windchy: Then, no offense, your hair, if you have any, has been ‘rinsoed’ white by now!!!🥸

[@eugenewindchy417]

It's white, though I never used Rinso@@johnpickford4222

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

My opera IDOL 😍 Everyone goes nuts about Callas being the gold standard for acting in opera, but honestly? Bubbles was just as good. She clearly had fun no matter what she sang, whereas Callas never would have sung something she'd consider 'fluffy', she was very much about drama rather than fun or comedy, which isn't a bad thing...but I think that what made Bubbles just as good if not better than Callas acting wise. She could sing Violetta and move you to tears one day, and sing this charming and fun ditty the next and entertain the hell out of you.

[@PanayiotisVyras]

Callas could sing everything with her soul, whether dramatic or funny! Listen to Violetta and Butterfly, then Rosina and Turco in Italia. Not to mention Kundry, Valkure, Lady McBeth...

[@jenniferhiemstra5228]

@@PanayiotisVyras I guess I don't agree. I always got the vibe that Callas didn't enjoy singing the comedies for some reason. Can't really explain why, but drama was clearly her wheelhouse.

[@windstorm1000]

Amen!

[@allenjones3130]

Beverly sang this number magnificently. If I didn't know that Richard Strauss was the composer, I could have sworn this selection had been written by Donizetti or Bellini!

[@ericwierzbinski4993]

Well...listen to Bellini or Donizetti one more time.

[@purisermonisamator]

@@ericwierzbinski4993 Bravo, Eric! And I would advise our friend Allen not to limit himself to one time!

[@coloraturaElise]

Hey, Allen, as a coloratura soprano who has sung Donizetti, Bellini, and Strauss, I can tell you that Strauss if FAR more difficult to sing, primarily because of the constant harmonic shifts in the music. In the other 2 composers, you can be singing a pretty simple chord progression, which means that the scales, arpeggios, and other embellishments are all in just a few keys. For instance, if you're in Bb, you'll sing Bb scales, F scales, and a few others. You and your listeners have time to process what you're singing because you sit on the same chords for a while. BUT Strauss changes chords constantly---he gives you very little time on one chord, so you might sing an E scale for 2 beats, then A, then C, then Db....I mean, the changes are quicksilver, and hard to hear for that reason. And he often uses unexpected changes, so what you thought was going to be the next chord is NOT. As the singer, not only do you have to hear the changes, but you have to sing them clearly IN TUNE, so the listener also hears them. Nothing against Donizetti or Bellini (my voice loves Donizetti the best of all composers), but Strauss is a BEAST to sing!

[@jimbuxton2187]

@@coloraturaElise ....right! This aria is really almost A tonal!

[@maiamamulashvili315]

🌺🌹🌷🌺🌹🌺🌹🌺

[@jimbuxton2187]

Insane ! She leaves out two f#'s and cuts out a high sustained section at the end... and I don't blame her at all! You'd really have to have the Bb above high c to have a reliable F#. Beverly could vocalize to G. I've always loved her voice and musicianship.

[@jordipanadesribera6890]

❤️

[@chevogliadiprenderlo8134]

Che dea!

[@terryrivas9815]

Rip

[@meltzerboy]

Zerbinetta's aria is the supreme test for the coloratura soprano, and the original version by Strauss no less. Another performance of note is that of Maria Ivogun, but Sills is no doubt brilliant in this music.

[@markgrabowski8662]

Is this her hair or a wig, well it must be her voice!?

[@tamerlano]

The hair is hers.

[@Nunofurdambiznez]

The greatest there was, is and EVER WILL BE, forever and ever, amen!!!! SO much better than that over-powering amazonian trumpet from down under that only has one good attribute, she can sing over any orchestra because she only knows one volume - LOUD! This goddess, however, is beyond spectacular!

[@magnacarta740]

Goddess of screeching 😮😮😮

[@liedersanger1]

Not at all.

[@marialuisaibarretxegoiria925]

But, who is this soprano , please ? Thanks.

[@MonsieurLu77]

Beverly Sills

[@marialuisaibarretxegoiria925]

@@MonsieurLu77 Thanks a lot, sir.

[@marialuisaibarretxegoiria925]

Thanks , since now I know who is she. ♥️

[@MonsieurLu77]

@@marialuisaibarretxegoiria925 She was superb.

[@quickwillies]

Oh, my child, she was obviously before your time; but she was the goddess of her day, and any opera house in which she sang was her temple where we went to worship.

[@patrickgomes2213]

Amazing that for so many years of her career, she didn't perform at the Met. I know she did eventually, but it was a long time coming. Did Bing really hold that much of a grudge against her? If so, that's a pettiness "worthy" of grand opera. Not justified, of course, but "worthy." That is to say, it's a grand pettiness.

