
tic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland
as the leading bel canto
stylist.
Although she sang a repertoire from Handel
and Mozart
to Puccini
, Massenet
, Wagner
, and Verdi
, she was known for her performances in coloratura soprano
roles in live opera and recordings. Sills was largely associated with the operas of Donizetti
, of which she performed and recorded many roles.
Art is the signature of civilizations.
There are no shortcuts to any place worth going.
You may be disappointed if you fail, but you are doomed if you don't try.
You can't aim a duck to death.
I really do believe I can accomplish a great deal with a big grin, I know some people find that disconcerting, but that doesn't matter.
I've always tried to go a step past wherever people expected me to end up.
A happy woman is one who has no cares at all; a cheerful woman is one who has cares but doesn't let them get her down.
A primary function of art and thought is to liberate the individual from the tyranny of his culture in the environmental sense and to permit him to stand beyond it in an autonomy of perception and judgment.
Anger begins with folly, and ends with repentance.
Attachment to spiritual things is... just as much an attachment as inordinate love of anything else.

tic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland
as the leading bel canto
stylist.
Although she sang a repertoire from Handel
and Mozart
to Puccini
, Massenet
, Wagner
, and Verdi
, she was known for her performances in coloratura soprano
roles in live opera and recordings. Sills was largely associated with the operas of Donizetti
, of which she performed and recorded many roles. Her signature roles include the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor
, the title role in Massenet's Manon
, Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment
, the three heroines in Offenbach
's Les contes d'Hoffmann, Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville
, Violetta in Verdi's La traviata
, and most notably Elisabetta in Roberto Devereux
.
After retiring from singing in 1980, she became the general manager of the New York City Opera
. In 1994, she became the Chairman of Lincoln Center and then, in 2002, of the Metropolitan Opera
, stepping down in 2005. Sills lent her celebrity to further her charity work for the prevention and treatment of birth defects.
Biography
Sills was born Belle Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn, New York
to Shirley Bahn (née
Sonia Markovna), a musician, and Morris Silverman, an insurance broker. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Odessa
, Ukraine
(then part of Russia
) and Bucharest
, Romania
. She was raised in Brooklyn, where she was known, among friends, as "Bubbles" Silverman. As a child, she spoke Yiddish
, Russian, Romanian, French and English. She attended Erasmus Hall High School
in Brooklyn, as well as Manhattan
's Professional Children's School
.
At the age of three, Sills won a "Miss Beautiful Baby" contest, in which she sang "The Wedding of Jack and Jill". Beginning at age four, she performed professionally on the Saturday morning radio program, "Rainbow House", as "Bubbles" Silverman. Sills began taking singing lessons with Estelle Liebling
at the age of seven and a year later sang in the short film Uncle Sol Solves It (filmed August 1937, released June 1938 by Educational Pictures
), by which time she had adopted her stage name, Beverly Sills. Liebling encouraged her to audition for CBS Radio's
Major Bowes' Amateur Hour, and on October 26, 1939 at the age of 10, Sills was the winner of that week's program. Bowes then asked her to appear on his Capitol Family Hour, a weekly variety show. Her first appearance was on November 19, 1939, the 17th anniversary of the show, and she appeared frequently on the program thereafter.
In 1945, Sills made her professional stage debut with a Gilbert and Sullivan
touring company produced by Jacob J. Shubert
, playing twelve cities in the US and Canada, offering seven different Gilbert and Sullivan operas. In her 1987 autobiography, she credits that tour with helping to develop the comic timing she soon became famous for: "I played the title role in Patience
, and I absolutely loved the character, because Patience is a very funny, flaky girl.... I played her as a dumb Dora all the way through and really had fun with the role.... My Patience grew clumsier and clumsier with each performance, and audiences seemed to like her.... I found that I had a gift for slapstick humor, and it was fun to exercise it onstage." Sills sang in light operas for several more years.
On July 9, 1946, Sills appeared as a contestant on Arthur Godfrey
's Talent Scouts (radio). She sang under the pseudonym of "Vicki Lynn", as she was under contract to Shubert. Shubert did not want Godfrey to be able to say he had discovered "Beverly Sills" if she won the contest (although she did not ultimately win). Sills sang "Romany Life" from Victor Herbert
's The Fortune Teller
.
In 1947, she made her operatic stage debut as the Spanish gypsy Frasquita in Bizet's
Carmen
with the Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company
. She toured North America with the Charles Wagner Opera Company, in the fall of 1951 singing Violetta in La traviata
and, in the fall of 1952, singing Micaëla in Carmen
. On September 15, 1953, she made her debut with the San Francisco Opera
as Helen of Troy in Boito's
Mefistofele and also sang Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni
the same season. In a step outside of the repertoire she is commonly associated with, Sills gave four performances of the title role of Aida
in July of 1954 in Salt Lake City. On October 29, 1955, she first appeared with the New York City Opera
as Rosalinde in Johann Strauss II
's Die Fledermaus
, which received critical praise. As early as 1956 she performed before an audience of over 13,000 guests at the landmark Lewisohn Stadium
with the noted operatic conductor Alfredo Antonini
in an aria from Vincenzo Bellini
's I puritani
. Her reputation expanded with her performance of the title role in the New York premiere of Douglas Moore's The Ballad of Baby Doe
in 1958.
On November 17, 1956, Sills married journalist Peter Greenough
, of the Cleveland, Ohio
newspaper The Plain Dealer and moved to Cleveland. She had two children with Greenough, Meredith ("Muffy") in 1959 and Peter, Jr. ("Bucky") in 1961. Muffy is profoundly deaf and has multiple sclerosis and Peter is severely mentally disabled. Sills restricted her performing schedule to care for her children.
In 1960, Sills and her family moved to Milton, Massachusetts
, near Boston. In 1962, Sills sang the title role in Massenet's
Manon
with the Opera Company of Boston
, the first of many roles for opera director Sarah Caldwell
. Manon continued to be one of Sills' signature roles throughout most of her career. In January 1964, she sang her first Queen of the Night in Mozart's
The Magic Flute
for Caldwell. Although Sills drew critical praise for her coloratura technique and for her performance, she was not fond of the latter role; she observed that she often passed the time between the two arias and the finale addressing holiday cards.
Peak singing years
In 1966, the New York City Operarevived Handel's
then virtually unknown opera seria
Giulio Cesare
(with Norman Treigle
as Cæsar), and Sills' performance as Cleopatra made her an international opera star. Sills also made her "unofficial" Met debut in its "Opera in the Parks" program as Donna Anna in Don Giovanni
, though nothing further came of this other than offers from Rudolf Bing for roles such as Flotow's Martha
. In subsequent seasons at the NYCO, Sills had great successes in the roles of the Queen of Shemakha in Rimsky-Korsakov's
The Golden Cockerel
, the title role in Manon
, Donizetti's
Lucia di Lammermoor
, and the three female leads Suor Angelica, Giorgetta, and Lauretta in Puccini's
trilogy Il trittico
.
In 1969, Sills sang Zerbinetta in the American premiere (in a concert version) of the 1912 version of Richard Strauss
's Ariadne auf Naxos
with the Boston Symphony. Her performance of the role, especially Zerbinetta's aria, "Grossmächtige Prinzessin", which she sang in the original higher key, won her acclaim. Home video-taped copies circulated among collectors for years afterwards, often commanding large sums on Internet auction sites (the performance was released commercially in 2006, garnering high praise). The second major event of the year was her debut as Pamira in Rossini's The Siege of Corinth
at La Scala
, a success that put her on the cover of Newsweek
.
Sills's now high-profile career landed her on the cover of Time
in 1971, where she was described as "America's Queen of Opera". The title was appropriate because Sills had purposely limited her overseas engagements because of her family. Her major overseas appearances include London's Covent Garden
, Milan's La Scala
, La Fenice
in Venice, the Vienna State Opera
, the Théâtre de Beaulieu in Lausanne, Switzerland, and concerts in Paris. In South America, she sang in the opera houses of Buenos Aires and Santiago, a concert in Lima, Peru, and appeared in several productions in Mexico City, including Lucia di Lammermoor
with Luciano Pavarotti
. On November 9, 1971, her performance in the New York City Opera's production of The Golden Cockerel was telecast live to cable TV subscribers.
