Recently I listened to (and watched) a splendid performance of Beverly Sills (1929-2007) singing “O Luce Di Quest ‘Anima.” Listening to Sills’ performance made a sweltering hot day seem like springtime.
Sills’ obituary in the New York Times limned her as the “All American Diva” and said the acclaimed Brooklyn-born coloratura soprano was more popular with the American public than any opera singer since Caruso, even among people who never set foot in an opera house.
A must-read for Sills fans is “Beverly: An Autobiography” that “details the private life and the career — as operatic star and as director of the New York City Opera — of the soprano and the impresario.”
1. The title in the first sentence is Italian for
A. I must sing because I must sing.
B. Oh for a thousand tongues to sing.
C. Oh, you are the radiance of my soul.
D. You are the life of my soul.
2. coloratura (cuh-luh-ruh-TOUR-ruh)
A. a multicolored cloak
B. elaborate embellishment with a light agile voice
C. Enrico Caruso-like
D. nadir
No. 1 is C.
No. 2 is B.
3. impresario (im-pree-SAHR-ee-o)
A. an impressive vocalist
B. one who organizes and often finances concerts, plays or operas
C. enlightenment
D. ubiquity
E. falsetto
4. Beverly Sills’ nickname was
A. Faun (from Debussy’s ballet, “The Afternoon of a Faun”).
B. Bubbles.
C. Trixie.
D. Smiley.
E. Akimbo.
No. 3, impresario, is B.
Lastly, Beverly was given the nickname Bubbles during her stint singing laundry soap commercials on radio.
Editor’s Note: Don Rodney Vaughan, Ph.D., teaches journalism, interpersonal communication and public speaking at East Mississippi Community College and is the pastor of Mt. Vernon Baptist Church in Webster County. Contact him at dvaughan@eastms.edu.
