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 – 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 multi-colored 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.