During this period, she made her first television appearance as a talk-show personality on Virginia Graham's Girl Talk, a weekday series syndicated by ABC Films. An opera fan who was Talent Coordinator for the series persuaded the producer to put her on the air and she was a huge hit. Throughout the rest of her career she shone as a talk show guest, sometimes also functioning as a guest host. Sills underwent successful surgery for ovarian cancer
in late October 1974 (sometimes misreported as breast cancer). Her recovery was so rapid and complete that she opened in Daughter of the Regiment
at the San Francisco Opera a month later.
Following Sir Rudolf Bing's departure as director, Sills finally made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera
on April 7, 1975 in The Siege of Corinth, receiving an eighteen-minute ovation. Other operas she sang at the Met include La traviata, Lucia di Lammermoor, Thaïs, and Don Pasquale
(directed by John Dexter
). In an interview after his retirement, Bing stated that his refusal to use Sills, as well as his preference for engaging, almost exclusively, Italian stars such as Renata Tebaldi
– due to his notion that American audiences expected to see Italian stars – was the single biggest mistake of his career. Sills attempted to downplay her animosity towards Bing while she was still singing, and even in her two autobiographies. But in a 1997 interview, Sills spoke her mind plainly, "Oh, Mr. Bing is an ass. [W]hile everybody said what a great administrator he was and a great this, Mr. Bing was just an improbable, impossible General Manager of the Metropolitan Opera.... The arrogance of that man."
Sills was a recitalist, especially in the final decade of her career. She sang in mid-size cities and on college concert series, bringing her art to many who might never see her on stage in a fully staged opera. She also sang concerts with a number of symphony orchestras. Sills continued to perform for New York City Opera, her home opera house, essaying new roles right up to her retirement, including the leading roles in Rossini's Il Turco in Italia, Franz Lehár
's Die lustige Witwe and Gian Carlo Menotti
's La loca, a role written especially for her.
Although Sills' voice type was characterized as a "lyric coloratura", she took a number of heavier spinto
and dramatic coloratura roles more associated with heavier voices as she grew older, including Donizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
(with Susanne Marsee
as Orsini) and the same composer's Tudor Queens, Anna Bolena
, Maria Stuarda
and Roberto Devereux
(opposite Plácido Domingo
in the title part). She was admired in those roles for transcending the lightness of her voice with dramatic interpretation, although it may have come at a cost: Sills later commented that Roberto Devereux shortened her career by at least four years.
Sills popularized opera through her talk show appearances, including Johnny Carson
, Dick Cavett
, David Frost
, Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin
, and Dinah Shore
. Sills hosted her own talk show, Lifestyles with Beverly Sills, which ran on Sunday mornings on NBC
for two years in the late 1970s; it won an Emmy Award
. In 1979 she even appeared on The Muppet Show. Down-to-earth and approachable, Sills helped dispel the traditional image of the temperamental opera diva.
Later years and death
In 1978, Sills announced she would retire on October 27, 1980, in a farewell gala at the New York City Opera. In the spring of 1979, she began acting as co-director of NYCO, and became its sole general director as of the fall season of that year, a post she held until 1989, although she remained on the NYCO board until 1991. During her time as general director, Sills helped turn what was then a financially struggling opera company into a viable enterprise. She also devoted herself to various arts causes and such charities as the March of Dimesand was sought after for speaking engagements on college campuses and for fund raisers.
From 1994 to 2002, Sills was chairman of Lincoln Center. In October 2002, she agreed to serve as chairman of the Metropolitan Opera
, for which she had been a board member since 1991. She resigned as Met chairman in January 2005, citing family as the main reason (she had to place her husband, whom she had cared for over eight years, in a nursing home
). She stayed long enough to supervise the appointment of Peter Gelb
, formerly head of Sony Classical Records, as the Met's General Manager, to succeed Joseph Volpe
in August 2006.
Peter Greenough, Sills's husband, died on September 6, 2006, at the age of 89. They would have had their 50th wedding anniversary on November 17, 2006.
She co-hosted The View for Best Friends Week on November 9, 2006, as Barbara Walters' best friend. She said that she didn't sing anymore, even in the shower, to preserve the memory of her voice.
She appeared on screen in movie theaters during HD transmissions live from the Met, interviewed during intermissions by the host Margaret Juntwait
on January 6, 2007 (I puritani
simulcast), as a backstage interviewer on February 24, 2007 (Eugene Onegin
simulcast) and then, briefly, on April 28, 2007 (Il trittico
simulcast).
On June 28, 2007, the Associated Press
and CNN
reported that Sills was hospitalized as "gravely ill", from lung cancer
. With her daughter at her bedside, Beverly Sills succumbed to cancer on July 2, 2007, at the age of 78.
Voice
Sills's voice has been described at the same time "rich, supple", "silvery", "precise, a little light", "multicolored", "robust and enveloping", with "a cutting edge that can slice through the largest orchestra and chorus," soaring easily above high C. Her technique and musicianship are very praised. Conductor Thomas Schipperssaid in a 1971 interview with Time
that she had "the fastest voice alive." The New York Times writes that "she could dispatch coloratura roulade
s and embellishments, capped with radiant high D's and E-flat's, with seemingly effortless agility. She sang with scrupulous musicianship, rhythmic incisiveness and a vivid sense of text." Soprano Leontyne Price
was "flabbergasted at how many millions of things she can do with a written scale." Her vocal range, in performance, extends from F3 to F6, she said she can sometimes hit a G6 in warm up.
Operatic repertoire
These are the roles that Sills has performed on stage or for television or radio.Composer | Opera | Role | In repertoire | Performed with | Recorded |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Bellini Vincenzo Bellini Vincenzo Salvatore Carmelo Francesco Bellini was an Italian opera composer. His greatest works are I Capuleti ed i Montecchi , La sonnambula , Norma , Beatrice di Tenda , and I puritani... |
I Capuleti e i Montecchi I Capuleti e i Montecchi I Capuleti e i Montecchi is an Italian opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini.The libretto by Felice Romani was a reworking of the story of Romeo and Juliet for an opera by Nicola Vaccai called Giulietta e Romeo. This was based on Italian sources rather than taken directly from Shakespeare... |
Giulietta | 1975 | Opera Company of Boston Opera Company of Boston The Opera Company of Boston was an American opera company located in Boston, Massachusetts that was active during the late 1950s through the early 1990s. The company was founded by American conductor Sarah Caldwell in 1958 under the name Boston Opera Group. At one time, the touring arm of the... |
Yes |
Bellini | I puritani I puritani I puritani is an opera in three acts by Vincenzo Bellini. It was his last opera. Its libretto is by Count Carlo Pepoli, based on Têtes rondes et Cavaliers by Jacques-François Ancelot and Joseph Xavier Saintine, which is in turn based on Walter Scott's novel Old Mortality. It was first produced at... |
Elvira | 1972–1978 | Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company The Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was active between 1958 and 1974. The company was led by a number of Artistic Directors during its history, beginning with Aurelio Fabiani. Other notable Artistic Directors include Julius... , New York City Opera New York City Opera The New York City Opera is an American opera company located in New York City.The company, called "the people's opera" by New York Mayor Fiorello La Guardia, was founded in 1943 with the aim of making opera financially accessible to a wide audience, producing an innovative choice of repertory, and... , San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America... , Tulsa Opera Tulsa Opera The Tulsa Opera, located in Tulsa, Oklahoma, is the 18th oldest opera company in the United States and is ranked among the top 10 regional opera companies in the nation. The company produces three opera productions each season performed at the Tulsa Performing Arts Center... |
Yes |
Bellini | Norma Norma (opera) Norma is a tragedia lirica or opera in two acts by Vincenzo Bellini with libretto by Felice Romani after Norma, ossia L'infanticidio by Alexandre Soumet. First produced at La Scala on December 26, 1831, it is generally regarded as an example of the supreme height of the bel canto tradition... |
