Beverly Sills at Eight Years Old!

[Kumtekmeon]

Beverly grew with the same face, very cute.

[Scotsbell]

Am ashamed to admit I'd never heard of this young lady!! Fab voice and to tackle that piece of music at 8!!

[RossiniSoprano]

@Scotsbell This young lady made this film in 1937 or thereabouts, and went on to become the world-famous opera singer Beverly Sills. Check out some of her videos her as an adult, and be amazed!

[marcysoprano]

This makes me smile. Her smile, the joy in her eyes, her gestures, her cute little head movements, all a promise of the beautiful artist that was to come. Warms my heart. Some people just have it.

[MastersoftheOpera]

Beverly Sills, child of the Depression, a Shirley Temple who could sing opera! This is such a treat to see. Thank you for sharing. R.I.P. Beverly Sills the greatest of them all...how many other opera singers of her day could do that at age 8 ?????

[mconesa52]

She was charming and lovely. It is amazing that at the age of 8 she was not simply singing quite well, but also giving emotion and character in to her performance, which makes a big difference than simply having a good voice with big resources.

[catchersmitt0]

Yes - this is what really means to be gifted instead of merely talented.

[LjubljanaSI]

Amazing!!!

[petshopgirl72]

Very interesting

[DivaDeb1234]

Is it a live orchestra or recorded?

[snarldarl]

brava Bubbles!

[USABOYMAN]

Zi ist a sheine Idishe meidale.

[louie1a]

you dan say that again!!!!

[bellasong75]

very cute! I love Deanna Durbin's version of this song as well.

[ogkeedah]

GOODNESS GRACIOUS!!!!!!!

[aarontenor]

She was already better at 8 than most undergrad sopranos.

[JuillHope17]

most grad too!

[yodavidnavarro]

Great jewish girl! Amazing...

[oboistCONDUCTOR]

So nice!

[voltape]

Just unbelievable - I'd never believe a child could sing like that. She is just charming

[pesciolinotriste]

Beautiful!

[andrebua]

jue para la cria!

[sarahshi8]

I love that she has technique and wonderful phrasing but still sounds like a child. She sang from where she spoke and that allowed her natural greatness and humanity to shine all her life.

[Rockamino7]

So sweet! She looks a little like Shirley Temple. Oh, what a voice she had...unappreciated, in my opinion.

[Zerbinetta2000]

I N C R E D I B L E !!! W O N D E R F U L L !!!!!!!Sì , è vero , il buon giorno si vede dal mattino e la SILLS ne è l'immortale conferma . Forse è l'unica Grande Artista di questo Secolo di cui possediamo la documentazione Audiovisiva della Carriera dalla prima all'ultima apparizione pubblica ! GRANDE SILLS !!!!!!!

[marksmail2]

Absolutely charming. Thanks for posting.

[pearlmuth3]

Wonderful, BRAVA little one who became a huge star, forever immortal, Beverly Bubbles Silverman.

[GermanOperaSinger]

She was known as 'Bubbles Silverman' at the time.

Quite well known in the States.

[AuDioSLavE802]

The technique is there but the voice is not quite developed yet -- so cute! She's by far my favorite opera singer of all time. You are greatly missed, a rare talent!!!

[MATTALEM]

Bravi! a fare il video. da MATTALEM

[oboistCONDUCTOR]

Il buon giorno si vede dal mattino! El sol no se puede tapar con un dedo...and so on in the other languages hehehehe

[35mm35]

Oh, funny. Gave me a wonderful opportunity to speak Italian, and I don't even understand what I said. LOLOLOL

[CheyCheysVids]

Wow thats all I can say Im gonna get an A+ on my report for Beverly Sills. Thx

[REDRYDER3001]

WOW is right! You can already see her facial expressions and beginnings of phrasing that she had as an adult artist. What a great find! Where did you get this piece of film...? It is priceless. And such stage presence for an eight year-old. Truly the birth of a DIVA. Many thanks for this video!

[renzo0510]

WOW!

and she was 8?

I am beggining to hear her performances and i can't believe it...

[fer1179]

The born of a great Diva!

[kmillard]

Heck even at 8, she was already better than many sopranos today who call themselves opera singers!!

[Rephrat]

i agree !!!! goes for conductors too....

[grandmagrumpy]

It looks like she enjoyed it.

Connie's got a lot of work to do.

LOL

[coryisawake]

It's so funny how her gestures and carriage changed so little throughout her career.

