Coloratura has several meanings. The word is originally from Italian, literally meaning "coloring", and derives from the Latin word ''colorare'' ("to color"). When used in English, the term specifically refers to elaborate melody, particularly in vocal music and especially in operatic singing of the 18th and 19th centuries, with runs, trills, wide leaps, or similar virtuoso-like material. It is also now widely used to refer to passages of such music, operatic roles in which such music plays a prominent part, and singers of these roles. (See also bel canto.)

Historical usage

The term "coloratura" was first defined in several early non-Italian music dictionaries: Michael Praetorius's ''Syntagma musicum'' (1618); Sébastien de Brossard's ''Dictionaire de musique'' (1703); and Johann Gottfried Walther's ''Musicalisches Lexicon'' (1732). In these early texts "the term is dealt with briefly and always with reference to Italian usage."

Christoph Bernhard (1628–1692) defined "coloratura" in two ways:

cadenza: "runs which are not so exactly bound to the bar, but which often extend two, three or more bars further [and] should be made only at chief closes" (''Von der Singe-Kunst, oder Maniera'', ca. 1649)

diminution: "when an interval is altered through several shorter notes, so that, instead of one long note, a number of shorter ones rush to the next note through all kinds of progressions by step or leap" (''Tractatus compositionis'', ca. 1657)

The term was never used in the most famous Italian texts on singing: Giulio Caccini's ''Le Nuove musiche'' (1601/2); Pier Francesco Tosi's, ''Opinioni de' cantori antichi e moderni'' (1723); Giovanni Battista Mancini's ''Pensieri, e riflessioni pratiche sopra il canto figurato'' (1774); Manuel García's ''Mémoire sur la voix humaine'' (1841), and ''Traité complet de l’art du chant'' (1840–47); nor was it used by the English authors Charles Burney (1726–1814) and Henry Fothergill Chorley (1808–1872), both of whom wrote at length about Italian singing of a period when ornamentation was essential.

Modern usage

The term "coloratura" is most commonly applied to the elaborate and florid figuration or ornamentation in classical (late 18th century) and romantic (19th century, specifically ''bel canto'') vocal music. However, early music of the 15th, 16th and 17th centuries, and in particular, baroque music extending up to about 1750, includes a substantial body of music for which coloratura technique is required by vocalists and instrumentalists alike. In the modern musicological sense the term is therefore used to refer to florid music from all periods of music history, both vocal and instrumental. For example, in Germany the term "coloratura" () has been applied to the stereotypical and formulaic ornamentation used in 16th-century keyboard music written by a group of German organ composers referred to as the "colorists" ().

In spite of its derivation from Latin ''colorare'' ("to color"), the term "coloratura" does not apply to the practice of "coloring" the voice, ''i.e.'' altering the quality or timbre of the voice for expressive purposes (for example, the technique of ''voix sombrée'' used by Gilbert Duprez in the 1830s).

Vocal ranges

The term is not restricted to describing any one range of voice. All other female and male voice types may also achieve mastery of coloratura technique. There are coloratura parts for all voice types in different musical genres.

Nevertheless, the term "coloratura", when used without further qualification, normally means ''soprano coloratura''. A coloratura soprano role, most famously typified by the Queen of the Night in Mozart's ''Die Zauberflöte'', has a high range and requires the singer to execute with great facility elaborate ornamentation and embellishment, including running passages, staccati, and trills. A coloratura soprano has the vocal ability to produce notes above high C (C6) and possesses a tessitura ranging from A4 to A5 or higher (unlike lower sopranos whose tessitura is G4–G5 or lower). {| align="center" |- | | |}

Richard Miller names two types of soprano coloratura voices (the coloratura and the dramatic coloratura) as well as a mezzo-soprano coloratura voice, and although he does not mention the coloratura contralto, he includes mention of specific works requiring coloratura technique for the contralto voice.

Examples of coloratura music for different voice ranges include:

Mozart's ''Allelujah'' (from ''Exsultate, jubilate'') may be arranged for and sung by a properly trained contralto, mezzo soprano or soprano. The piece was written for soprano castrato.

The aria ''Every valley shall be exalted'' from Handel's ''Messiah'' is an example of a coloratura piece for tenor.

Each singer of a major role in Rossini's operas must have a secure coloratura technique.

Osmin, a character in Mozart's ''The Abduction from the Seraglio,'' is a coloratura role for a bass.

See also

Medieval coloration

Notes

References

Apel, Willi, ed. (1969). ''Harvard dictionary of music'', second edition. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674375017.

Miller, Richard (2000). ''Training soprano voices''. New York: Oxford University Press. ISBN 9780195130188.

Randel, Don Michael, ed.; Apel, Willi, ed. (1986). ''New Harvard dictionary of music''. Cambridge, Massachusetts: The Belknap Press of Harvard University Press. ISBN 9780674615250.

Sadie, Stanley, ed. (1992). ''The new Grove dictionary of opera'' (four volumes). London: Macmillan. ISBN 9781561592289.

Category:Italian loanwords Category:Opera terminology Category:Ornament

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Coordinates	57°02′″N34°58′″N
name	Anna Netrebko
background	solo_singer
birth name	Anna Yuryevna Netrebko
birth date	September 18, 1971
birth place	Krasnodar, Soviet Union(now Krasnodar, Russia)
instrument	Vocals
genre	Opera
occupation	Opera singer (soprano)
years active	1993–present
website	}}

Anna Yuryevna Netrebko (; born 18 September 1971) is an operatic soprano. She now holds dual Russian and Austrian citizenship and currently resides in Vienna. She has been nicknamed "La Bellissima" by fans.

Biography

Netrebko was born in a family of Ukrainian and Kuban Cossack background. While a student at the Saint Petersburg conservatoire, Netrebko worked as a janitor at Saint Petersburg's Mariinsky Theatre. Later, she auditioned for the Mariinsky Theatre, where conductor Valery Gergiev recognized her from her prior work in the theater. He subsequently became her vocal mentor. Under Gergiev's guidance, Netrebko made her operatic stage debut at the Mariinsky at age 22, as Susanna in ''Le nozze di Figaro''. She went on to sing many prominent roles with the Kirov Opera, including Amina in ''La sonnambula'', Pamina in ''Die Zauberflöte'', Rosina in ''Il Barbiere di Siviglia'', and Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor''.

In 1994, she sang the Queen of the Night in ''Die Zauberflöte'' with the Riga Independent Opera Avangarda Akadēmija under conductor David Milnes.

In March 2006, Netrebko applied to become an Austrian citizen, receiving her citizenship in late July. According to an interview in the Austrian weekly news, she will live in Vienna and Salzburg. This has led to some backlash in Russia. Netrebko cites the cumbersome and humiliating process of obtaining visas (as a Russian citizen) for her many performances abroad as the main reason for obtaining Austrian citizenship.

In March 2007, Netrebko announced that she would be an ambassador for SOS Children's Village in Austria, and be a sponsor for the Tomilino village in Russia.

In April 2008, Netrebko announced that she and her fiancé, Uruguayan baritone Erwin Schrott, had married. Their son Tiago Aruã Schrott was born on 5 September 2008 in Vienna.. In July 2011, she talked of opening a restaurant .

Performances

In 1995, at the age of 24, Netrebko made her American debut as Lyudmila in Glinka's ''Ruslan and Lyudmila'' at the San Francisco Opera. Following this successful performance, she became a frequent guest singer in San Francisco. She is known as an acclaimed interpreter of other Russian operatic roles, such as Natasha in Prokofiev's ''War and Peace'', Louisa in ''Betrothal in a Monastery'' and Marfa in ''The Tsar's Bride''. Netrebko has also made successful forays into ''bel canto'' and romantic roles such as Gilda in ''Rigoletto'', Mimi in ''La bohème'', Giulietta in Bellini's ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'', and Elvira in ''I puritani''.

In 2002, Netrebko made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as Natasha in the Met premiere of ''War and Peace''. In the same year, she sang her first Donna Anna at the Salzburg Festival's production of ''Don Giovanni'', conducted by Nikolaus Harnoncourt. She also performed at the Russian Children's Welfare Society's major fund raiser, the "Petroushka Ball". She returned to the Ball in 2003 and 2006 and is an honorary director of the charity.

In 2003, Netrebko performed as Violetta in Verdi's ''La traviata'' in Munich, the title role in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' at the Los Angeles Opera, and Donna Anna at the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. Her second album, ''Sempre Libera'', was released the following year. She later appeared as Violetta Valéry in ''La traviata'' at the Salzburg Festival, conducted by Carlo Rizzi and in 2008 she performed the same role at Covent Garden to triumphant acclaim on the opening night, opposite Jonas Kaufmann and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in performances conducted by Maurizio Benini. However, she cancelled three subsequent performances due to suffering a bronchial condition. This was the second time she had cancelled her performances at the Royal Opera House, having withdrawn from some performances of ''Don Giovanni'' the previous summer due to illness.

On 30 May 2007, Netrebko made her Carnegie Hall debut with Dmitri Hvorostovsky and the Orchestra of St. Luke's. Originally scheduled for 2 March 2006, Netrebko postponed the recital because she did not feel artistically ready.

Netrebko appeared at the Last Night of the Proms on 8 September 2007 where she performed "Ah! Se una volta ... Ah! Non credea mirarti ... Ah! Non giunge" from ''La sonnambula'', "Meine Lippen, sie küssen so heiß" (''Giuditta'') and the song "Morgen!" by Richard Strauss (with violinist Joshua Bell). In the fall of 2007 she reprised her role as Juliette in ''Roméo et Juliette'' at the Metropolitan Opera. In December 2007, Netrebko performed for Martin Scorsese, a 2007 Honoree, at the Kennedy Center Honors, and in May 2008 she made a much-awaited debut at the Paris Opera in ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'', with Joyce DiDonato as her Romeo.