Norma | 1972–1978 | Opera Company of Boston, Opera Theatre of New Jersey, Connecticut Opera Connecticut Opera Connecticut Opera was a professional, non-profit, opera company based in Hartford, Connecticut, and a member of OPERA America. The company presented three fully staged opera productions during an annual season. It was founded in 1942 under the directorship of Frank Pandolfi and was the sixth oldest... , Ravinia Festival Ravinia Park Ravinia Festival is the oldest outdoor music festival in the United States, with a series of outdoor concerts and performances held every summer from June to September. It has been the summer home of the Chicago Symphony Orchestra since 1936... , San Diego Opera San Diego Opera The San Diego Opera Association is a professional opera company located in the city of San Diego, California and is a member of OPERA America. It was founded in 1950 to present productions by San Francisco Opera in the San Diego area... , San Antonio Opera |
Yes |
Bizet Georges Bizet Georges Bizet formally Alexandre César Léopold Bizet, was a French composer, mainly of operas. In a career cut short by his early death, he achieved few successes before his final work, Carmen, became one of the most popular and frequently performed works in the entire opera repertory.During a... |
Carmen Carmen Carmen is a French opéra comique by Georges Bizet. The libretto is by Henri Meilhac and Ludovic Halévy, based on the novella of the same title by Prosper Mérimée, first published in 1845, itself possibly influenced by the narrative poem The Gypsies by Alexander Pushkin... |
Frasquita | 1951 | Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company The Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company was an American opera company located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that was actively performing at the Academy of Music between 1950 and 1955. Fausta Cleva served as the company's first General Director and conductor... |
No |
Bizet | Carmen | Micaela | 1952–1958 | Charles Wagner Opera Company, Robin Hood Dell West Mann Center for the Performing Arts The Mann Center for The Performing Arts is a 14,000 seat summer musical venue located in Philadelphia's West Fairmount Park. The venue operates as both an indoor performance hall and an outdoor music venue... , Cosmopolitan Opera |
No |
Bizet | Carmen | Carmen | 1956 | Musicarnival Musicarnival Musicarnival was a music "tent" theater located on Warrensville Center Rd. in Warrensville Heights, Ohio, among the first of its kind. The theater was expanded in 1958 from its initial seating capacity, growing from 1,500 to 2,563... |
No |
Bizet | Les pêcheurs de perles Les pêcheurs de perles Les pêcheurs de perles is an opera in three acts by the French composer Georges Bizet, to a libretto by Eugène Cormon and Michel Carré. It was first performed on 30 September 1863 at the Théâtre Lyrique in Paris, and was given 18 performances in its initial run... |
Leila | 1956 | DuMont Television Network DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont... |
Yes |
Boito Arrigo Boito Arrigo Boito , aka Enrico Giuseppe Giovanni Boito, pseudonym Tobia Gorrio, was an Italian poet, journalist, novelist and composer, best known today for his libretti, especially those for Giuseppe Verdi's operas Otello and Falstaff, and his own opera Mefistofele... |
Mefistofele Mefistofele Mefistofele is an opera in a prologue, four acts and an epilogue, the only completed opera by the Italian composer-librettist Arrigo Boito.-Composition history:... |
Helen of Troy | 1953 | San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera San Francisco Opera is an American opera company, based in San Francisco, California.It was founded in 1923 by Gaetano Merola and is the second largest opera company in North America... |
No |
Charpentier Gustave Charpentier Gustave Charpentier, , born in Dieuze, Moselle on 25 June 1860, died Paris, 18 February 1956) was a French composer, best known for his opera Louise.-Life and career:... |
Louise Louise (opera) Louise is an opera in four acts by Gustave Charpentier to an original French libretto by the composer, with some contributions by Saint-Pol-Roux, a symbolist poet and inspiration of the surrealists.... |
Louise | 1962–1977 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Donizetti Gaetano Donizetti Domenico Gaetano Maria Donizetti was an Italian composer from Bergamo, Lombardy. His best-known works are the operas L'elisir d'amore , Lucia di Lammermoor , and Don Pasquale , all in Italian, and the French operas La favorite and La fille du régiment... |
Anna Bolena Anna Bolena Anna Bolena is a tragedia lirica, or opera, in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after Ippolito Pindemonte's Enrico VIII ossia Anna Bolena and Alessandro Pepoli's Anna Bolena, both telling of the life of Anne Boleyn... |
Anna | 1973–1975 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Donizetti | Don Pasquale Don Pasquale Don Pasquale is an opera buffa, or comic opera, in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. The librettist Giovanni Ruffini wrote the Italian language libretto after Angelo Anelli's libretto for Stefano Pavesi's Ser Marcantonio .... |
Norina | 1978–1980 | Opera Company of Boston, Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera | Yes |
Donizetti | La fille du régiment La fille du régiment La fille du régiment is an opéra comique in two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. It was written while the composer was living in Paris, with a French libretto by Jules-Henri Vernoy de Saint-Georges and Jean-François Bayard.La figlia del reggimento, a slightly different Italian-language version , was... |
Marie | 1970–1977 | Opera Company of Boston, Carnegie Hall, San Antonio Opera, Philadelphia Lyric Opera, San Diego Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Edmonton Opera Edmonton Opera The Edmonton Opera is a Canadian professional opera company in Edmonton, Alberta, it performs in the Northern Alberta Jubilee Auditorium. The opera was founded in 1963 as the Edmonton Professional Opera Association. The name was latter shortened to the current name in 1966. It was born out of its... , Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Memphis Opera Memphis Opera Memphis is a non-profit arts organization in Memphis, Tennessee. It was established in 1956 in conjunction with the founding of WKNO-FM, the local public radio affiliate.... , Palm Beach Opera |
Yes |
Donizetti | L'elisir d'amore L'elisir d'amore L'elisir d'amore is an opera by the Italian composer Gaetano Donizetti. It is a melodramma giocoso in two acts... |
Adina | 1964 | Opera Company of Boston | No |
Donizetti | Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia di Lammermoor Lucia di Lammermoor is a dramma tragico in three acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Salvadore Cammarano wrote the Italian language libretto loosely based upon Sir Walter Scott's historical novel The Bride of Lammermoor.... |
Lucia | 1968–1977 | Fort Worth Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Edmonton Opera, Opera Company of Boston, New York City Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes, La Scala La Scala La Scala , is a world renowned opera house in Milan, Italy. The theatre was inaugurated on 3 August 1778 and was originally known as the New Royal-Ducal Theatre at La Scala... , San Antonio Grand Opera, Ravinia Festival, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Covent Garden Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St. Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit and vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist site, and the Royal Opera House, which is also known as... , Tulsa Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Mississippi Opera Association, Zoo Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, New Orleans Opera, Pittsburgh Opera Pittsburgh Opera Pittsburgh Opera is an American opera company based in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania. It is one of two opera companies in the city, the other being Opera Theatre of Pittsburgh. Pittsburgh Opera gives performances in several venues, primarily at the Benedum Center, with other performances at the... , Seattle Opera Seattle Opera The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often... , Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Opera Memphis, San Antonio Symphony, Florentine Opera Florentine Opera The Florentine Opera Company is Wisconsin's oldest fully professional performing arts organization and the sixth-oldest opera company in the United States. The company presents on three staged productions per season largely from the standard operatic repertoire... , Opera Omaha Opera Omaha Opera Omaha is an opera company in Omaha, Nebraska. It is well known for premiering Wakonda's Dream, a contemporary opera about Native Americans set in the Niobrara.... , Metropolitan Opera |
Yes |
Donizetti | Lucrezia Borgia Lucrezia Borgia (opera) Lucrezia Borgia is a melodramma, or opera, in a prologue and two acts by Gaetano Donizetti. Felice Romani wrote the Italian libretto after the play by Victor Hugo, in its turn after the legend of Lucrezia Borgia. Lucrezia Borgia was first performed on 26 December 1833 at La Scala, Milan with... |
Lucrezia Borgia | 1975–1976 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Donizetti | Maria Stuarda Maria Stuarda Maria Stuarda is a tragic opera, , in two acts, by Gaetano Donizetti, to a libretto by Giuseppe Bardari, based on Friedrich Schiller's 1800 play Maria Stuart.... |
