Beverly Sills in Interview

With John Nelson. Indianapolis October 14, 1979

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Opera
• Singer
• Beverly
• Sills

[JJ10633]

Hmmmm, I'm glad the argument is over from below. Sills admitted to what she did. She had the right to do so and she would have made it elsewhere. She was becoming a "name" by her performances in "Tales of Hoffmann" and she was at the right place at the right time. Curtain was at the Met and from my understanding, she and Sills spoke and maintained their friendship. It's not Sills' fault that the critics were in NY to see the new Met house and then went to NYCO.

[AiTaiwandeRen]

Sadly, in the end, Phyllis Curtain will be remembered mainly as a footnote in Sills' story. For a whole host of reasons, Sills became a public figure while Curtain did not. I doubt that any of this would have changed if Curtain had sung Cleopatra rather than Sills.

[petelovesbevsills]

@ChristophePhilippe 1) so who in your revered opinion was? She never considered herself to be the best and always was very vocal about her love for Sutherland , Callas and Caballe. 2) was this threat in print or were you there when it was made, for the last time, as you so succintly put it to me , the silly 3 year old who cannot read.

[ChristophePhilippe]

@petelovesbevsills 1)  I am not Sill's enemy--I think she was a talented artist, but I don't think she was the best of her era 2) For the last time, if you read my earlier comments, her own response to being asked about threatening to stage a concert of excerpts from Giulio Cesare at Carnegie was "It wasn't my best hour."

I'd say that was blackmail.

[petelovesbevsills]

@ChristophePhilippe How did you find out that Beverly blackmailed the NYCO? Obviously you feel that Beverly's career was not meritorious and I can't change that. No one ever got to the top without casualties on the way. Success will always breed enemies.

[ChristophePhilippe]

@petelovesbevsills I'm not really interested in what the Press thinks of opera singers. I thought it was about merit, not Fame. I thought it was about ethical behavior, not winning.

Sills had talent.  Curtin's artistry was of a subtle nature. It was nearly lost on an American public that values drama over stillness. Benita Valente should have been a huge star. She was one of the very best. But again, her artistry was still and quiet.

[petelovesbevsills]

@ChristophePhilippe so you think Time magazine would have featured Phyllis Curtin one day as" Americas queen of opera"? Could you tell me just why Beverly had no right to benefit from the threat she made to the NYCO? Is it because Phyllis was about to blind everyone with her hidden talents?

[ChristophePhilippe]

@petelovesbevsills Objecting to bringing in an outsider is one thing, blackmail is another. Sills's position would be more defensible if she didn't benefit from it. From her own comments, she was not proud of the episode.

[petelovesbevsills]

@ChristophePhilippe Sills was quite right to fight for ther role. Curtin was a singer with the Met and Beverly correctly objected to the company bringing in an outsider to sing the role. Beverly became an icon in th opera world, Curtin did not.

[ChristophePhilippe]

@AOG93 Sills fought for it by threatening to stage a concert of excerpts from the opera at Carnegie Hall. Knowing it would eat into ticket sales, they caved.

When questioned about the incident in later years, her response: "It wasn't my best hour."