Netrebko was scheduled to sing Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' in October 2008 at the Metropolitan Opera, but due to her pregnancy she decided to drop out of the role.

In her first performance after her maternity leave, Netrebko sang Lucia in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' when it opened at the Mariinsky Theatre in Saint Petersburg on 14 January 2009, in a production from the Scottish Opera led by John Doyle. She then sang the same role in January and February 2009 at the Metropolitan Opera. Netrebko appeared as Giulietta in ''I Capuleti e i Montecchi'' at the Royal Opera House in Spring 2009, and as Violetta in ''La traviata'' in June 2009 at the San Francisco Opera. On November 13, 2010 in a matinee performance broadcast nationally by PBS, she sang the role of Norina in ''Don Pasquale'' at New York's Metropolitan Opera House under conductor James Levine. On April 2, 2011, she sang the title role of Gaetano Donizetti's ''Anna Bolena'' at the Vienna State Opera for a sold-out premiere there, and the repeat performance on April 5, 2011 was broadcast live to cinemas around the world.

Discography

Complete opera recordings in DVD format

!#	!Recordingyear	!Opera	!Cast	!Conductor,Opera house and orchestra	!Releaseyear	!Label
1	1995		Anna Netrebko Vladimir Ognovenko Larissa Diadkova Gennady Bezzubenkov Galina Gorchakova		2003
2	1998		Anna Netrebko Larissa Diadkova Nikolai Gassiev Aleksander Gergalov Sergei Aleksashkin		2005
3	2005		Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazón Thomas Hampson Helene Schneiderman Diane Pilcher		2006	Deutsche Grammophon
4	2005		Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazón Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Leo Nucci Inna Los	Alfred Eschwé Vienna State Opera orchestra, chorus and stage orchestra	2007
5	2006		Anna Netrebko Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Bo Skovhus Dorothea Röschmann Christine Schäfer	Nicolaus Harnoncourt Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera chorus	2007	Deutsche Grammophon
6	2007		Anna Netrebko Eduardo Valdes Franco Vasallo John Relyea Eric Cutler	Patrick Summers Metropolitan Opera orchestra, chorus and ballet	2008	Deutsche Grammophon
7	2007		Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazón Christof Fischesser Alfredo Daza Rémy Coraza	Daniel Barenboim Staatskapelle Berlin and Berlin State Opera chorus	2008	Deutsche Grammophon
8	2008		Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazón George von Bergen Nicole Cabell Adrian Eröd	Bertrand de Billy Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and chorus Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz children chorus	2009	Axiom Films
9	2009		Anna Netrebko Mariusz Kwiecien Piotr Beczala Colin Lee Ildar Abdrazakov	Marco Armiliato Metropolitan Opera orchestra, chorus and ballet	2009	Deutsche Grammophon
10	2010		Anna Netrebko Mariusz Kwiecien Matthew Polenzani John del Carlo	James Levine Metropolitan Opera orchestra and chorus	2011	Deutsche Grammophon

Complete opera recordings in audio CD format

!#	!Recordingyear	!Opera	!Cast	!Conductor,Opera house and orchestra	!Releaseyear	!Label
1	1995		Anna Netrebko Vladimir Ognovenko Larissa Diadkova Gennady Bezzubenkov Galina Gorchakova		2003
2	1997		Anna Netrebko Larissa Diadkova Mikhail Kit Evgeny Akimov Alexander Morozov		2001
3	1998		Anna Netrebko Larissa Diadkova Nikolai Gassiev Aleksander Gergalov Sergei Aleksashkin		1999
4	2005		Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazón Thomas Hampson Helene Schneiderman Diane Pilcher		2006	Deutsche Grammophon
5	2006		Anna Netrebko Ildebrando D'Arcangelo Bo Skovhus Dorothea Röschmann Christine Schäfer	Nicolaus Harnoncourt Vienna Philharmonic and Vienna State Opera chorus	2007	Deutsche Grammophon
6	2007		Anna Netrebko Rolando Villazón Boaz Daniel Nicole Cabell Stéphane Degout	Bertrand de Billy Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and chorus Staatstheater am Gärtnerplatz children chorus	2008	Deutsche Grammophon
7	2008		Anna Netrebko Elīna Garanča Joseph Calleja Robert Gleadow Tiziano Bracci	Fabio Luisi Vienna Symphony and the Wiener Singakademie	2009	Deutsche Grammophon

Other albums in audio CD and DVD formats

''Opera Arias''

''Opera''

''Duets'' (With Villazon)

''Sempre Libera''

''Russian Album''

''Souvenirs''

''In the Still of Night''

''The Mozart album''

''La nozze di Figaro - Highlights''

''Anna - Best of Anna Netrebko''

''Rossini: Stabat Mater''

''Prima donna - First ladies of opera''

''Puccini gold''

''Puccini: La Boheme (Soundtrack Highlights)]''

''Violeta: arias & duets from Verdi's La Traviata'' (CD/DVD)

''Stabat Mater - A Tribute to Pergolesi'' (CD/DVD)

''The Berlin Concert - Live from the Waldbühne'' DVD

''The opera gala - Live from Baden-Baden'' DVD

''Gala concert from St. Petersburg'' DVD

''The woman - The voice'' DVD

''A Mozart gala from Salzburg'' DVD

Recognitions and awards

''Time'' magazine placed her on its Time 100 list in 2007. She was identified by the journal ''Musical America'' as "a genuine superstar for the 21st century" and was named 'Musician of the Year' for 2008. She has also been described by Associated Press as "the reigning new diva of the 21st century".

She was awarded the State Prize of the Russian Federation (2004) and was made a People's Artist of Russia by President Putin in 2008.

''Playboy'' magazine placed her in their "sexiest babes of classical music" list.

Netrebko has also won two prestigious Classical BRIT Awards: the 2007 Singer of the Year Award and the 2008 Female of the Year.

References

External links

Reviews, articles, photos and future schedules for Anna Netrebko from The Opera Critic

Profile of Netrebko in the New York Times

Anna Netrebko on YouTube

Unofficial site of Anna Netrebko

Category:1971 births Category:Living people Category:Operatic sopranos Category:People from Krasnodar Category:People's Artists of Russia Category:Russian expatriates in Austria Category:Russian female singers Category:Russian opera singers Category:Russian people of Ukrainian descent Category:Russian sopranos Category:Saint Petersburg Conservatory alumni Category:State Prize of the Russian Federation laureates

ca:Anna Netrebko cs:Anna Netrebko da:Anna Netrebko de:Anna Jurjewna Netrebko et:Anna Netrebko es:Anna Netrebko fr:Anna Netrebko ko:안나 네트렙코 it:Anna Jur'evna Netrebko he:אנה נטרבקו la:Anna Netrebko lt:Ana Netrebko nl:Anna Netrebko ja:アンナ・ネトレプコ no:Anna Netrebko pl:Anna Netrebko pt:Anna Netrebko ru:Нетребко, Анна Юрьевна sl:Anna Netrebko fi:Anna Netrebko sv:Anna Netrebko tr:Anna Netrebko uk:Нетребко Ганна Юріївна zh:安娜·奈瑞贝科

Dame Joan Alston Sutherland, OM, AC, DBE (7 November 192610 October 2010) was an Australian dramatic coloratura soprano noted for her contribution to the renaissance of the bel canto repertoire from the late 1950s through to the 1980s.

One of the most remarkable female opera singers of the 20th century, she was dubbed ''La Stupenda'' by a La Fenice audience in 1960 after a performance of the title role in Handel's ''Alcina''. She possessed a voice of beauty and power, combining extraordinary agility, accurate intonation, "supremely" pinpoint staccatos, a splendid trill and a tremendous upper register, although music critics often complained about the imprecision of her diction. Her friend Luciano Pavarotti once called Sutherland the "Voice of the Century"; Montserrat Caballé described the Australian's voice as being like "heaven".

Early life and career

Joan Sutherland was born to Scottish parents in Sydney, and attended St Catherine's School in the suburb of Waverley. As a child, she listened to and imitated her mother's singing exercises. Her mother, a mezzo-soprano, had taken voice lessons but never considered making a career as a professional singer. Sutherland was 18 years old when she began seriously studying voice with John and Aida Dickens. She made her concert debut in Sydney, as Dido in Purcell's ''Dido and Aeneas'', in 1947. In 1951, she made her stage debut in Eugene Goossens's ''Judith''. In 1951, after winning Australia's most important competition, the Sun Aria, now known as the Sydney Eisteddfod McDonald's Operatic Aria in 1949. She then went to London to further her studies at the Opera School of the Royal College of Music with Clive Carey. She was engaged by the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, as a utility soprano, and made her debut there on 28 October 1952, as the First Lady in ''The Magic Flute'', followed in November by a few performances as Clotilde in Vincenzo Bellini's ''Norma'', with Maria Callas as Norma.

Being an admirer of Kirsten Flagstad in her early career, she trained to be a Wagnerian dramatic soprano. In December 1952, she sang her first leading role at the Royal Opera House, Amelia in ''Un ballo in maschera''. Other roles included Agathe in ''Der Freischütz'', the Countess in ''The Marriage of Figaro'', Desdemona in ''Otello'', Gilda in ''Rigoletto'', Eva in ''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg'', and Pamina in ''The Magic Flute''. In 1953, she sang the role of Lady Rich in Benjamin Britten's ''Gloriana'' a few months after its world premiere, and created the role of Jennifer in Michael Tippett's ''The Midsummer Marriage'', on 27 January 1955.

Sutherland married Australian conductor and pianist Richard Bonynge on 16 October 1954. Their son, Adam, was born in 1956. Bonynge gradually convinced her that Wagner might not be her ''Fach'', and that since she could produce high notes and coloratura with great ease, she should perhaps explore the bel canto repertoire. She eventually settled in this ''Fach'', spending most of her career singing dramatic coloratura soprano.