Maria Stuarda | 1972–1974 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Donizetti | Roberto Devereux Roberto Devereux Roberto Devereux is a tragedia lirica, or tragic opera, by Gaetano Donizetti... |
Elizabeth I | 1970–1975 | New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Wolf Trap Opera | Yes |
Gounod Charles Gounod Charles-François Gounod was a French composer, known for his Ave Maria as well as his operas Faust and Roméo et Juliette.-Biography:... |
Faust Faust (opera) Faust is a drame lyrique in five acts by Charles Gounod to a French libretto by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré from Carré's play Faust et Marguerite, in turn loosely based on Johann Wolfgang von Goethe's Faust, Part 1... |
Marguerite | 1963–1970 | Boston Opera Group, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera Cincinnati Opera Cincinnati Opera is an American opera company based in Cincinnati, Ohio and the second oldest opera company in the United States .-History:... , Orlando Opera Orlando Opera The Orlando Opera was Orlando, Florida's professional opera company. Based in the Dr. Phillips Center in Orlando, the Orlando Opera performed multiple times a year in the Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre and other venues in the central Florida region.... , San Antonio Grand Opera Festival, Duluth Symphony Orchestra |
Yes |
Handel George Frideric Handel George Frideric Handel was a German-British Baroque composer, famous for his operas, oratorios, anthems and organ concertos. Handel was born in 1685, in a family indifferent to music... |
Ariodante Ariodante Ariodante is an opera seria in three acts by Handel. The anonymous Italian libretto was based on a work by Antonio Salvi, which in turn was adapted from Canti 5 and 6 of Ludovico Ariosto's Orlando Furioso... |
Ginevra | 1971 | Kennedy Center | Yes |
Handel | Giulio Cesare Giulio Cesare Giulio Cesare in Egitto , commonly known simply as Giulio Cesare, is an Italian opera in three acts written for the Royal Academy of Music by George Frideric Handel in 1724... |
Cleopatra | 1966–1971 | New York City Opera, Teatro Colón, Cincinnati May Festival Cincinnati May Festival The Cincinnati May Festival is a two-week annual choral festival, held during the last two weekends in May in Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. The festival's roots go back to the 1840s, when Saengerfests were held in that city, bringing singers from all over the United States and abroad to perform large... |
Yes |
Handel | Semele | Semele | 1967–1969 | Cleveland Orchestra Cleveland Orchestra The Cleveland Orchestra is an American orchestra based in Cleveland, Ohio. It is one of the five American orchestras informally referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1918, the orchestra plays most of its concerts at Severance Hall... , Caramoor Festival |
Yes |
Hanson Howard Hanson Howard Harold Hanson was an American composer, conductor, educator, music theorist, and champion of American classical music. As director for 40 years of the Eastman School of Music, he built a high-quality school and provided opportunities for commissioning and performing American music... |
Merry Mount Merry Mount Merry Mount is an opera in three acts by American composer Howard Hanson; its libretto, by Richard Stokes, is loosely based on Nathaniel Hawthorne's short story "The Maypole of Merry Mount", taken from his Twice Told Tales... |
Lady Marigold Sandys | 1964 | San Antonio Symphony | No |
Hindemith Paul Hindemith Paul Hindemith was a German composer, violist, violinist, teacher, music theorist and conductor.- Biography :Born in Hanau, near Frankfurt, Hindemith was taught the violin as a child... |
Hin und zurück Hin und zurück Hin und zurück is an operatic 'sketch' in one scene by Paul Hindemith, with a German libretto by Marcellus Schiffer.... |
Helene | 1965 | WGBH-TV WGBH-TV WGBH-TV, channel 2, is a non-commercial educational public television station located in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. WGBH-TV is a member station of the Public Broadcasting Service , and produces more than two-thirds of PBS's national prime time television programming... |
Yes |
Kálmán Emmerich Kalman Emmerich Kálmán was a Hungarian-born composer of operettas.- Biography :Kálmán was born Imre Koppstein in Siófok, on the southern shore of Lake Balaton, Hungary in a Jewish family.Kálmán initially intended to become a concert pianist, but because of early-onset arthritis, he focused on composition... |
Gräfin Mariza | Countess Mariza | 1946 | Hartman Theatre in Columbus, Ohio Columbus, Ohio Columbus is the capital of and the largest city in the U.S. state of Ohio. The broader metropolitan area encompasses several counties and is the third largest in Ohio behind those of Cleveland and Cincinnati. Columbus is the third largest city in the American Midwest, and the fifteenth largest city... |
No |
Lehár Franz Lehár Franz Lehár was an Austrian-Hungarian composer. He is mainly known for his operettas of which the most successful and best known is The Merry Widow .-Biography:... |
The Merry Widow The Merry Widow The Merry Widow is an operetta by the Austro–Hungarian composer Franz Lehár. The librettists, Viktor Léon and Leo Stein, based the story – concerning a rich widow, and her countrymen's attempt to keep her money in the principality by finding her the right husband – on an 1861 comedy play,... |
Sonia | 1956–1965 | Musicarnival, New York City Opera, Casa Mañana Casa Mañana Casa Mañana Theatre, in Fort Worth, Texas, USA, is located in the Fort Worth Cultural District and is known as the "House of Tomorrow." Originally an outdoor amphitheater, Casa opened in 1936 as the part of the official Texas Centennial Celebration.... , Robin Hood Dell |
No |
Leoncavallo Ruggero Leoncavallo Ruggero Leoncavallo was an Italian opera composer. His two-act work Pagliacci remains one of the most popular works in the repertory, appearing as number 20 on the Operabase list of the most-performed operas worldwide.-Biography:... |
Pagliacci Pagliacci Pagliacci , sometimes incorrectly rendered with a definite article as I Pagliacci, is an opera consisting of a prologue and two acts written and composed by Ruggero Leoncavallo. It recounts the tragedy of a jealous husband in a commedia dell'arte troupe... |
Nedda | 1965 | Fort Worth Opera | No |
Lehár | The Merry Widow | Hanna Glawari | 1977–1979 | San Diego Opera, Houston Grand Opera, New York City Opera | No |
Massenet Jules Massenet Jules Émile Frédéric Massenet was a French composer best known for his operas. His compositions were very popular in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, and he ranks as one of the greatest melodists of his era. Soon after his death, Massenet's style went out of fashion, and many of his operas... |
Manon Manon Manon is an opéra comique in five acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Henri Meilhac and Philippe Gille, based on the 1731 novel L’histoire du chevalier des Grieux et de Manon Lescaut by the Abbé Prévost... |
Manon | 1953–1978 | Baltimore Opera Company, New York City Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia Opera Company of Philadelphia The Opera Company of Philadelphia is an American opera company in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania and is the city's only company producing grand opera. The organization produces four fully staged opera productions annually, encompassing works from the seventeenth through the 21st century... |
Yes |
Massenet | Thaïs Thaïs (opera) Thaïs is an opera in three acts by Jules Massenet to a French libretto by Louis Gallet based on the novel Thaïs by Anatole France. It was first performed at the Opéra Garnier in Paris on 16 March 1894, starring the American soprano Sybil Sanderson, for whom Massenet had written the title role... |
Thaïs | 1954–1978 | DuMont Television Network, San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera | Yes |
Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti Gian Carlo Menotti was an Italian-American composer and librettist. Although he often referred to himself as an American composer, he kept his Italian citizenship. He wrote the classic Christmas opera, Amahl and the Night Visitors, among about two dozen other operas intended to appeal to popular... |
La Loca | Juana La Loca | 1979 | San Diego Opera, New York City Opera | Yes |
Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer Giacomo Meyerbeer was a noted German opera composer, and the first great exponent of "grand opera." At his peak in the 1830s and 1840s, he was the most famous and successful composer of opera in Europe, yet he is rarely performed today.-Early years:He was born to a Jewish family in Tasdorf , near... |
Les Huguenots Les Huguenots Les Huguenots is a French opera by Giacomo Meyerbeer, one of the most popular and spectacular examples of the style of grand opera. The opera is in five acts and premiered in Paris in 1836. The libretto was written by Eugène Scribe and Émile Deschamps.... |
Marguerite | 1969 | Carnegie Hall | Yes |
Montemezzi Italo Montemezzi Italo Montemezzi was an Italian composer. He is best known for his opera L'amore dei tre re , once part of the standard repertoire.... |