[@FCOLAXCDG]

❤️🇱🇨

[@Leamichellefan2244]

Who is this angel please?

[@CwjrB3]

Beverly Sills. One of the greatest to ever sing coloratura.

[@Leamichellefan2244]

@@CwjrB3 she’s one of my favorites.

[@CwjrB3]

@@Leamichellefan2244 lol. Same. Everyone worships Joan. Which is understandable but Beverly is more my taste.

[@Leamichellefan2244]

@@CwjrB3 I don’t have anything against against Sutherland if that’s what you’re talking about. She’s good but I’m like you I prefer Beverly know if you want to talk about Calais then we might agree to disagree because I’m sorry I just can’t get into her. oh sorry, I meant if you want to talk about Maria Callas, that we might agree to disagree because I don’t like her.

[@CwjrB3]

@@Leamichellefan2244 No I’m not bashing Sutherland. I think she was good too but Beverly is just more my style. I actually like Callas. But to hear her voice at its best the earliest recordings are best. Yet with that said the latter version of callas was still wildly talented. She just couldn’t fulfill the flawless standards she was capable of because of poor technical habits vocally. It was sad to watch such a talent suffer in her personal and career life.

[@Highinsight7]

Notice... she has warmth and purity on every vowel... her sound is sensational EVERYWHERE... so many of today's high sopranos... all have a NASTY edge... that's just gross... tooo much vibrato... and often toooo dark, covered and forces... I hear it all the time...

[@szkotnickibruno6337]

J'adore Beverly mais il faut admettre qu'il manque quelques notes suraiguës et que certaines ne sont pas du plus bel effet. Ma référence reste toujours Edita Gruberova dans ce rôle. La voici probablement au summum de sa carrière : kzbin.info/www/bejne/nonapXSXf96hn6M

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

The popularity of Sills and Sutherland did little to help younger coloraturas develop their careers. Beverly Hoch was one who finally achieved some recognition and success.

[@orthohawk1026]

Oh, Miss Hoch deserved much more recognition than she got!

[@ioannismaroudas8806]

The piece is devilishly difficult and I do not want to be an as#$^%$^e but she makes a few mistakes .....1:35 .....

[@IceAintNice]

I don’t want to be an a#%hole…. But I will be anyway. 🙄🙄🙄

[@ioannismaroudas8806]

@@IceAintNice 💗💗💗💗

[@ioannismaroudas8806]

Just Listen and Compare >>>>>>>>> kzbin.info/www/bejne/g4apn3R_jMZ5kMk kzbin.info/www/bejne/eqizXmiKhs-ohdE

[@ioannismaroudas8806]

30 years later !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! > kzbin.info/www/bejne/jXqtqYZqq8imgKc

[@ioannismaroudas8806]

kzbin.info/www/bejne/pXS0mJucmKl3qck

[@ioannismaroudas8806]

I love Beverly Sills especially in Roberto Devereux but Edita will be always the perfect Zerbinetta....

[@nonenoneonenonenone]

Strauss should have known far better, as a composer. I find this piece unlistenable. So much excess, no balance.

[@coloraturaElise]

Strauss was using the music to illustrate the text and Zerbinetta's character. It seems to me he accomplished that goal!

[@henkiealgarve5909]

i prefere maria callas. much better

[@tttd904]

Did Callas ever sing this aria?? Her voice for Zerbinetta would be very exciting

[@kimdreyer4970]

​@@tttd904 Unless she sang it in the shower or in the practice room, then no, Callas most definitely did not perform this. While Callas, at her peak, did have a strong technique and a high E natural, I think the high tessitura of this role would have been uncomfortable for her. I also imagine Callas the actress would have found the role of Zerbinetta lacking in substance. That said, the whole Callas vs Sutherland vs Sills thing is odd to me - let's just say that we are lucky to have all three, each wonderful in their own right, to compare and enjoy.

[@johnpickford4222]

henkie algarve: You are not very smart. Callas NEVER sang in ARIADNE AUF NAXOS or in German so how could prefer her in something that she never sang?

[@davidmayhew8083]

Not Me!!!

[@magnusjakopsohn7824]

Callas was certainly not better. Different and amazing but not better. Neither was Sutherland. When it comes to technique and accuracy in Thrills and speed, no one beats Sills. Thomas Schippers called her the fastest voice alive and that's was true. All three ladies was amazing in their own way with their own specialties. Callas was a great musician, Sutherland had a big voice but not always correct in the execution of the coloraturas but still awesome. Sills had a smaller voice but an unbeatable technique. What she does not one of the others could do. The Maria Stuarda Pregheria is a great example of that. She does it slower and holds the crescendo for first 21 seconds then 17. Impeccable taste and amazing technique. Like someone said, let's be Lucky for all three of those astonishing Ladies.