In 1957, she appeared in Handel's ''Alcina'' with the Handel Opera Society, and in Donizetti's ''Emilia di Liverpool'', in which performances her bel canto potential was clearly demonstrated, vindicating her husband's judgement. The following year she sang Donna Anna in ''Don Giovanni'' in Vancouver.

In 1958, at the Royal Opera House, after singing, "Let the Bright Seraphim", from Handel's oratorio, ''Samson'', she received a ten minute-long standing ovation.

La Stupenda

In 1959, Sutherland was invited to sing ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' at the Royal Opera House in a production conducted by Tullio Serafin and staged by Franco Zeffirelli. The role of Edgardo was sung by her fellow Australian Kenneth Neate, who had replaced the scheduled tenor at short notice. It was a breakthrough for Sutherland's career, and, upon the completion of the famous Mad Scene, she had become a star. In 1960, she recorded the album ''The Art of the Prima Donna'', which remains today one of the most recommended opera albums ever recorded: the double LP set won the Grammy Award for Best Classical Performance – Vocal Soloist in 1962. The album, a collection consisting mainly of coloratura arias, displays her seemingly effortless coloratura ability, high notes and opulent tones, as well as her exemplary trill. The album was added to the National Film and Sound Archive's Sounds of Australia registry in 2011.

By the beginning of the 1960s, Sutherland had already established a reputation as a diva with a voice out of the ordinary. She sang Lucia to great acclaim in Paris in 1960 and, in 1961, at La Scala and the Metropolitan Opera. In 1960, she sang a superb Alcina at La Fenice, Venice, where she was nicknamed ''La Stupenda'' ("The Stunning One"). Sutherland would soon be praised as ''La Stupenda'' in newspapers around the world. Later that year (1960), Sutherland sang Alcina at the Dallas Opera, with which she made her US debut.

Her Metropolitan Opera debut took place on 26 November 1961, when she sang ''Lucia''. After a total of 223 performances in a number of different operas, her last appearance there was a concert on 12 March 1989. During the 1978–82 period her relationship with the Met severely deteriorated when Sutherland had to decline the role of Constanze in Mozart's ''Die Entführung aus dem Serail'', more than a year before the rehearsals were scheduled to start. The opera house management then declined to stage the operetta ''The Merry Widow'' especially for her, as requested; subsequently, she did not perform at the Met during that time at all, even though a production of Rossini's ''Semiramide'' had also been planned, but later she returned there to sing in other operas.

During the 1960s, Sutherland had added the greatest heroines of bel canto ("beautiful singing") to her repertoire: Violetta in Verdi's ''La traviata'', Amina in Bellini's ''La sonnambula'' and Elvira in Bellini's ''I puritani'' in 1960; the title role in Bellini's ''Beatrice di Tenda'' in 1961; Marguerite de Valois in Meyerbeer's ''Les Huguenots'' and the title role in Rossini's ''Semiramide'' in 1962; Norma in Bellini's ''Norma'' and Cleopatra in Handel's ''Giulio Cesare'' in 1963. In 1966 she added Marie in Donizetti's ''La fille du régiment'', which became one of her most popular roles, because of her perfect coloratura and lively, funny interpretation.

In 1965, Sutherland toured Australia with the Sutherland-Williamson Opera Company. Accompanying her was a young tenor named Luciano Pavarotti, and the tour proved to be a major milestone in Pavarotti's career. Every performance featuring Sutherland sold out.

During the 1970s, Sutherland strove to improve her diction, which had often been criticised, and increase the expressiveness of her interpretations. She continued to add dramatic bel canto roles to her repertoire, such as Donizetti's ''Maria Stuarda'' and ''Lucrezia Borgia'', as well as Massenet's extremely difficult ''Esclarmonde'', a role that few sopranos attempt. With Pavarotti she made a very successful studio-recording of ''Turandot'' in 1972 under the baton of Zubin Mehta, though she never performed the role on stage.

Sutherland's early recordings show her to be possessed of a crystal-clear voice and excellent diction. However, by the early 1960s her voice lost some of this clarity in the middle register, and she often came under fire for having unclear diction. Some have attributed this to sinus surgery; however, her major sinus surgery was done in 1959, immediately after her breakthrough ''Lucia'' at Covent Garden. In fact, her first commercial recording of the first and final scene of ''Lucia'' reveals her voice and diction to be just as clear as prior to the sinus procedure. Her husband Richard Bonynge stated in an interview that her "mushy diction" occurred while striving to achieve perfect legato. According to him, it is because she earlier had a very Germanic "un-legato" way of singing. She clearly took the criticism to heart, as, within a few years, her diction improved markedly and she continued to amaze and thrill audiences throughout the world.

In the late 1970s, Sutherland's voice started to decline and her vibrato loosened to an intrusive extent. However, thanks to her vocal agility and solid technique, she continued singing the most difficult roles amazingly well. During the 1980s, she added ''Anna Bolena'', Amalia in ''I masnadieri'' and ''Adriana Lecouvreur'' to her repertoire, and repeated ''Esclarmonde'' at the Royal Opera House performances in November and December 1983. Her last full-length dramatic performance was as Marguerite de Valois (''Les Huguenots'') at the Sydney Opera House in 1990, at the age of 63, where she sang ''Home Sweet Home'' for her encore. Her last public appearance, however, took place in a gala performance of ''Die Fledermaus'' on New Year's Eve, 1990, at Covent Garden, where she was accompanied by her colleagues Luciano Pavarotti and the mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne.

According to her own words, given in an interview with ''The Guardian'' newspaper in 2002, her biggest achievement was to sing the title role in ''Esclarmonde''. She considered those performances and recordings her best.

Retirement years

After retirement, Sutherland made relatively few public appearances, preferring a quiet life at her home in Les Avants, Switzerland. One exception was her 1994 address at a lunch organised by Australians for Constitutional Monarchy. In that address, she complained about having to be interviewed by a clerk of Chinese or Indian background when applying to renew her Australian passport. Her comments caused controversy among some sections of the community at the time.

Sutherland had a leading role as Mother Rudd in the 1995 comedy film ''Dad and Dave: On Our Selection'' opposite Leo McKern and Geoffrey Rush.

In 1997 she published an autobiography, ''The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland: A Prima Donna's Progress''. It received generally scathing reviews for its literary merits, but it does contain a complete list of all her performances, with full cast lists.

Her official biography, ''Joan Sutherland: The Authorised Biography", published in February 1994, was written by Norma Major, wife of the then prime minister John Major.

In 2002 she appeared at a dinner in London to accept the Royal Philharmonic Society's gold medal. She gave an interview to ''The Guardian'' in which she lamented the lack of technique in young opera singers and the dearth of good teachers. By this time she was no longer giving master classes herself; when asked by Italian journalists in May 2007 why this was, she replied: "Because I'm 80 years old and I really don't want to have anything to do with opera any more, although I do sit on the juries of singing competitions." The Cardiff Singer of the World competition was the one that Sutherland was most closely associated with after her retirement. She began her regular involvement with the event in 1993, serving on the jury five consecutive times and later, in 2003, becoming its patron.

On 3 July 2008, she fell and broke both of her legs while gardening at her home in Switzerland. She completely recovered and attended a 2009 luncheon hosted by Queen Elizabeth at Buckingham Palace in honour of members of the Order of Merit.

Death

On 11 October 2010, Sutherland's family announced that she had died at her home at Les Avants in Switzerland the previous day of cardiopulmonary failure – "the heart just gave out...When it came to the point that she physically couldn't do anything, she didn't want to live any more. She wanted to go, she was happy to go, and in the end she died very, very peacefully." Though she recovered from her fall in 2008, it led to more serious health problems. A statement from her family said "She's had a long life and gave a lot of pleasure to a lot of people." Sutherland had requested a small, private funeral service. Her funeral was held on 14 October and Opera Australia planned a tribute to her. Artistic director of Opera Australia, Lyndon Terracini, said "We won't see her like again. She had a phenomenal range, size and quality of voice. We simply don't hear that any more." Sutherland is survived by her husband, son, daughter-in-law and two grandchildren.

Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard said, "She was of course one of the great opera voices of the 20th century," adding that Dame Joan showed a lot of "quintessential Australian values. She was described as down to earth despite her status as a diva. On behalf of all Australians I would like to extend my condolences to her husband Richard and son Adam and their extended family at this difficult time. I know many Australians will be reflecting on her life's work today."

Memorial service

A State Memorial Service on 9 November 2010, arranged by Opera Australia, was held at the Sydney Opera House. Speakers at the service were Julia Gillard, Prime Minister of Australia; Professor Marie Bashir, the Governor of New South Wales; Moffatt Oxenbould, the former Artistic Director of Opera Australia; and Sutherland's son, Adam Bonynge. The service was broadcast live by both ABC1 television and ABC Classic FM (radio) and streamed globally by ABC News 24. Further memorial services were held in Westminster Abbey on 15 February 2011, and in New York City on 24 May 2011, which was hosted by Marilyn Horne with an appearance by Richard Bonynge. In attendance were Sherrill Milnes, Norman Ayrton, Regina Resnick, and Spiro Malas.

Voice

Vocal timbre

Described as "fresh," "silvery" and "bell-like" until 1963, Joan Sutherland's voice, later became "golden" and "warm", music critic John Yohalem writes it was like "melten honey caressing the line." In his book "Voices, Singers and Critics", John Steane writes that "if the tonal spectrum ranges from bright to dark, "Sutherland's place would be near the centre, which is no doubt another reason for her wide appeal." According to John Yohalem, "Her lower register was a cello register, Stradivarius-hued." Her voice was full and rounded even in her highest notes, which was brilliant, but sometimes "slightly acid."