L'amore dei tre re L'amore dei tre re L'amore dei tre re is an opera in three acts by Italo Montemezzi. Its Italian-language libretto was written by playwright Sem Benelli who based it on his own play of the same title.-Performance history:... |
Fiora | 1956 | Philadelphia Grand Opera Company Philadelphia Grand Opera Company The Philadelphia Grand Opera Company was the name of four different American opera companies active at the Academy of Music in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania during the twentieth century. The last and most well known of the four was founded in November 1954 with the merger of the Philadelphia Civic... |
No |
Moore | The Ballad of Baby Doe | Baby Doe | 1958–1969 | New York City Opera, Musicarnival | Yes |
Moore | The Wings of the Dove | Milly Theale | 1962 | New York City Opera | No |
Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart , baptismal name Johannes Chrysostomus Wolfgangus Theophilus Mozart , was a prolific and influential composer of the Classical era. He composed over 600 works, many acknowledged as pinnacles of symphonic, concertante, chamber, piano, operatic, and choral music... |
Der Schauspieldirektor Der Schauspieldirektor Der Schauspieldirektor , K. 486, is a comic Singspiel written by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Gottlieb Stephanie, an Austrian Schauspieldirektor.... |
Madame Goldentrill | 1956 | New York City Opera | No |
Mozart | Die Entführung aus dem Serail Die Entführung aus dem Serail Die Entführung aus dem Serail is an opera Singspiel in three acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. The German libretto is by Christoph Friedrich Bretzner with adaptations by Gottlieb Stephanie... |
Konstanze | 1965–1975 | Boston Opera Group, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera Fort Worth Opera According to the company, Fort Worth Opera is the oldest, continually performing opera company in the state of Texas and among the oldest in the United States. While originally presenting operas one at a time over a fall/winter season, it changed to a "festival" format in 2007... , Grant Park Grant Park (Chicago) Grant Park, with between the downtown Chicago Loop and Lake Michigan, offers many different attractions in its large open space. The park is generally flat. It is also crossed by large boulevards and even a bed of sunken railroad tracks... , Tanglewood Music Festival Tanglewood Music Festival The Tanglewood Music Festival is a music festival held every summer on the Tanglewood estate in Lenox, Massachusetts in the Berkshire Hills in western Massachusetts.... , Frederic R. Mann Auditorium Frederic R. Mann Auditorium Fredric R. Mann Culture Center, commonly referred to as The Culture Palace, is a performing arts venue in Tel Aviv, Israel, which was opened in 1957 at Habima Square.It is home to the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra.... , Ravinia Festival |
Yes |
Mozart | Die Zauberflöte The Magic Flute The Magic Flute is an opera in two acts composed in 1791 by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart to a German libretto by Emanuel Schikaneder. The work is in the form of a Singspiel, a popular form that included both singing and spoken dialogue.... |
Queen of the Night | 1964–1967 | Boston Opera Group, Théâtre de Beaulieu, Tanglewood Music Festival, Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera Houston Grand Opera was founded in 1955 through the joint efforts of Maestro Walter Herbert and cultural leaders Mrs. Louis G. Lobit, Edward Bing and Charles Cockrell... , Vienna State Opera Vienna State Opera The Vienna State Opera is an opera house – and opera company – with a history dating back to the mid-19th century. It is located in the centre of Vienna, Austria. It was originally called the Vienna Court Opera . In 1920, with the replacement of the Habsburg Monarchy by the First Austrian... , New York City Opera, CBC Radio CBC Radio CBC Radio generally refers to the English-language radio operations of the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation. The CBC operates a number of radio networks serving different audiences and programming niches, all of which are outlined below.-English:CBC Radio operates three English language... |
Yes |
Mozart | Don Giovanni Don Giovanni Don Giovanni is an opera in two acts with music by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart and with an Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte. It was premiered by the Prague Italian opera at the Teatro di Praga on October 29, 1787... |
Donna Elvira | 1953–1955 | San Francisco Opera, Chattanooga Opera Association | No |
Mozart | Don Giovanni | Donna Anna | 1963–1967 | New York City Opera, Opera Company of Boston, Metropolitan Opera Metropolitan Opera The Metropolitan Opera is an opera company, located in New York City. Originally founded in 1880, the company gave its first performance on October 22, 1883. The company is operated by the non-profit Metropolitan Opera Association, with Peter Gelb as general manager... , Palacio de Bellas Artes Palacio de Bellas Artes The Palacio de Bellas Artes is the most important cultural center in Mexico City as well as the rest of the country of Mexico... , Théâtre de Beaulieu, Baltimore Opera Company Baltimore Opera Company The Baltimore Opera Company was an opera company in Baltimore, Maryland, U.S.A., based at the Baltimore Lyric Opera House. On March 12, 2009, the 58-year-old opera company announced plans to pursue Chapter 7 bankruptcy liquidation.... |
Yes |
Mozart | Le nozze di Figaro The Marriage of Figaro Le nozze di Figaro, ossia la folle giornata , K. 492, is an opera buffa composed in 1786 in four acts by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, with Italian libretto by Lorenzo Da Ponte, based on a stage comedy by Pierre Beaumarchais, La folle journée, ou le Mariage de Figaro .Although the play by... |
Countess | 1965 | Miami Opera | No |
Offenbach Jacques Offenbach Jacques Offenbach was a Prussian-born French composer, cellist and impresario. He is remembered for his nearly 100 operettas of the 1850s–1870s and his uncompleted opera The Tales of Hoffmann. He was a powerful influence on later composers of the operetta genre, particularly Johann Strauss, Jr.... |
Les contes d'Hoffmann | Three Heroines | 1964–1973 | New Orleans Opera New Orleans Opera Opera has long been part of the musical culture of New Orleans, Louisiana. Operas have regularly been performed in the city since the 1790s, and for the majority of the city's history since the early 19th century, New Orleans has had a resident company regularly performing opera in addition to... , Grant Park, Opera Company of Boston, Cincinnati Opera, New York City Opera, Baltimore Opera Company, Palacio de Bellas Artes, San Antonio Grand Opera, San Antonio Symphony San Antonio Symphony The San Antonio Symphony is a full-time professional symphony orchestra based in San Antonio, Texas. Its season runs from late September to early June... , Shreveport Opera Shreveport Opera -External links:*... , Municipal Theater of Santiago Municipal Theater of Santiago The Teatro Municipal is the most important stage theatre and opera house in Santiago, Chile.-History and overview:The Chilean government ceded a significant parcel of land in downtown Santiago to the municipality, in 1848, and an 1853 decree by President Manuel Montt Torres provided for the... , San Diego Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Symphony |
Yes |
Puccini Giacomo Puccini Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini was an Italian composer whose operas, including La bohème, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, and Turandot, are among the most frequently performed in the standard repertoire... |
La bohème La bohème La bohème is an opera in four acts,Puccini called the divisions quadro, a tableau or "image", rather than atto . by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa, based on Scènes de la vie de bohème by Henri Murger... |
Musetta | 1958–1963 | Cosmopolitan Opera, New York City Opera | No |
Puccini | La bohème | Mimi | 1965 | Seattle Opera Seattle Opera The Seattle Opera is an opera company located in Seattle, Washington. Founded in 1963 by Glynn Ross, who served as the company's first general director through 1983, Seattle Opera's season runs from August to late May, with five or six operas offered and with eight to ten performances each, often... |
No |
Puccini | Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi Gianni Schicchi is a comic opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano, composed in 1917–18. The libretto is based on an incident mentioned in Dante's Divine Comedy. The work is the third and final part of Puccini's Il trittico —three one-act operas with... |
Lauretta | 1967 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Puccini | Suor Angelica Suor Angelica Suor Angelica is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an original Italian libretto by Giovacchino Forzano. It is the second opera of the trio of operas known as Il trittico... |
Suor Angelica | 1967 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Puccini | Il tabarro Il tabarro Il tabarro is an opera in one act by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Giuseppe Adami, based on Didier Gold's play La houppelande. It is the first of the trio of operas known as Il trittico... |