[vickersman]

even at 8 the colorutura talent was on the way...BTW Uncle Sol is a scream...what the hell accent is that anyway ? lol

[pamsy1961]

I have a feeling she was taught how to sing CORRECTLY. Not like the kids of today are taught.

[jordeen08]

...What do you mean?

[BellaChanson]

Yes, at that age children should maintain a childlike tone. Too many children are trying to sound like 30 years olds these days and are blowing their voices. Her teachers were kind to her voice and therefore, she flourished. :)

[classictomatosoup]

I completely agree!

[kiamaman]

After seeing the moving and inspiring tribute to her on public television, which included this wonderful film clip, I felt like I had lost a close friend. RIP, cara Beverly.

[europelove]

Bev will be sorely missed....opera's greatest star was as brilliant at 9 as 49...RIP to the best

[fortissimo25]

sheez adorable!

[jkircher314]

She had it, even then. An amazing child - her mother must have been kvelling. Can you imagine how entertaining it would be, and thrilling, to have a child like that?

[constantblush]

oh my gosh! She's only eight! I'm 18 and I'm learning Ill Bacio now...10 years older than her, haha. She's so great I love her.

[BellaChanson]

I'm almost 24 hehe I'm learning Il Bacio. It's an easy song, but singing properly in itself is a lot of work.

[ifeltnothing]

My goodness, she looks alarmingly like Shirley Temple!

[chevychase]

This is the most adorable thing I ever saw. It made me cry and cry. She had those charming eyes all her life.

[binkle1]

Brava! We will miss the kindest diva in the world! There are clips of Julie Andrews at a very tender age, as well.

[NYvideoUS]

Lovely to hear this again

[vivianluna]

Brava, Beverly - you will be missed! [2]

[texasoperastar]

A wonderful little lady with an amazing voice!

[tamfive]

Brava, Beverly - you will be missed!

[Bigman240]

Amazingly confident and talented at such an early age...and she kept those hand movements into adulthood! The one and only! A legend!

[kajaDenmark]

great voice for a seven year old ..

[foxyzzzzz]

Does anyone have clips from "Sills and (Carol) Burnett at the Met"?

[apollodionysus7]

even at such a young age, all the characteristics that make her great manifest themselves, in more rudimentary form. What an amazing (and lucky!) little girl, soon to grow into an amazing woman!

[jmstorm]

What do you mean "awful"- rather amazing, especially considering that she learned from listening to records. I just wish I had been aware of her earlier in her career- what a great hostess she has been on LIVE FROM LINCOLN CENTER. I shall certainly miss her.

[PeekAtYou24]

Lovely! RIP.

[CroneUp]

Thank you for this video of Sills at such an early age. Yes, the voice is a wonder, but what I especially appreciated was seeing the intelligence and humanity clearly evident this young. She was a "celebrity" that brought grace, humor, and dignity to the concept, in addition, of course, to being among the greatest divas of her time.

[bevsoprano]

Very well said, CroneUp. Sills was truly one of a kind. Thank you.

[OperaBR]

Sills gave us such a great legacy that she will never stop producing amazement and admiration, even after her passing! I'm sure she's already resting in peace and telling jokes to Tetrazzini and Nilsson. I'm glad that she was widely recognized and beloved in life, she deserved it. ;-)

P.S.: She was so charming and gentle at such an early age! It's incredible that she retained that charismatic and genuine way of being until her death!

[conglo]

Wonderful find. Thanks for posting this classic.

[grotondo2007]

A great talent and person. And her passing is a great loss. RIP.

[iAMturandot]

RIP Bubbles. We love you!!

[DorotheaN]

Remarkable how much of the Bubbles we would come to know and love is present in her 7 year old conterpart. You were a Grande Dame and a Great Dame, Beverly! We will miss you! Farewell . . . Adio Diva de America!

[ladydrum20]

Delightful at 7, and delightful until her death. I loved her so, what a fantastic lady!

[Iareto]

Beautiful. Rest in peace Beverly. We love you!

[cpbuchanan54]

I just heard the news on the radio. We were very fortunate to have had her. I'll raise a glass in her honor.

[bcfms1]

She was remarkable. May she rest in peace!

[heringtonchick]

Whoa...I love how cute she was! I didn't even know it was possible for a SEVEN YEAR OLD to be able to sing like that. Amazing control. And her range, especially at such a young age, is unbelievable. I'm just blown away...