In 1971, ''Time'' writes an article comparing Sutherland and Beverly Sills,

"Originally bright and youthful-sounding, her voice darkened as she transformed herself into a coloratura. There is a suggestion of Callas' famous middle register in Sutherland's vocal center—a tone that sounds as if the singer were singing into the neck of a resonant bottle. Today the Sutherland voice towers like a natural wonder, unique as Niagara or Mount Everest. Sills' voice is made of more ordinary stuff; what she shares with Callas is an abandon in hurling herself into fiery emotional music and a willingness to sacrifice vocal beauty for dramatic effect. Sutherland deals in vocal velvet, Sills in emotional dynamite. Sutherland's voice is much larger, but its plush monochrome robs it of carrying power in dramatic moments. Sills' multicolored voice, though smaller, projects better and has a cutting edge that can slice through the largest orchestra and chorus. Sometimes, indeed, it verges on shrillness. [...] In slow, legato music, Sills has a superior sense of rhythm and clean attack to keep things moving; Sutherland's more flaccid beat and her style of gliding from note to note often turn song into somnolence. Sills' diction in English, French and Italian is superb; Sutherland's vocal placement produces mushy diction in any language, but makes possible an even more seamless beauty of tone than is available to Sills."

Describing Sutherland's voice, John Yohalem writes:

On my personal color scale, which runs from a voluptuous red (Tebaldi) or blood-orange (Leontyne Price) or purple (Caballé) or red-purple (Troyanos) to white-hot (Rysanek) or runny yellow-green (Sills), Sutherland is among the “blue” sopranos – which has nothing to do with “blues” in the pop sense of the term. (Ella Fitzgerald had a blue voice, but Billie Holiday had a blues voice, which is very different.) Diana Damrau is blue. Mirella Freni is blue-ish. Karita Mattila is ice blue. Regine Crespin was deep blue shading to violet. Sutherland was true blue (like the Garter ribbon). There is a coolness here that can take on the passion in the music but does not inject passion where the music lacks it, could possibly use it.

Vocal category, size and range

Although she is generally described as a dramatic coloratura soprano, "categorizing Sutherland's voice has always been extremely difficult, both the size and the sound present definitional problems [...] Aside from singing some roles popular amongst coloratura sopranos, Sutherland’s voice could not be more different."

In a 1961 profile in ''The New York Times Magazine'', Sutherland said she initially had "a big rather wild voice" that was not heavy enough for Wagner, although she did not realize this until she heard "Wagner sung as it should be."

Regarding the size of Sutherland's voice, ''Opera Britannia'' praise "a voice of truly heroic dimensions singing bel canto. It is doubtful if any soprano in this repertoire has fielded quite so much power and tone as Dame Joan, and this includes Callas and Tetrazzini. The contrast with other sopranos who sing the same roles is appropriately enough stupendous, with rival prima donnas producing small pin points of sound as compared to Sutherland's seemingly endless cascades of full tone." In 1972, music critic Winthrop Sargeant describes her voice "as large as that of a top-ranking Wagnerian soprano" in the ''The New Yorker''. French soprano Natalie Dessay states, "She had a ''huge'', ''huge'' voice and she was able to lighten suddenly and to take this quick coloratura and she had also the top high notes like a coloratura soprano but with a ''big, huge'' voice, which is very rare."

Sutherland's vocal range extended from G below the staff (G₃) to high F (F₆), or high F-sharp (F₆), although she never sang this last note in a public performance.

Honours and awards

During her career and after, Sutherland received many honours and awards. In 1961, she was made a Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE). That year she was named the Australian of the Year.

In the Queen's Birthday Honours of 9 June 1975, she was in the first group of people to be named Companions of the Order of Australia (AC) (the order had been created only in February 1975). She was elevated within the Order of the British Empire from Commander to Dame Commander (DBE) in the New Year's Honours of 1979.

On 29 November 1991, the Queen bestowed on Dame Joan the Order of Merit (OM). In January 2004 she received the Australia Post ''Australian Legends Award'' which honours Australians who have contributed to the Australian identity and culture. Two stamps featuring Joan Sutherland were issued on Australia Day 2004 to mark the award. Later in 2004, she received a Kennedy Center Honor for her outstanding achievement throughout her career.

Sutherland House and the Dame Joan Sutherland Centre, both at St Catherine's School, Waverley, and the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre (JSPAC), Penrith, are all named in her honour.

John Paul College, a leading private school in Queensland, Australia, dedicated its newly established facility the Dame Joan Sutherland Music Centre in 1991. Sutherland visited the centre for its opening and again in 1996.

Roles

Sutherland performed live the following complete roles. {|class="wikitable sortable" !width="90px"|First performance!!Composer!!Work!!Role!!House!!Conductor!!Director!!class="unsortable"|Remarks |- |Jun 1947||Handel||''Acis and Galatea''||Galatea||Eastwood Masonic Hall, Sydney||||||Concert performance |- |Aug 1947||Purcell||''Dido and Aeneas''||Dido||Lyceum Club, Sydney||||||Concert performance |- |15 Jul 1950||Handel||''Samson''||Dalila and Israelite woman||Sydney Town Hall||||||Concert performance; Sutherland made her professional role debut as the Israelite woman on 14 October 1958 |- |9 Jul 1951||Goossens||''Judith''||Judith||Sydney Conservatorium of Music||Goossens||||Sutherland's first complete staged opera |- |16 Jul 1952||Puccini||''Il tabarro''||Giorgetta||Parry Theatre, RCM||Richard Austin||Peter Rice/Pauline Elliot|| |- |28 Oct 1952||Mozart||''The Magic Flute''||First lady||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Messel||Sutherland's professional debut |- |3 Nov 1952||Verdi||''Aida''||High Priestess||ROH, Covent Garden||Barbirolli||Cruddas|| |- |8 Nov 1952||Bellini||''Norma''||Clotilde||ROH, Covent Garden||Gui||Barlow|| |- |29 Dec 1952||Verdi||''Un ballo in maschera''||Amelia||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Barlow/Stone||Sutherland's first leading role |- |24 Feb 1953||Mozart||''The Marriage of Figaro''||Countess Almaviva||ROH tour, Edinburgh||J Gibson||Gerard|| |- |13 May 1953||Strauss||''Elektra''||Overseer||ROH, Covent Garden||Kleiber||Lambert|| |- |11 Aug 1953||Britten||''Gloriana''||Lady Rich||ROH tour, Bulawayo|||||| |- |19 Oct 1953||Wagner||''Die Walküre''||Helmwige||ROH, Covent Garden||Stiedry||Pemberton|| |- |2 Nov 1953||Bizet||''Carmen''||Frasquita||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Wakhévitch|| |- |4 Feb 1954||Verdi||''Aida''||Aida||ROH, Covent Garden||E Young||Cruddas|| |- |23 Mar 1954||Weber||''Der Freischütz''||Agathe||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Furse|| |- |30 Apr 1954||Piccinni||''La buona figliuola''||Lucinda||||Mackerras||||BBC radio broadcast |- |27 May 1954||Wagner||''Der Ring des Nibelungen''||Woglinde and Woodbird||ROH, Covent Garden||Stiedry||Hurry||Sutherland also sang the role of Helmwige, which she had sung previously; the other dates of the cycle were 2, 8, and 17 June |- |17 Nov 1954||Offenbach||''Les contes d'Hoffmann''||Antonia||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |27 Jan 1955||Tippett||''The Midsummer Marriage''||Jenifer||ROH, Covent Garden||Pritchard||Hepworth||World premiere; Sutherland created the role |- |28 Feb 1955||Offenbach||''Les contes d'Hoffmann''||Giulietta||ROH tour, Glasgow||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |19 Jun 1955||Offenbach||''Les contes d'Hoffmann''||Olympia||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |30 Sep 1955||Weber||''Euryanthe''||Euryanthe||||Stiedry||||BBC radio broadcast |- |30 Oct 1955||Bizet||''Carmen''||Micaela||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |11 Mar 1956||Mozart||''La clemenza di Tito''||Vitellia||||Pritchard||||BBC radio broadcast |- |10 Nov 1956||Mozart||''The Magic Flute''||Pamina||ROH, Covent Garden||J Gibson||Messel|| |- |28 Jan 1957||Wagner||''Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg''||Eva||ROH, Covent Garden||Kubelík||Wakhévitch|| |- |19 Mar 1957||Handel||''Alcina''||Alcina||St Pancras Town Hall||Farncombe||||Concert performance; Sutherland first performed this role on stage on 19 February 1960 |- |8 Jun 1957||Verdi||''Rigoletto''||Gilda||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Gellner|| |- |5 Jul 1957||Mozart||''Der Schauspieldirektor''||Mme Hertz||Glyndebourne Festival Opera||Balkwill||Rice|| |- |16 Aug 1957||Scarlatti||''Mitridate Eupatore''||Laodice||||Appia||||BBC radio broadcast |- |8 Sep 1957||Donizetti||''Emilia di Liverpool''||Emilia||||Pritchard||||BBC radio broadcast |- |21 Dec 1957||Verdi||''Otello''||Desdemona||ROH, Covent Garden||Downes||Wakhévitch|| |- |16 Jan 1958||Poulenc||''Dialogues of the Carmelites''||Mme Lidoine||ROH, Covent Garden||Kubelík||Wakhévitch|| |- |24 May 1958||Haydn||''Applausus Musicus''||Temperantia||||Newstone||||BBC radio broadcast |- |26 Jul 1958||Mozart||''Don Giovanni''||Donna Anna||Vancouver Opera||Goldschmidt||Maximowna|| |- |17 Feb 1959||Donizetti||''Lucia di Lammermoor''||Lucia||ROH, Covent Garden||Serafin||Zeffirelli||This performance marked the beginning of Sutherland's international career |- |24 Jun 1959||Handel||''Rodelinda''||Rodelinda||Sadler's Wells Theatre||Farncombe||Pidcock|| |- |8 Jan 1960||Verdi||''La traviata''||Violetta Valéry||ROH, Covent Garden||Santi||Fedorovitch|| |- |24 May 1960||Bellini||''I puritani''||Elvira||Glyndebourne Festival Opera||Gui||Heeley|| |- |19 Oct 1960||Bellini||''La sonnambula''||Amina||ROH, Covent Garden||Serafin||Sanjust|| |- |21 Feb 1961||Bellini||''Beatrice di Tenda''||Beatrice||New York Town Hall||Rescigno||||Concert performance; Sutherland first performed this role on stage on 10 May 1961 |- |4 Jan 1962||Mozart||''The Magic Flute''||The Queen of the Night||ROH, Covent Garden||Klemperer||Eisler|| |- |28 May 1962||Meyerbeer||''Les Huguenots''||Maguerite de Valois||La Scala||Gavazzeni||Nicola Benois|| |- |17 Dec 1962||Rossini||''Semiramide''||Semiramide||La Scala||Santini|||| |- |20 Jun 1963||Handel||''Giulio Cesare''||Cleopatra||Sadler's Wells Theatre||Farncombe||Warre|| |- |17 Oct 1963||Bellini||''Norma''||Norma||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||McLance/Mess|| |- |9 Mar 1965||Gounod||''Faust''||Marguerite||Connecticut Opera||Bonynge||Rome/Brooks van Horne|| |- |2 Jun 1966||Donizetti||''La fille du régiment''||Marie||ROH, Covent Garden||Bonynge||Anni/Escoffier|| |- |10 Apr 1967||Delibes||''Lakmé''||Lakmé||Seattle Opera||Bonynge|||| |- |21 May 1967||Haydn||''L'anima del filosofo''||Euridice||Theater an der Wien||Bonynge||Ludwig|| |- |12 Nov 1971||Donizetti||''Maria Stuarda''||Maria Stuarda||San Francisco Opera||Bonynge||Pizzi|| |- |26 Oct 1972||Donizetti||''Lucrezia Borgia''||Lucrezia||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||Varona|| |- |23 Oct 1974||Massenet||''Esclarmonde''||Esclarmonde||San Francisco Opera||Bonynge||Montressor|| |- |12 Sep 1975||Verdi||''Il trovatore''||Leonora||San Francisco Opera||Bonynge||Hager/Skalicki|| |- |22 Apr 1976||Lehár||''The Merry Widow''||Hanna Glavari||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||Varona|| |- |16 Jul 1977||Puccini||''Suor Angelica''||Suor Angelica||Sydney Opera House||Bonynge||Digby|| |- |23 Sep 1977||Massenet||''Le roi de Lahore''||Sita||Vancouver Opera||Bonynge||Mariani|| |- |4 Jul 1979||Mozart||''Idomeneo''||Electra||Sydney Opera House||Bonynge||Truscott|| |- |2 Jul 1980||Verdi||''I masnadieri''||Amalia||Sydney Opera House||Bonynge||Lees/Stennett|| |- |22 May 1983||Cilea||''Adriana Lecouvreur''||Adriana||San Diego Opera||Bonynge||O'Hearn/Mess|| |- |22 Jun 1984||Donizetti||''Anna Bolena''||Anna Bolena||Canadian Opera Company, Toronto||Bonynge||Pascoe/Stennett|| |- |4 Oct 1985||Thomas||''Hamlet''||Ophélie||Canadian Opera Company, Toronto||Bonynge||Shalicki/Digby/Stennett|| |}