Giorgetta | 1967 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Puccini | Tosca Tosca Tosca is an opera in three acts by Giacomo Puccini to an Italian libretto by Luigi Illica and Giuseppe Giacosa. It premiered at the Teatro Costanzi in Rome on 14 January 1900... |
Tosca | 1957–1960 | Murrah High School Auditorium Murrah High School Murrah High School is a public high school in Jackson, Mississippi . It is part of the Jackson Public School District.-Demographics:There were a total of about 1,600 students enrolled in Murrah High during the 2008-2009 school year. The gender makeup of the district was 56% female and 44% male... for the Jackson Opera Guild, Musicarnival |
No |
Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau Jean-Philippe Rameau was one of the most important French composers and music theorists of the Baroque era. He replaced Jean-Baptiste Lully as the dominant composer of French opera and is also considered the leading French composer for the harpsichord of his time, alongside François... |
Hippolyte et Aricie Hippolyte et Aricie Hippolyte et Aricie was the first opera by Jean-Philippe Rameau, which opened to great controversy at the Académie Royale de Musique, Paris on October 1, 1733. The libretto, by Abbé Simon-Joseph Pellegrin, is based on Racine's tragedy Phèdre. The opera takes the traditional form of a tragédie en... |
Aricie | 1966 | Opera Company of Boston | Yes |
Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov Nikolai Andreyevich Rimsky-Korsakov was a Russian composer, and a member of the group of composers known as The Five.The Five, also known as The Mighty Handful or The Mighty Coterie, refers to a circle of composers who met in Saint Petersburg, Russia, in the years 1856–1870: Mily Balakirev , César... |
Le Coq d'Or The Golden Cockerel The Golden Cockerel is an opera in three acts, with short prologue and even shorter epilogue, by Nikolai Rimsky-Korsakov. Its libretto, by Vladimir Belsky, derives from Alexander Pushkin's 1834 poem The Tale of the Golden Cockerel, which in turn is based on two chapters of Tales of the Alhambra by... |
Queen Shemakha | 1967–1971 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Romberg Sigmund Romberg Sigmund Romberg was a Hungarian-born American composer, best known for his operettas.-Biography:Romberg was born as Siegmund Rosenberg to a Jewish family in Gross-Kanizsa during the Austro-Hungarian kaiserlich und königlich monarchy period... |
The Student Prince The Student Prince The Student Prince is an operetta in four acts with music by Sigmund Romberg and book and lyrics by Dorothy Donnelly. It is based on Wilhelm Meyer-Förster's play Alt Heidelberg. The piece has elements of melodrama but lacks the swashbuckling style common to Romberg's other works... |
Kathie | 1954 | Chicago Theater of the Air | Yes |
Rossini | The Barber of Seville The Barber of Seville The Barber of Seville, or The Futile Precaution is an opera buffa in two acts by Gioachino Rossini with a libretto by Cesare Sterbini. The libretto was based on Pierre Beaumarchais's comedy Le Barbier de Séville , which was originally an opéra comique, or a mixture of spoken play with music... |
Rosina | 1974–1980 | Opera Company of Boston, San Antonio Symphony, New York City Opera, Kennedy Center, Fort Worth Opera, Palm Beach Opera, Festival Internacional Cervantino Festival Internacional Cervantino The Festival Internacional Cervantino takes place each fall in the city of Guanajuato, located in central Mexico. This is a small colonial-era city with history of having a large cultural scene. The origins of the festival are from the mid 20th century, when short plays by Miguel de Cervantes... , Robin Hood Dell |
Yes |
Rossini | Il turco in Italia Il turco in Italia Il turco in Italia is an opera in two acts by Gioachino Rossini. The Italian-language libretto was written by Felice Romani... |
Fiorilla | 1978–1979 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Rossini | The Siege of Corinth Le siège de Corinthe Le siège de Corinthe is an opera in three acts by Gioachino Rossini to a French libretto by Luigi Balocchi and Alexandre Soumet, based on Maometto II by Cesare della Valle... |
Pamira | 1969–1976 | La Scala, Metropolitan Opera | Yes |
Johann Strauss II Johann Strauss II Johann Strauss II , also known as Johann Baptist Strauss or Johann Strauss, Jr., the Younger, or the Son , was an Austrian composer of light music, particularly dance music and operettas. He composed over 500 waltzes, polkas, quadrilles, and other types of dance music, as well as several operettas... |
Die Fledermaus Die Fledermaus Die Fledermaus is an operetta composed by Johann Strauss II to a German libretto by Karl Haffner and Richard Genée.- Literary sources :... |
Rosalinda | 1955–1980 | Musicarnival, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Opera Company of Boston | Yes |
Johann Strauss II | Die Fledermaus | Adele | 1977–1980 | New York City Opera, San Diego Opera | Yes |
Richard Strauss Richard Strauss Richard Georg Strauss was a leading German composer of the late Romantic and early modern eras. He is known for his operas, which include Der Rosenkavalier and Salome; his Lieder, especially his Four Last Songs; and his tone poems and orchestral works, such as Death and Transfiguration, Till... |
Ariadne auf Naxos Ariadne auf Naxos Ariadne auf Naxos is an opera by Richard Strauss with a German libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal. Bringing together slapstick comedy and consuming beautiful music, the opera's theme is the competition between high and low art for the public's attention.- First version :The opera was originally... (original version) |
Zerbinetta | 1969 | Boston Symphony Orchestra Boston Symphony Orchestra The Boston Symphony Orchestra is an orchestra based in Boston, Massachusetts. It is one of the five American orchestras commonly referred to as the "Big Five". Founded in 1881, the BSO plays most of its concerts at Boston's Symphony Hall and in the summer performs at the Tanglewood Music Center... |
Yes |
Richard Strauss | Elektra Elektra (opera) Elektra is a one-act opera by Richard Strauss, to a German-language libretto by Hugo von Hofmannsthal, which he adapted from his 1903 drama Elektra. The opera was the first of many collaborations between Strauss and Hofmannsthal... |
Fifth Maidservant | 1953 | San Francisco Opera | No |
Sullivan Arthur Sullivan Sir Arthur Seymour Sullivan MVO was an English composer of Irish and Italian ancestry. He is best known for his series of 14 operatic collaborations with the dramatist W. S. Gilbert, including such enduring works as H.M.S. Pinafore, The Pirates of Penzance and The Mikado... |
H.M.S. Pinafore H.M.S. Pinafore H.M.S. Pinafore; or, The Lass That Loved a Sailor is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and a libretto by W. S. Gilbert. It opened at the Opera Comique in London, England, on 25 May 1878 and ran for 571 performances, which was the second-longest run of any musical... |
Josephine | 1945 | Providence, Rhode Island Providence, Rhode Island Providence is the capital and most populous city of Rhode Island and was one of the first cities established in the United States. Located in Providence County, it is the third largest city in the New England region... at the Metropolitan Theater and Hartford, Connecticut Hartford, Connecticut Hartford is the capital of the U.S. state of Connecticut. The seat of Hartford County until Connecticut disbanded county government in 1960, it is the second most populous city on New England's largest river, the Connecticut River. As of the 2010 Census, Hartford's population was 124,775, making... at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium |
No |
Sullivan | The Pirates of Penzance The Pirates of Penzance The Pirates of Penzance; or, The Slave of Duty is a comic opera in two acts, with music by Arthur Sullivan and libretto by W. S. Gilbert. The opera's official premiere was at the Fifth Avenue Theatre in New York City on 31 December 1879, where the show was well received by both audiences... |
Mabel | 1945 | Hartford, Connecticut at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium | No |
Suppé Franz von Suppé Franz von Suppé or Francesco Suppé Demelli was an Austrian composer of light operas who was born in what is now Croatia during the time his father was working in this outpost of the Austro-Hungarian Empire... |
Die schöne Galathee Die schöne Galathee Die schöne Galathee is an operetta in two acts by Franz von Suppé to a German libretto by the composer and 'Poly Henrion' .... |
Galatea | 1965 | Fort Worth Opera | No |
Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (Russian: Пётр Ильи́ч Чайко́вский ; often "Peter Ilich Tchaikovsky" in English. His names are also transliterated "Piotr" or "Petr"; "Ilitsch", "Il'ich" or "Illyich"; and "Tschaikowski", "Tschaikowsky", "Chajkovskij"... |
Cherevichki Cherevichki Cherevichki [alternative renderings are The Little Shoes, The Tsarina's Slippers, Les caprices d'Oxane, and Gli stivaletti] is a comic-fantastic opera in 4 acts, 8 scenes, by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky. It was composed in 1885 in Maidanovo, Russia... (performed under the title The Golden Slipper) |
