Beverly Sills

The AP reports that Beverly Sills is gravely ill. I think there has been no greater advocate for opera in the U.S. than Ms. Sills. I "grew up" at City Opera during her late heyday and watched with great interest as she ran the company in the 80s.

She was a great artist and I wish her only the best.



Her retirement gala was one of the great over-the-top evenings (surely Renata Scotto's "Over the Rainbow" has gone down in history). But this last song was touching.

Added 7/2/07. She's left us. There are many singers that I have admired. Beverly Sills, I loved.

N Y Times obituary

Happy 150th!

I tend to approach music in cycles. There was a year that I decided to learn all of the Schubert songs after which I delved into the Beethoven String Quartets. Recently (and coincidentally with the 150th anniversary of his birth) it has been Edward Elgar.

In the May Gramophone, Andrew Farach-Colton recounts his initial late acquaintance with Elgar and the disparaging references to him in American publications. I can only concur with that experience. Apart from high school graduations at which the Pomp and Circumstance March was mandatory, my experience with Elgar was limited. He was barely mentioned while I was at music school (I can remember hearing any of his music there) and my first direct experience was singing some of his choral pieces as a professional church soloist.

Perhaps as a reaction to the opera of my daily life, these days I'm immersed in his orchestral music. I've been spending some time with "Enigma" (of which I had an unlistened-to recording for many years), which I've heard only after studying the two symphonies. It took some time to warm to it, but now I'm overwhelmed by The Dream of Gerontius.

I think to denigrate his music as old-hat and pretentious is doing it a great injustice. It is beautifully crafted and dramatically effective music. I can think of no greater work written for that instrument than the Cello Concerto and the power of the "Enigma" is, I think, timeless.

It has been said that he wrote "the soundtrack for the British Empire", but I think he speaks to all nations and musicians (R. Strauss and Hans Richter were big fans) and despite his aversion to Americans ("the lowest of the human race") it has a magic that transcends all national boundaries.

Jessica Duchen points us to Richard Morrison's article in the Times (complete with downloads) and of course the BBC is celebrating in a big way.

What it takes to be a "star"

If there were any justice in this world, Audra McDonald would be a bonafide, tip-of-the-tongue, megastar. But while she is giving a truly mesmerizing performance in 110 in the Shade, we are bombarded in the media by the talent-less likes of Paris, Brittany, and Anna Nicole.

Not that she doesn't get recognition. Certainly four Tony's (and another nomination this year) are nothing to sneeze at. But when I mentioned her name to a friend, whose head is not particularly buried in the sand, it wasn't recognized.

And yet, this woman takes a fairly mediocre show and imbues it with a performance of operatic intensity. It helps that she is supported by the venerable John Cullum and a cast of accomplishment. But hers is a performance to be treasured.

We need more "real" stars, like this.