Recordings

Recordings include: ;Vincenzo Bellini

''Beatrice di Tenda''—Joan Sutherland (Beatrice), Luciano Pavarotti (Orombello), Cornelius Opthof (Filippo), Josephine Veasey (Agnese), Joseph Ward (Anichino/Rizzardo), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge—Decca

''I puritani''—Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Pierre Duval (Arturo), Renato Capecchi (Riccardo), Ezio Flagello (Giorgio), Giovanni Fioiani (Gualtiero), Margreta Elkins (Enrichetta), Piero de Palma (Bruno), Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge (conductor) –recorded 1963– Decca 448 969-2 / Decca 467 789-2 (part of a 10-CD set) / London POCL 3965-7

''I puritani''—Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Luciano Pavarotti (Arturo), Piero Cappuccilli (Riccardo), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Giorgio), Giancarlo Luccardi (Gualtiero), Anita Caminada (Enrichetta), Renato Cazzaniga (Bruno), Chorus of the Royal Opera, Covent Garden, London Symphony Orchestra—Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1973, Decca

''La sonnambula''—Joan Sutherland (Amina), Nicola Monti (Elvino), Fernando Corena (Rodolfo), Sylvia Stahlman (Lisa), Margreta Elkins (Teresa), Angelo Mercuriali (Notary), Giovanni Fioiani (Alessio), Coro e Orchestra del Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, Richard Bonynge recorded 1962—Decca 00289 448 9662 6 / 000320702 / 455 823-2—Track listing

''La sonnambula''—Joan Sutherland (Amina), Luciano Pavarotti (Elvino), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Rodolfo), Isobel Buchanan (Lisa), Della Jones (Teresa), Piero De Palma (Notaro), John Tomlinson (Alessio), National Philharmonic Orchestra, London Opera Chorus, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1980—Decca 2LH417-424

''Norma''—Joan Sutherland (Norma), Marilyn Horne (Adalgisa), John Alexander (Pollione), Richard Cross (Oroveso), Yvonne Minton (Clotilde), Joseph Ward (Flavio), London Symphony Orchestra and Chorus, Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1964—Decca

''Norma''—Joan Sutherland (Norma), Margreta Elkins (Adalgisa), Ronald Stevens (Pollione), Clifford Grant (Oroveso), Etela Piha (Clotilde), Trevor Brown (Flavio), Opera Australia Chorus, Elizabethan Sydney Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1978—DVD Arthaus Musik 100 180

''Norma''—Joan Sutherland (Norma), Montserrat Caballé (Adalgisa), Luciano Pavarotti (Pollione), Samuel Ramey (Oroveso), Diana Montague (Clotilde), Kim Begley (Flavio), Chorus and Orchestra of the Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1984—Decca

;Georges Bizet

''Carmen''—Regina Resnik (Carmen), Mario Del Monaco (Don Jose), Joan Sutherland (Micaëla), Tom Krause (Escamillo), Georgette Spanellys (Frasquita), Yvonne Minton (Mercedes), Robert Geay (Zuniga), Jean Prudent (Le Dancaire), Alfred Hallet (Le Remendado), Claude Cales (Morales)

;Giovanni Battista Bononcini

''Griselda''—Joan Sutherland (Griselda), Lauris Elms (Ernesto), Monica Sinclair (Gualtiero), Margreta Elkins (Almirena), Spiro Malas (Rambaldo), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1967. Decca 448 977-2 (coupled with ''Montezuma'')

;Léo Delibes

''Lakmé''—Joan Sutherland (Lakmé), Gabriel Bacquier (Nilakantha), Jane Berbié (Malika), Émile Belcourt (Hadji), Alain Vanzo (Gérald), Monte Carlo Opera Chorus, Orchestre National de l'Opéra de Monte-Carlo, Richard Bonynge, Recorded 1968, Decca Records.

;Gaetano Donizetti

''Emilia di Liverpool'' (excerpts) / ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' (excerpts)—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Joao Gibin (Edgardo), Tullio Serafin (conductor). Recorded 26 February 1959—Myto Records MCD 91545 (''Probably'' these are excerpts from the same performance as the Melodram recording.)

''Lucia di Lammermoor''—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Renato Cioni (Edgardo), Robert Merrill (Enrico), Cesare Siepi (Raimondo), Chorus & Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, John Pritchard (conductor), Decca, 1961.

''Lucia di Lammermoor''—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Luciano Pavarotti (Edgardo), Sherrill Milnes(Enrico), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Raimondo), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge, Decca, 1971.

''Lucia di Lammermoor''—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), João Gibin (Edgardo), John Shaw (Enrico), Joseph Rouleau (Raimondo), Kenneth MacDonald (Arturo), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Robert Bowman (Normanno), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Tullio Serafin, recorded 1959—Golden Melodram GM 50024 or Giuseppe di Stefano GDS 21017 or Bella Voce BLV 107 218 (highlights). 2006 release: Royal Opera House Heritage Series ROHS 002.

''Lucia di Lammermoor''—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), André Turp (Edgardo), John Shaw (Enrico), Joseph Rouleau (Raimondo), Kenneth MacDonald (Arturo), Margreta Elkins (Alisa), Edgar Evans (Normanno), Chorus & Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, John Pritchard, recorded 1961—Celestial Audio CA 345

''Lucia di Lammermoor''—Joan Sutherland (Lucia), Richard Tucker (Edgardo), Frank Guarrera (Enrico), Nicola Moscona (Raimondo), Robert Nagy (Normanno), Thelma Votipka (Alisa), Charles Anthony (Arturo), Metropolitan Opera House, Conductor: Silvio Varviso. Recorded 9 December 1961 for radio broadcasting.

''La fille du régiment''—Joan Sutherland (Marie), Luciano Pavarotti (Tonio), Monica Sinclair (La Marquise de Berkenfield), Jules Bruyère (Hortensius), Spiro Malas (Sulpice), Eric Garrett (Le Caporal), Edith Coates (La Duchesse de Crakentorp), Orchestra & Chorus of the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, 17–28 July 1967. Original LP release: SET 372-3 (two LPs), CD release: 414 520-2 DH2 (two CDs).

''L'elisir d'amore''—Joan Sutherland (Adina), Luciano Pavarotti (Nemorino), Dominic Cossa (Belcore), Spiro Malas (Dulcamara), Maria Casula (Giannetta), Ambrosian Opera Chorus, English Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, 12–23 January and 1–10 July 1970. Original LP release: SET 503-5 (three LPs), CD release: 414 461-2 DH2 (two CDs), CD re-release: 475 7514 DOR2 (two CDs).