Oxana | 1955 | New York City Opera | No |
Thomas Ambroise Thomas Charles Louis Ambroise Thomas was a French composer, best known for his operas Mignon and Hamlet and as Director of the Conservatoire de Paris from 1871 till his death.-Biography:"There is good music, there is bad music, and then there is Ambroise Thomas."- Emmanuel Chabrier-Early life... |
Mignon Mignon Mignon is an opéra comique in three acts by Ambroise Thomas. The original French libretto was by Jules Barbier and Michel Carré, based on Goethe's novel Wilhelm Meisters Lehrjahre. The Italian version was translated by Giuseppe Zaffira. The opera is mentioned in James Joyce's The Dead,... |
Philine | 1956 | New York City Opera | No |
Verdi Giuseppe Verdi Giuseppe Fortunino Francesco Verdi was an Italian Romantic composer, mainly of opera. He was one of the most influential composers of the 19th century... |
Aida Aida Aida sometimes spelled Aïda, is an opera in four acts by Giuseppe Verdi to an Italian libretto by Antonio Ghislanzoni, based on a scenario written by French Egyptologist Auguste Mariette... |
Aida | 1954–1960 | University of Utah University of Utah The University of Utah, also known as the U or the U of U, is a public, coeducational research university in Salt Lake City, Utah, United States. The university was established in 1850 as the University of Deseret by the General Assembly of the provisional State of Deseret, making it Utah's oldest... football stadium, Paterson, New Jersey Paterson, New Jersey Paterson is a city serving as the county seat of Passaic County, New Jersey, United States. As of the 2010 United States Census, its population was 146,199, rendering it New Jersey's third largest city and one of the largest cities in the New York City Metropolitan Area, despite a decrease of 3,023... , Central City Opera Central City Opera Central City Opera is the fifth-oldest opera company in the United States, founded in 1932. Each festival is presented in the 550-seat historic Central City Opera House built in 1878 in the gold mining era town of Central City, Colorado. Pelham G... |
Yes |
Verdi | La traviata La traviata La traviata is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi set to an Italian libretto by Francesco Maria Piave. It is based on La dame aux Camélias , a play adapted from the novel by Alexandre Dumas, fils. The title La traviata means literally The Fallen Woman, or perhaps more figuratively, The Woman... |
Violetta | 1951–1977 | Kingston High School (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), Charleston Municipal Auditorium Charleston Municipal Auditorium Charleston Municipal Auditorium is a historic public auditorium, located at Charleston, West Virginia.It was constructed in 1939 and is a monolithic concrete and steel structure of massive proportions, situated in the southwestern section of Charleston's central business district.It is an excellent... , Orlando Municipal Auditorium Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre The Bob Carr Performing Arts Centre is a major performing arts auditorium in Orlando, Florida and seats 2,518. It is part of the larger Orlando Centroplex organization which manages several facilities.... , Saenger Theatre Saenger Theatre (Pensacola, Florida) The Saenger Theatre, also known as the Saenger Theater, is a historic theater in Pensacola, Florida. It is located at 118 South Palafox Place. On July 19, 1976, it was added to the U.S... , Duke University Duke University Duke University is a private research university located in Durham, North Carolina, United States. Founded by Methodists and Quakers in the present day town of Trinity in 1838, the school moved to Durham in 1892. In 1924, tobacco industrialist James B... , Academy of Music Academy of Music (Philadelphia) The Academy of Music, also known as American Academy of Music, is a concert hall and opera house located at Broad and Locust Streets in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. It was built in 1857 and is the oldest opera house in the United States that is still used for its original purpose... , Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, Portland Civic Opera Association, DuMont Television Network DuMont Television Network The DuMont Television Network, also known as the DuMont Network, DuMont, Du Mont, or Dumont was one of the world's pioneer commercial television networks, rivalling NBC for the distinction of being first overall. It began operation in the United States in 1946. It was owned by DuMont... , New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Tulsa Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Antonio Symphony, Grant Park, Teatro di San Carlo Teatro di San Carlo The Real Teatro di San Carlo is an opera house in Naples, Italy. It is the oldest continuously active such venue in Europe.Founded by the Bourbon Charles VII of Naples of the Spanish branch of the dynasty, the theatre was inaugurated on 4 November 1737 — the king's name day — with a performance... , Connecticut Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin Deutsche Oper Berlin The Deutsche Oper Berlin is an opera company located in the Charlottenburg district of Berlin, Germany. The resident building is also home to the Berlin State Ballet.-History:... , Los Angeles Philharmonic Los Angeles Philharmonic The Los Angeles Philharmonic is an American orchestra based in Los Angeles, California, United States. It has a regular season of concerts from October through June at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, and a summer season at the Hollywood Bowl from July through September... , Opera Company of Boston, La Fenice La Fenice Teatro La Fenice is an opera house in Venice, Italy. It is one of the most famous theatres in Europe, the site of many famous operatic premieres. Its name reflects its role in permitting an opera company to "rise from the ashes" despite losing the use of two theatres... , San Antonio Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Ravinia Festival, Palm Beach Opera Palm Beach Opera Palm Beach Opera, a professional opera company in West Palm Beach, Florida resident at the Kravis Center for the Performing Arts, was founded in 1961 as "Civic Opera of the Palm Beaches." Over its history, the company has presented a season of fully staged operas ranging from a single production... , Metropolitan Opera, Wolf Trap Opera Company Wolf Trap Opera Company The Wolf Trap Opera Company produces a summer opera festival as part of the program of the Wolf Trap National Park for the Performing Arts in Vienna, Virginia.... , San Diego Opera |
Yes |
Verdi | Rigoletto Rigoletto Rigoletto is an opera in three acts by Giuseppe Verdi. The Italian libretto was written by Francesco Maria Piave based on the play Le roi s'amuse by Victor Hugo. It was first performed at La Fenice in Venice on March 11, 1851... |
Gilda | 1957–1977 | Grant Park, Opera Company of Boston | Yes |
Wagner Richard Wagner Wilhelm Richard Wagner was a German composer, conductor, theatre director, philosopher, music theorist, poet, essayist and writer primarily known for his operas... |
Die Walküre Die Walküre Die Walküre , WWV 86B, is the second of the four operas that form the cycle Der Ring des Nibelungen , by Richard Wagner... |
Gerhilde | 1953 | San Francisco Opera | No |
Weisgall Hugo Weisgall Hugo David Weisgall was an American composer and conductor, known chiefly for his opera and vocal music compositions... |
Six Characters in Search of an Author Six Characters in Search of an Author (opera) Six Characters in Search of an Author is an opera in three acts by composer Hugo Weisgall. The work uses an English libretto by Denis Johnston that is based on the play of the same name by Luigi Pirandello. The opera was commissioned by the New York City Opera under the leadership Julius Rudel... |
Coloratura | 1959–1960 | New York City Opera | Yes |
Honors and awards
Sills received many honors and awards from the 1970s through her final years. Here are a list of her major awards, divided by category:- Grammy AwardGrammy AwardA Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
Nominations:- 1969 - Scenes and Arias from French Opera;
- 1970 - Mozart and Strauss Arias;
- 1976 - Music of Victor Herbert (WINNER)
- Emmy AwardEmmy AwardAn Emmy Award, often referred to simply as the Emmy, is a television production award, similar in nature to the Peabody Awards but more focused on entertainment, and is considered the television equivalent to the Academy Awards and the Grammy Awards .A majority of Emmys are presented in various...
Nominations:- 1975 - Profile in Music: Beverly Sills, Festival '75 (WINNER);
- 1977 - Sills and Burnett at the Met;
- 1978 - Lifestyles with Beverly Sills (WINNER);
- 1980 - Beverly Sills in Concert;
- 1981 - Great Performances: Beverly! Her Farewell Performance
- Honorary Doctorates in Music:
- 1972 - Temple University;
- 1973 - New York University & New England Conservatory of Music;
- 1974 - Harvard University
- 1975 - California Institute of the Arts
- Other Music-related awards:
- 1970 - Musical America - Musician of the Year;
- 1971 - Inducted as a National Patroness of Delta OmicronDelta OmicronDelta Omicron is a co-ed international professional music honors fraternity whose mission is to promote and support excellence in music and musicianship.-History:...