God rest her soul. :`(

[MoontideJM]

She has the "Shirley Temple" look of the thirties - pretty cool; you can see the trend of the times; but her talent overcomes it. Amazing film. God rest her.

[sivatmin]

A Pure Classic! RIP Beverly.

[tamiagua]

Requiescat in Pace (July 2, 2007)

[MusicalArtists]

God bless her as she undergoes what appears to be her final struggle. We love you, Beverly!

[tklogan11809]

she already looked old at 7.

[hollabelle]

some people are so used to hearing little girls singing in manipulated, unhealthy voices!! This is what a healthy and talented child is SUPOSED to sound like. A seven year old girl should never sound like a 30 year old, and if she does it is not healthy and her voice will not last.

[HappyHounde]

Obviously she didn't hurt her vocal folds as you have said she might. Maybe she had vocal capabilities that you have not encountered in your voice training expeience. After all the proof in is the pudding as they say.

[HappyHounde]

You are crazy. She is 7 years old. 7 years old! Come on. Anyone who can sing that well at 7 is a genius to me. And I teach 7 year olds. She is charming.

[796824]

No comparison to GLORIA JEAN as a child star who sang a startingly amazing Bell Song from Lakme at 12. Having sung Sulle Labbra at the same age, untaught, but caught in a situation that did not provide study, the career came a lot later.There were many singers from the Golden Age of Singing who also performed at a youthful age.

[violinthief]

I just came across this one. Interestingly enough, Deanna Durbin sang this same song in her first movie, Three Smart Girls, also in 1936. It's hard to compare them though - Durbin was 14. But she was good enough that the Met asked her to audition at age 15. She chose to concentrate on her movie career instead, and Sills became a great opera star. But they both could have gone either way. Incredible talents.

[joosangbai]

reminds me Shirly Temple, and Judy Garland, they died of drug abuse.

Beverley is beatiful her late retired life, god bless Bevely!

[HappyHounde]

Interestingly enough I heard a comment from Deanna Durbin when Judy Garland was in Paris singing one of her last performances. She met Judy for lunch and said Oh, dear Judy are you still in that aweful business. Apparently she didn't much like Hollywood. She married, settled in France and raised a family.

[richiedrr]

Judy yes -- died a typical Hollywood druggie. Shirly Temple no -- became Ambassador to Ghana!! The world of classical music is much less harmvul than pop Diva-dom.

[joosangbai]

rich; i agee 100%

[ckaye99]

Technically she is brilliant, her lung capacity, enunciation, all of that is WAY beyond her years, almost occult. But to hear her hit all those high notes with her child's high voice is not a pleasant experience for me - it jars. When she gets older and her voice deepens it sounds much better. Sorry, but when it comes down to music I call them as I see them.

[hanja2etoile]

What is so astounding is the level of breathing conreol and technique that she exhibits at 7 years old! At that age, you know that nobody taught it to her, and it's all natural talent.

[drsolus]

No, that's not technique, technique results in balanced tone, that's just a musical child with a good mechanism. Still, good on her.

[tjlan]

What is so extraordinary to me about this video is the 7-year old Sills' amazing rhythmical acuity and flexibility in a piece that is a minefield of 'rubati' even for experieced adult singers. I guess she was simply born with this ability - she would become famous in her adult career for her rhythmical prowess in coloratura, and, apparently, could sing anything both faster and slower than anyone alive. Among the greatest opera singers she was one of the greatest musicians.

[loloi]

Simply adorable, a far-cry from those poor children these days who are forced to belt and destroy their voices by imitating what people call "divas" of today.

[richiedrr]

AMEN AMEN AMEN AMEN. AND AMEN

[sonnet43]

If only there was talent like this again on television talent shows these days. Why don't people showcase this type of voice any more?

[richiedrr]

I think that there is talent like this out there -- it's just that the mass media ignore it in favor of crap like Star Search and American Idol, and so it goes undiscovered..

[markeli613]

very cute! nice high notes!

[beverlysills]

"Good-bye honey bunch-ess!"

This is soo adorable

[sharky123]

Brava! It's amazing how many gestures used here at 7 would show up over the next 40+ years!

[sillsfan]

How right you are. Even the way the second finger on her left hand is lightly curled inward!!!! How uncanny!

Are you the very well informed sharky on the Opera News discussion forum whose articles are sooo good?

[sillsfan]

Brava Little Diva in the making !!!This is just too special for words! Thank you Beverlysills you are the BEST!