''Lucrezia Borgia''—Joan Sutherland (Lucrezia Borgia), Ronald Stevens (Gennaro), Margreta Elkins (Maffio Orsini), Richard Allman (Don Alfonso), Robin Donald (Jacopo Liveretto), Lyndon Terracini (Don Apostolo Gazella), Gregory Yurisich (Ascanio Petrucci), Lamberto Furlan (Oloferno Vitellozzo), Pieter Van der Stolk (Gubetta), Graeme Ewer (Rustighello), John Germain (Astolfo), Neville Grave (Un servo), Eddie Wilden (Un coppiere), Jennifer Bermingham (Principessa Negroni), Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1977. VHS Video Cassette—Castle Video CV2845 (PAL); Polygram-Vidéo 070 031-3 (SECAM) Polygram 079 261-3 (PAL)

''Lucrezia Borgia''—Joan Sutherland (Lucrezia), Giacomo Aragall (Gennaro), Marilyn Horne (Orsini), Ingvar Wixell (Alfonso), London Opera Chorus, National Philarmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge (conductor), Decca, 1977.

''Maria Stuarda''—Joan Sutherland (Maria), Huguette Tourangeau (Elisabeta), Luciano Pavarotti (Leicester), Roger Soyer (Talbot), Margreta Elkins (Anna), James Morris (Cecil), Coro del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Orchestra del Teatro Comunale di Bologna, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1975—Decca 00289 425 4102 / Lyrica LRC 1040/1041—Track listing and excerpts

;Charles Gounod

''Faust''—Joan Sutherland (Marguerite), Franco Corelli (Faust), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Méphistophélès), Robert Massard (Valentin), Margreta Elkins (Siébel), Monica Sinclair (Marthe), Raymond Myers (Wagner), Ambrosian Opera Chorus and Highgate School Choir, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, Decca 0289 4705632 4 (2002 release) / 421 240-2 (1991 release) / 467 059-2 / London POCL 3962-4 Track listing and audio samples

;George Frideric Handel

''Alcina''—Joan Sutherland (Alcina), Margreta Elkins (Ruggiero), Lauris Elms (Bradamante), Richard Greager (Oronte), Narelle Davidson (Morgana), Ann-Maree McDonald (Oberto), John Wegner (Melisso), Chorus and Orchestra of Australian Opera, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1983. Celestial Audio CA 112

''Alcina'' coupled with ''Giulio Cesare in Egitto'' (highlights)—Margreta Elkins (Giulio Cesare), Joan Sutherland (Cleopatra), Marilyn Horne (Cornelia), Monica Sinclair (Tolomeo), Richard Conrad (Sesto), New Symphonic Orchestra of London, Richard Bonynge—Decca 00289 433 7232 / 467063-2 / 467 067-2—Track listing and excerpts

''Athalia''—Joan Sutherland, Emma Kirkby, Aled Jones, James Bowman, Anthony Rolfe Johnson, David Thomas, The Academy of Ancient Music, Christopher Hogwood (Conductor)

''Messiah''—Joan Sutherland, Grace Bumbry, London Symphony Orchestra, Sir Adrian Boult (Conductor)—Decca 433 003-2

''Rodelinda''—Alfred Hallett (Grimoaldo), Raimund Herincx (Garibaldo), Joan Sutherland (Rodelinda), Dame Janet Baker (Eduige), Margreta Elkins (Bertarido), Patricia Kern (Unolfo), Chandos Singers, Philomusica Antiqua Orchestra, Charles Farncombe. An English language version, recorded live on June 24, 1959—Opera D'oro OPD 1189 (two CDs) or Memories HR 4577–4578 or Living Stage LS 403 35147 (highlights).

''Rodelinda''—Joan Sutherland (Rodelinda), Huguette Tourangeau (Bertarido), Eric Tappy (Grimoaldo), Margreta Elkins (Eduige), Cora Canne-Meijer (Unolfo), Pieter Van Den Berg (Garibaldo), Netherlands Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded 30 June 1973—Bella Voce BLV 10 7206.

;Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart

''Idomeneo''—Sergei Baigildin (Idomeneo), Margreta Elkins (Idamante), Henri Wilden (Arbace), Leona Mitchell (Ilia), Joan Sutherland (Elettra), Australian Opera Chorus, Sydney Elizabethan Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, recorded 1979. Gala GLH 826 (highlights) and Celestial Audio CA 060 (highlights)

''Don Giovanni''—Gottlob Frick (Commendatore), Luigi Alva (Don Ottavio), Graziella Sciutti (Zerlina), Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna), Piero Cappuccilli (Masetto), Elisabeth Schwarzkopf (Donna Elvira), Eberhard Wächter (Don Giovanni), Heinrich Schmidt, Giuseppe Taddei (Leporello), London Philharmonia Orchestra, Carlo Maria Giulini. Recorded 1959—EMI 0724356787353

''Don Giovanni''—Gabriel Bacquier (Don Giovanni), Pilar Lorengar (Donna Elvira), Marilyn Horne (Zerlina), Joan Sutherland (Donna Anna), English Chamber Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Decca 448 973-2

;Giacomo Meyerbeer

''Les Huguenots''—Joan Sutherland (Marguerite), Franco Corelli (Raoul), Giulietta Simionato (Valentine), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Marcel), Fiorenza Cossotto (Urbain), Gianandrea Gavazzeni, Orchestra e Coro del Teatro Alla Scala. Live: June 7, 1962. Opera D'Oro. Sung in Italian.

''Les Huguenots''—Dominic Cossa (Nevers), Gabriel Bacquier (Saint-Bris), Nicola Ghiuselev (Marcel), John Wakefield (Tavannes), Joseph Ward (Cossé), John Noble (Thoré), Glynne Thomas (Retz), John Gibbs (Meru), Clifford Grant (Maurevert), Janet Coster (Léonard), Dame Kiri Te Kanawa (1st Maid of Honour), Josephte Clement (2nd Maid of Honour), Arleen Auger (1st Gypsy Girl), Maureen Lehane (2nd Gypsy Girl), Joan Sutherland (Marguerite de Valois), Martina Arroyo (Valentine), Huguette Tourangeau (Urbain), Anastasios Vrenios (Raoul de Nangis), Alan Opie (2nd Monk), NPO, Bonynge. Decca 430 549-2, recorded in 1969.

;Jacques Offenbach

''Les contes d'Hoffmann''—Joan Sutherland, Plácido Domingo, Gabriel Bacquier,, L'Orchestre de la Suisse Romande, Orchestre du Radio de la Suisse Romande, Pro Arte de Lausanne, Andre Charlet, Richard Bonynge, studio recording made at Victoria Hall, Geneva, first published in 1976.

;Giacomo Puccini

''Suor Angelica''—Joan Sutherland (Angelica), Christa Ludwig (La Zia Principessa), National Phiharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Decca 475 6531 (coupled with Leoni's "L'oracolo")

''Turandot''—Joan Sutherland (Turandot), Luciano Pavarotti (Calaf), Montserrat Caballé (Liu), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Timur), Peter Pears (Emperor), London Phiharmonic Orchestra, Zubin Mehta. Decca 414 274-2, recorded in 1972.

;Gioachino Rossini

''Semiramide''—Joan Sutherland (Semiramide), John Serge (Idreno), Joseph Rouleau (Assur), Spiro Malas (Oroe), Patricia Clark (Azema), Leslie Fyson (Mitrane), Michael Langdon (Spectre of Nino), Marilyn Horne (Arsace), London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Decca 425 481-2, recorded in 1966.

;Ambroise Thomas

''Hamlet''—Joan Sutherland, Gösta Winbergh, James Morris, Sheril Milnes, Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh National Opera. Decca, 433 857-2.

;Giuseppe Verdi

''Ernani''—Luciano Pavarotti (Ernani), Joan Sutherland (Elvira), Leo Nucci (Carlo), Paata Burchuladze (Silva), Linda McLeod (Giovanna), Richard Morton (Riccardo), Alastair Miles (Jago), Orchestra and Chorus of Welsh National Opera, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Walthamstow Assembly Hall, 10–21 May 1987. Original CD release: 421 412-2 DHO2 (two CDs), CD re-release: 475 7008 DM2 (two CDs)

''I masnadieri''—Joan Sutherland, Samuel Ramey, Franco Bonisolli, Matteo Manuguerra, Simone Alaimo, Orchestra and Chorus of the Welsh Nation, Richard Bonynge. CD re-release in 1993: 433 854–2 (two CD, DDD).

''Requiem''—Joan Sutherland, Marilyn Horne, Luciano Pavarotti, Martti Talvela, Vienna State Opera Chorus and Vienna Philharmonic (Sir Georg Solti). Decca 411 944-2

''Rigoletto''—Cornell MacNeil, Joan Sutherland, Renato Cioni, Cesare Siepi, Chorus & Orchestra of the Accademia di Santa Cecilia, Nino Sanzogno, Decca, 1961.

''Rigoletto''—Sherrill Milnes, Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Martti Talvela, Ambrosian Opera Chorus, London Symphony Orchestra, Richard Bonynge, Decca, 1971.

''La traviata''—Joan Sutherland, Carlo Bergonzi, Robert Merrill, Chorus & Orchestra of Maggio Musicale Fiorentino, John Pritchard, Decca, 1962

''La traviata''—Joan Sutherland, Luciano Pavarotti, Matteo Manuguerra, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. London 430 491-2 recorded in 1979.

''Il trovatore''—Luciano Pavarotti (Manrico), Ingvar Wixell (Il Conte di Luna), Nicolai Ghiaurov (Ferrando), Joan Sutherland (Leonora), Marilyn Horne (Azucena), Graham Clark (Ruiz), Norma Burrowes (Ines), Peter Knapp (Un vecchio zingaro), Wynford Evans (Un messo), London Opera Chorus, National Philharmonic Orchestra, Richard Bonynge. Recorded: Kingsway Hall, London, 8, 10, 11, 13–18, 20 September 1976; 26 March 1977. Original LP release: D82D 3 (three LPs), CD release: 417 137-2 DH2* (two CDs), CD re-release: 460 735-2 DF2 (two CDs). ''(Ballet music not included in CD release)''.

