Sills, Beverly (redirected from Belle Miriam Silverman)

Sills, Beverly, 1929–, American coloratura soprano, b. Brooklyn, N.Y. as Belle Silverman. Her childhood career as a radio singer led to voice studies with Estelle Liebling. She toured extensively in the United States and Europe before making her debut with the New York City Opera singing Rosalinda in Johann Strauss's Die Fledermaus in 1955. She subsequently became the leading soprano with that company. In 1969 she made a triumphal debut at La Scala as Pamira in Rossini's Siege of Corinth, the role in which she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1975. Regarded as one of the great American sopranos, Sills won fame not only for her light coloratura voice but also for her considerable acting ability. She appeared in such roles as Cleopatra in Handel's Julius Caesar, Elvira in Bellini's I Puritani, all four female roles in Offenbach's Tales of Hoffmann, and the title roles in Massenet's Manon and Donizetti's Maria Stuarda, Anna Bolena, and Lucia di Lammermoor. After she retired from singing she remained active in the arts as general director of the New York City Opera (1979–89), chairwoman of Lincoln Center (1994–2002), and chairwoman of the Metropolitan Opera (2002–5).

Bibliography

See her autobiographies Bubbles (1976, rev. ed. 1981) and Beverly (1987); biography by B. Paolucci (1990).

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Sills, Beverly

 orig. Belle Miriam Silverman

(born May 25, 1929, Brooklyn, N.Y., U.S.—died July 2, 2007, New York) U.S. soprano. She sang on the radio as a child and made her operatic debut in 1946. In 1955 she became a member of the company of the New York City Opera. After gaining attention for her coloratura performance in Julius Caesar (1966), she became one of the most celebrated opera stars in the world. After 25 years of singing with the company, she served as its director (1979–89). She sang with the Metropolitan Opera as well (1975–80), though after her prime. An effervescent personality, she hosted broadcast concerts and opera performances, becoming popular among a wide public. Sills served as chairman of the board of New York's Lincoln Center (1994–2002) and of the Metropolitan Opera (2003–05).

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Sills, Beverly (b. Belle Miriam Silverman) (1929–  ) soprano; born in New York City. A radio performer from childhood (called "Bubbles"), she began her musical studies at age 12 and made her operatic debut in 1953 in San Francisco. Two years later she began a long association with the New York City Opera, whose manager she became (1979–88) just before her retirement as a singer in 1980. Vivacious in personality and a soprano of the first rank, she performed worldwide to steady acclaim.