, an international professional music fraternity on May 1 - 1972 - Edison Award - Manon recording;
- 1973 - Handel Medallion from New York City for artistic achievement;
- 1979 - Recording Industry of America Cultural Award;
- 1980 - Golden Baton, American Symphony Orchestra League;
- 1985 - Kennedy Center HonorsKennedy Center HonorsThe Kennedy Center Honors is an annual honor given to those in the performing arts for their lifetime of contributions to American culture. The Honors have been presented annually since 1978 in Washington, D.C., during gala weekend-long events which culminate in a performance for—and...
; - 1990 - National Medal of ArtsNational Medal of ArtsThe National Medal of Arts is an award and title created by the United States Congress in 1984, for the purpose of honoring artists and patrons of the arts. It is the highest honor conferred to an individual artist on behalf of the people. Honorees are selected by the National Endowment for the...
from National Endowment for the Arts; - 1996 - The 2nd Annual Heinz AwardHeinz AwardThe Heinz Award is an award currently given annually to ten honorees by the Heinz Family Foundation. The Heinz Awards recognize outstanding individuals for their contributions in the five areas of: Arts and Humanities, the Environment, the Human Condition, Public Policy, and Technology, the Economy...
in Arts and Humanities - 2005 - Beverly Sills Artist Award established by the Metropolitan Opera ($50,000 annual award);
- 2007 - Inducted into the Long Island Music Hall of FameLong Island Music Hall of FameThe Long Island Music Hall of Fame is an organization whose office is located in Port Jefferson, New York. It was incorporated in July 2005 under the New York State Board of Regents as a non profit organization and holds a provisional charter to operate as a museum in the state of New York...
- Charitable and Humanitarian Awards:
- 1979 - Pearl S. Buck Women's Award;
- 1980 - Presidential Medal of FreedomPresidential Medal of FreedomThe Presidential Medal of Freedom is an award bestowed by the President of the United States and is—along with thecomparable Congressional Gold Medal bestowed by an act of U.S. Congress—the highest civilian award in the United States...
; - 1981 - Barnard CollegeBarnard CollegeBarnard College is a private women's liberal arts college and a member of the Seven Sisters. Founded in 1889, Barnard has been affiliated with Columbia University since 1900. The campus stretches along Broadway between 116th and 120th Streets in the Morningside Heights neighborhood in the borough...
Medal of Distinction; - 1984 - Charles S. Hughes Gold Medal Award - Nat. Conf. of Christians and Jews;
- 1985 - Gold Medal from National Institute of Social Sciences
Recordings and broadcasts
During her operatic career, Sills recorded eighteen full-length operas:- The Ballad of Baby Doe (Bible, Cassel; Buckley, 1959)
- Giulio Cesare (Wolff, Forrester, Treigle; Rudel, 1967)
- Roberto Devereux (Wolff, Ilosfalvy, Glossop; Mackerras, 1969)
- Lucia di Lammermoor (Bergonzi, Cappuccilli, Díaz; Schippers, 1970)
- Manon (Gedda, Souzay, Bacquier; Rudel, 1970)
- La traviata (Gedda, Panerai; Ceccato, 1971)
- Maria Stuarda (Farrell, Burrows, L.Quilico; Ceccato, 1971)
- The Tales of Hoffmann (Marsee, Burrows, Treigle; Rudel, 1972)
- Anna Bolena (Verrett, Burrows, Plishka; Rudel, 1972)
- I puritani (Gedda, L.Quilico, Plishka; Rudel, 1973)
- Norma (Verrett, di Giuseppe, Plishka; Levine, 1973)
- The Siege of Corinth (Verrett, Theyard, Díaz; Schippers, 1974)
- Il barbiere di Siviglia (Barbieri, Gedda, Milnes, Raimondi; Levine, 1974–75)
- I Capuleti e i Montecchi (Baker, Gedda, Herincx, Lloyd; G.Patanè, 1975)
- Thaïs (Gedda, Milnes; Maazel, 1976)
- Louise (Gedda, van Dam; Rudel, 1977)
- Don Pasquale (Kraus, Titus, Gramm; Caldwell, 1978)
- Rigoletto (M.Dunn, Kraus, Milnes, Ramey; Rudel, 1978)
Sills also recorded nine solo recital albums of arias and songs, and was soprano soloist on a 1967 recording of Mahler's Symphony No. 2.
She starred in eight opera productions televised on PBS
and several more on other public TV systems. She participated in such TV specials as A Look-in at the Met with Danny Kaye
in 1975, Sills and Burnett at the Met, with Carol Burnett
in 1976, and Profile in Music, which won an Emmy Award
for its showing in the US in 1975, although it had been recorded in England in 1971.
Some of those televised performances have been commercially distributed on videotape and DVD:
- Ariadne auf Naxos (Watson, Nagy; Leinsdorf, 1969) [Concert Version]
- La fille du régiment (Costa-Greenspon, McDonald, Malas; Wendelken-Wilson, Mansouri, 1974)
- Roberto Devereux (Marsee, Alexander, Fredricks; Rudel, Capobianco, 1975)
- La traviata (H.Price, Fredricks; Rudel, Capobianco, 1976)
- Il barbiere di Siviglia (H.Price, Titus, Gramm, Ramey; Caldwell, Caldwell, 1976)
- Manon (H.Price, Fredricks, Ramey; Rudel, Capobianco, 1977)
Others not available commercially include:
- The Magic Flute (Pracht, Shirley, Reardon; NN, NN, 1966)
- Le coq d'or (Costa-Greenspon, di Giuseppe, Treigle; Rudel, Capobianco, 1971)
- Die lustige Witwe (H.Price, Titus; Alcántara, Capobianco, 1977)
- Il Turco in Italia (Marsee, H.Price, Titus, Gramm; Rudel, Capobianco, 1978)
- Don Pasquale (Kraus, Hagegård, Bacquier; Rescigno, Dexter, 1979)
After her retirement from singing in 1980 up through 2006, Sills was the host for many of the PBS Live from Lincoln Center
telecasts.
Further reading/listening/viewing
- Sills, Beverly (1976). Bubbles: A Self-Portrait. New York: Bobbs-Merrill. ISBN 0-446-81520-9. A revised edition was issued in 1981 as Bubbles: An Encore.
- Sills, Beverly (with Lawrence LindermanLawrence LindermanLawrence Linderman is a writer who has written extensively for Playboy and Penthouse magazines. He also helped Beverly Sills pen her autobiography....
) (1987). Beverly: An Autobiography. New York: Bantam Books.ISBN
0-553-05173-3.
- Sills, Beverly (1987). Beverly Sills: On My Own. ISBN 0-553-45743-8. An audio book designated as a companion to Beverly: An Autobiography, with Sills speaking in interview about her life, interspersed with narration and live musical excerpts. There is no direct text from the printed autobiography.
- Paolucci, Bridget (1990). Beverly Sills. New York: Chelsea House Publishers. ISBN 1-55546-677-X.
- Sargeant, Withrop (1973). Divas. New York: Coward, McCann & Geoghegan. ISBN 0-698-10489-7.
- Beverly Sills: Made in America (2006). Deutsche Grammophon B0007999-09. A 90-minute documentary on Sills's singing career with many rare video performance and interview clips.
External links
- Beverly Sills Online: tribute site with discography, bibliography, photo gallery, sound and video clips, timeline, press articles and other resources.
- Beverly Sills:Special mother to the special children: summarizes Sills' charitable work for disabled children.: Filmography
- Beverly Sills: National Women's Hall of Fame profile
- Beverly Sills at BrainyQuote: quotations
- Beverly Sills: Made in America (PBS Great Performances)
- Beverly Sills at OperaMom.com
- NY Times five-page obituary, dated July 3, 2007
- Sills at age 8, singing "Arditi: Il bacio"