;Richard Wagner

''Siegfried''—Joan Sutherland as the Woodbird, Vienna Philharmonic (Sir Georg Solti) 1962 recording, London 414 110-2

References

Further reading

Norma Major ''Joan Sutherland: The Authorized Biography'' Queen Anne P, 1987, ISBN 0-35612-693-5, ISBN 978-0356126937 / Little Brown & Co, 1994, ISBN 0-31654-555-4, ISBN 978-0316545556

''The Autobiography of Joan Sutherland—A prima donna's progress'' Weidenfeld & Nicolson, 1997, ISBN 0297813218

External links

Joan Sutherland at Decca Records

Joan Sutherland Collection at the Performing Arts Collection, the Arts Centre Melbourne (costumes, costume elements, costume designs, props, photographs, programmes, correspondence, scrapbooks, news clippings, business records etc.)

Dame Joan Sutherland programs in the National Library of Australia

Collected news and commentary at ''The New York Times''

R.I.P: Opera Legend Joan Sutherland – slideshow by ''Life''

;Interviews

ABC ''Sunday Profile'' interview: Dame Joan Sutherland

Arts and Culture: Ch. Purdy Interview with Dame Sutherland, November 2006

Joan Sutherland interview by Bruce Duffie

;Obituaries

Dame Joan Sutherland obituary, John Amis, Alan Blyth, ''The Guardian'', Monday, 11 October 2010

Joan Sutherland, Opera Soprano, Dies, Anthony Tommasini at ''The New York Times''

Joan Sutherland: addio, Stupenda, Anne Midgette at ''The Washington Post''

;Opinion

Joan Sutherland: the greatest soprano ever?, Martin Kettle at ''The Guardian''

Dame Joan Sutherland remembered at ''Opera Now''

Sutherland, Joan (1926–) National Library of Australia, ''Trove, People and Organisation'' record for Joan Sutherland

Category:1926 births Category:2010 deaths Category:Alumni of the Royal College of Music Category:ARIA Hall of Fame inductees Category:ARIA Award winners Category:Australian dames Category:Australian expatriates in Switzerland Category:Australian female singers Category:Australian monarchists Category:Australian people of Scottish descent Category:Australian of the Year Award winners Category:Australian opera singers Category:Australian sopranos Category:Companions of the Order of Australia Category:Dames Commander of the Order of the British Empire Category:Disease-related deaths in Switzerland Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Honorary Members of the Royal Academy of Music Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Members of the Order of Merit Category:Operatic sopranos Category:People from Sydney Category:Royal Philharmonic Society Gold Medallists

als:Joan Sutherland bg:Джоан Съдърланд ca:Joan Sutherland cy:Joan Sutherland da:Joan Sutherland de:Joan Sutherland et:Joan Sutherland el:Τζόαν Σάδερλαντ es:Joan Sutherland fr:Joan Sutherland ko:조안 서덜랜드 hy:Ջոան Սազերլենդ it:Joan Sutherland he:ג'ואן סאתרלנד la:Ioanna Sutherland lb:Joan Sutherland hu:Joan Sutherland ms:Joan Sutherland nl:Joan Sutherland ja:ジョーン・サザーランド no:Joan Sutherland pl:Joan Sutherland pt:Joan Sutherland ro:Joan Sutherland ru:Сазерленд, Джоан simple:Joan Sutherland sr:Џоун Садерланд fi:Joan Sutherland sv:Joan Sutherland tl:Joan Sutherland uk:Джоан Сазерленд vi:Joan Sutherland zh:瓊·蘇瑟蘭

right|280px|thumb|Yaw as Sultana Zubedyah in ''The Rose of Persia''Ellen Beach Yaw (September 14, 1869 – September 9, 1947) was an American coloratura soprano, best known for her concert singing career. She had an extraordinary vocal range and could produce unusually high notes. Known as "Lark Ellen" or "The California Nightingale," she was reportedly the only known soprano of her era who could sing and sustain the D above high D. She was also able to trill in major thirds or fifths (trills usually involve rapidly alternating notes over an interval of a minor or major second).

Life and career

Yaw was born in the small town of Boston, near Buffalo, New York (not Boston, Massachusetts, as is often stated), the daughter of Ambrose Yaw, who manufactured cow and sheep bells. Her family moved to Los Angeles when she was very young, but her father died when she was a small child, and the family was very poor. Yaw began singing and composing songs as a child. She studied singing in America, first with her mother; then with Mrs. Torpadie, the wife of tenor Theodore Bjorksten; and then with Ernesto delle Salle. Yaw sang in concerts, beginning as a child in the 1880s, to make money to pay for singing lessons. Tours of the southern United States, California, England, Switzerland, and Germany followed, and on her return to America she gave a concert in Carnegie Hall in 1896. Yaw raised enough money through these concerts to study in Paris with Mathilde Marchesi and later coached with Alberto Randegger. She also sang several opera roles in the late 1890s, including Ophelia in Ambroise Thomas' ''Hamlet'' in Nice in 1897.

''The Rose of Persia''

In 1898 and 1899, Yaw was singing in private concerts in London, and at one of these, at the home of Mrs. Fanny Ronalds, she so impressed Sir Arthur Sullivan that he prevailed upon the D'Oyly Carte Opera Company to cast her as the Sultana Zubedyah in his comic opera ''The Rose of Persia'', which opened on November 29, 1899 at the Savoy Theatre in London. Sullivan went so far as to write a special high cadenza for her song "'Neath My Lattice," a cadenza that only she could sing. Yaw's first two nights were shaky, though the reviews were mixed, and both the music director, Francois Cellier, and Mrs. Carte advocated for her replacement. Sullivan at first agreed, writing in his diary on 2 December, "I told [Cellier] I was afraid [that Yaw] would not improve, that she hadn’t got it in her.... I don’t quite see what it’s all about — Miss Yaw is not keeping people out of the theatre as Cellier and the Cartes imply."

By December 10, however, he wrote in his diary that Yaw was "improving rapidly" and "sang the song really superbly: brilliant. So I wrote again to Mrs. Carte saying that I thought if we let Miss Yaw go it would be another mistake." It was too late, however, and the next day Yaw stopped at Sullivan's flat to tell him that she had been dismissed summarily by Mrs. Carte (ostensibly on account of illness). She was replaced by Isabel Jay.

Opera and concert career

Yaw made some grand opera appearances thereafter in Monte Carlo, including as Ophelia in Thomas' ''Hamlet'' in 1902 (her favorite role); Rome, where she sang the title role in ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' in 1905 (under the name of Elena Elvanna at the Quirinal Theatre - she was the first American singer to make a successful operatic debut in Rome); Naples; Catalonia; and Milan. Yaw sang Gilda in ''Rigoletto'' in London in 1905 and gave a single performance of ''Lucia di Lammermoor'' at New York's Metropolitan Opera on March 21, 1908 (after which she was described by the Met's manager as "the world’s greatest coloratura soprano). She sang a total of about 18 operatic roles. However, she mostly devoted herself to the concert hall, where she had a long and successful career, singing for many of the crowned heads of Europe and for U.S. President William McKinley. In 1904, the ''Los Angeles Daily Times'' wrote, "Miss Yaw's voice is high soprano of crystalline lightness and purity and of a range so extreme in altitude that... it was the wonder of the European continent."

Yaw was much in demand as a recording artist, and her first records were made in May 1899. She made many recordings for the Victor Talking Machine Company. In order to display her voice to its best effect, she wrote several songs of her own with titles such as "The Skylark," "The Cuckoo," and "The Firefly." News dispatches from Paris in 1902 reported that the Shah of Persia had engaged Yaw to sing her repertoire into his phonograph. A few of her recordings are still available. Some of her rare KeenoPhone and unpublished Edison and Victor recordings are preserved on a recording that is narrated by her pupil, the tenor Antonio Altamirano. Thomas Edison, inventor of the phonograph, recorded her voice for mechanical experiments on a visit to his Orange, New Jersey laboratories. She sang various songs throughout her range into several machines. Afterwards, Edison said of her voice, "I can see no defects of any kind in this voice. Sweet on lower notes, and mellow. Best high tones yet for the disc machine."

Later life and charitable activities

right|thumb|350px|1913 class at the Lark Ellen SchoolYaw resided in Covina, California, for the last thirty years of her life. She taught singing, gave concerts (continuing her tours in Europe until World War I and throughout North America until about 1931), and devoted herself to charitable pursuits -- often her concerts were in aid of these charities. According to her student, Antonio Altimirano, she sang the witch in a production of ''Hansel und Gretel'' in later years. She established the "Lark Ellen League" to give concerts in hospitals, homes, and jails; and the "Lark Ellen School for Boys" (she did this early in her career, in the 1890s), later taken over by the Lions Club. Yaw is memorialized in Covina by Lark Ellen Elementary School and Lark Ellen Avenue, one of the main thoroughfares connecting Covina to neighboring West Covina.

She reportedly wrote her memoirs, ''The Song of the Lark'', which Mr. Altimirano reported were finished in 1983, but they were never published. Altimirano died in 1986, and the memoirs have not been found.

Yaw died in Covina, California, just shy of her 78th birthday.

Notes

References

Walters, Michael. "Madame Ellen Beach Yaw" in ''Daly's Issue'' 1, Gaiety Publications (2002), Ed. Roderick Murray, pp. 29-38.

Ellen Beach Yaw at Who Was Who in the D'Oyly Carte

Profile of Yaw

Newspaper article on Yaw from 1904

External links

Review of a Yaw concert in 1896

Information about Yaw's Home for Boys

Recordings featuring Yaw

Another recording featuring Yaw

Offers another recording featuring Yaw

Information about Yaw's vocal range

Photograph of Yaw and family

1907 recording of Yaw

1913 recording of Yaw singing "Skylark"

Category:1869 births Category:1947 deaths Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performers Category:American opera singers Category:Operatic sopranos

Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929July 2, 2007) was an American operatic 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 Opera revived 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 Dimes and 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.

Operatic repertoire

These are the roles that Sills has performed on stage or for television or radio.

{|class="wikitable sortable" !Composer!!Opera!!Role!!In repertoire!!Performed with!!Recorded |- |Bellini||''I Capuleti e i Montecchi''||Giulietta||1975||Opera Company of Boston||Yes |- |Bellini||''I puritani''||Elvira||1972–1978||Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, New York City Opera, San Francisco Opera, Tulsa Opera||Yes |- |Bellini||''Norma''||Norma||1972–1978||Opera Company of Boston, Opera Theatre of New Jersey, Connecticut Opera, Ravinia Festival, San Diego Opera, San Antonio Opera||Yes |- |Bizet||''Carmen''||Frasquita||1951||Philadelphia Civic Grand Opera Company||No |- |Bizet||''Carmen''||Micaela||1952–1958||Charles Wagner Opera Company, Robin Hood Dell West, Cosmopolitan Opera||No |- |Bizet||''Carmen''||Carmen||1956||Musicarnival||No |- |Bizet||''Les pêcheurs de perles''||Leila||1956||DuMont Television Network||Yes |- |Boito||''Mefistofele''||Helen of Troy||1953||San Francisco Opera||No |- |Charpentier||''Louise''||Louise||1962–1977||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Anna Bolena''||Anna ||1973–1975||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Don Pasquale''||Norina||1978–1980||Opera Company of Boston, Metropolitan Opera, Houston Grand Opera, San Diego Opera||Yes |- |Donizetti||''La fille du régiment''||Marie||1970–1977||Opera Company of Boston, Carnegie Hall, San Antonio Opera, Philadelphia Lyric Opera, San Diego Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Edmonton Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, San Francisco Opera, New York City Opera, Opera Memphis, Palm Beach Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''L'elisir d'amore''||Adina||1964||Opera Company of Boston||No |- |Donizetti||''Lucia di 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, San Antonio Grand Opera, Ravinia Festival, Philadelphia Lyric Opera Company, Covent Garden, Tulsa Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Mississippi Opera Association, Zoo Opera, Wolf Trap Opera, New Orleans Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Seattle Opera, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Opera Memphis, San Antonio Symphony, Florentine Opera, Opera Omaha, Metropolitan Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Lucrezia Borgia''||Lucrezia Borgia||1975–1976||New York City Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Maria Stuarda''||Maria Stuarda||1972–1974||New York City Opera ||Yes |- |Donizetti||''Roberto Devereux''||Elizabeth I||1970–1975||New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Wolf Trap Opera ||Yes |- |Gounod||''Faust''||Marguerite||1963–1970||Boston Opera Group, New York City Opera, Cincinnati Opera, Orlando Opera, San Antonio Grand Opera Festival, Duluth Symphony Orchestra||Yes |- |Handel||''Ariodante''||Ginevra||1971||Kennedy Center||Yes |- |Handel||''Giulio Cesare''||Cleopatra||1966–1971||New York City Opera, Teatro Colón, Cincinnati May Festival ||Yes |- |Handel||''Semele''||Semele||1967–1969||Cleveland Orchestra, Caramoor Festival ||Yes |- |Hanson||''Merry Mount''||Lady Marigold Sandys||1964||San Antonio Symphony||No |- |Hindemith||''Hin und zurück''||Helene||1965||WGBH-TV||Yes |- |Kálmán||''Gräfin Mariza''||Countess Mariza||1946||Hartman Theatre in Columbus, Ohio||No |- |Lehár||''The Merry Widow''||Sonia||1956–1965||Musicarnival, New York City Opera, Casa Mañana, Robin Hood Dell||No |- |Leoncavallo||''Pagliacci''||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||''Manon''||Manon||1953–1978||Baltimore Opera Company, New York City Opera, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Teatro Colón, San Francisco Opera, Opera Company of Philadelphia||Yes |- |Massenet||''Thaïs''||Thaïs||1954–1978||DuMont Television Network, San Francisco Opera, Metropolitan Opera||Yes |- |Menotti||''La Loca''||Juana La Loca||1979||San Diego Opera, New York City Opera||Yes |- |Meyerbeer||''Les Huguenots''||Marguerite||1969||Carnegie Hall||Yes |- |Montemezzi||''L'amore dei tre re''||Fiora||1956||Philadelphia Grand Opera Company||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||''Der Schauspieldirektor''||Madame Goldentrill||1956||New York City Opera||No |- |Mozart||''Die Entführung aus dem Serail''||Konstanze||1965–1975||Boston Opera Group, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Grant Park, Tanglewood Music Festival, Frederic R. Mann Auditorium, Ravinia Festival||Yes |- |Mozart||''Die Zauberflöte''||Queen of the Night ||1964–1967||Boston Opera Group, Théâtre de Beaulieu, Tanglewood Music Festival, Houston Grand Opera, Vienna State Opera, New York City Opera, CBC Radio||Yes |- |Mozart||''Don Giovanni''||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, Palacio de Bellas Artes, Théâtre de Beaulieu, Baltimore Opera Company ||Yes |- |Mozart||''Le nozze di Figaro''||Countess||1965||Miami Opera||No |- |Offenbach||''Les contes d'Hoffmann''||Three Heroines||1964–1973||New Orleans Opera, 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, Shreveport Opera, Municipal Theater of Santiago, San Diego Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Florida Symphony ||Yes |- |Puccini||''La bohème''||Musetta||1958–1963||Cosmopolitan Opera, New York City Opera||No |- |Puccini||''La bohème''||Mimi||1965||Seattle Opera||No |- |Puccini||''Gianni Schicchi''||Lauretta||1967||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Puccini||''Suor Angelica''||Suor Angelica||1967||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Puccini||''Il tabarro''||Giorgetta||1967||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Puccini||''Tosca''||Tosca||1957–1960||Murrah High School Auditorium for the Jackson Opera Guild, Musicarnival|| No |- |Rameau||''Hippolyte et Aricie''||Aricie||1966||Opera Company of Boston||Yes |- |Rimsky-Korsakov||''Le Coq d'Or''||Queen Shemakha||1967–1971||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Romberg||''The Student Prince''||Kathie||1954||''Chicago Theater of the Air''||Yes |- |Rossini||''The Barber of Seville''||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, Robin Hood Dell ||Yes |- |Rossini||''Il turco in Italia''||Fiorilla||1978–1979||New York City Opera||Yes |- |Rossini||''The Siege of Corinth''||Pamira||1969–1976|| La Scala, Metropolitan Opera||Yes |- |Johann Strauss II||''Die Fledermaus''||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||''Ariadne auf Naxos(original version)''||Zerbinetta||1969||Boston Symphony Orchestra||Yes |- |Richard Strauss||''Elektra''||Fifth Maidservant||1953||San Francisco Opera ||No |- |Sullivan||''H.M.S. Pinafore''||Josephine||1945||Providence, Rhode Island at the Metropolitan Theater and Hartford, Connecticut at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium||No |- |Sullivan||''The Pirates of Penzance''||Mabel||1945||Hartford, Connecticut at the Bushnell Memorial Auditorium||No |- |Suppé||''Die schöne Galathee''||Galatea||1965||Fort Worth Opera||No |- |Tchaikovsky||''Cherevichki'' (performed under the title ''The Golden Slipper'')||Oxana||1955||New York City Opera||No |- |Thomas||''Mignon''||Philine||1956||New York City Opera||No |- |Verdi||Aida||Aida||1954–1960||University of Utah football stadium, Paterson, New Jersey, Central City Opera|| Yes |- |Verdi||''La traviata''||Violetta||1951–1977||Kingston High School (Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania), Charleston Municipal Auditorium, Orlando Municipal Auditorium, Saenger Theatre, Duke University, Academy of Music, Erie Philharmonic Orchestra, Portland Civic Opera Association, DuMont Television Network, New York City Opera, Fort Worth Opera, Tulsa Opera, Cincinnati Opera, San Antonio Symphony, Grant Park, Teatro di San Carlo, Connecticut Opera, Deutsche Oper Berlin, Los Angeles Philharmonic, Opera Company of Boston, La Fenice, San Antonio Grand Opera, San Francisco Opera, Houston Grand Opera, Ravinia Festival, Palm Beach Opera, Metropolitan Opera, Wolf Trap Opera Company, San Diego Opera || Yes |- |Verdi||''Rigoletto''||Gilda||1957–1977|| Grant Park, Opera Company of Boston || Yes |- |Wagner||''Die Walküre''||Gerhilde||1953||San Francisco Opera||No |- |Weisgall||''Six Characters in Search of an Author''||Coloratura||1959–1960||New York City Opera||Yes |- |-class="sortbottom" |}

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 Award Nominations:

*1969 - Scenes and Arias from French Opera;

*1970 - Mozart and Strauss Arias;

*1976 - Music of Victor Herbert (WINNER)

Emmy Award 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 Omicron, 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 Honors;

*1990 - National Medal of Arts from National Endowment for the Arts;

1996 - The 2nd Annual Heinz Award 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 Fame

Charitable and Humanitarian Awards:

*1979 - Pearl S. Buck Women's Award;

*1980 - Presidential Medal of Freedom;

*1981 - Barnard College 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 Linderman) (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.

References

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

Category:1929 births Category:2007 deaths Category:American female singers Category:American Jews Category:American opera singers Category:American singers Category:American sopranos Category:American people of Romanian-Jewish descent Category:American people of Ukrainian-Jewish descent Category:Cancer deaths in New York Category:Deaths from lung cancer Category:Erasmus Hall High School alumni Category:Gilbert and Sullivan performers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Jewish actors Category:Jewish American musicians Category:Jewish classical musicians Category:Jewish opera singers Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Opera managers Category:Operatic sopranos Category:People associated with the Metropolitan Opera Category:People from Brooklyn Category:United States National Medal of Arts recipients

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