Beverly Sills Video Room

video room -
rarities selection

These rare video selections come from a variety of broadcasts, none of which have been issued commercially. These video recordings do not have consistent sound and/or video quality, and cannot compare to commercially-released video for commercially-released Sills DVD performances, click here).

Click on a thumbnail to start the video broadcast. Please note that a broadband connection is recommended for an optimum viewing experience.

Eight year old Sills, sings "Arditi: Il bacio"
At age eight, Sills apepared in this short film, playing a precocious singer whose family has various ideas about where she should study voice. They take her to sing for Uncle Sol in his "Problem Court." He decides, after her perky rendition of the Arditi classic, that she should study in America. Performed August 1937 Running time = 04:00

Beverly Sills and Danny Kaye sing an opera parody duet
Performed in New York, 1975 Running time = 07:55

Sills sings "Si tu le veux"
Excerpt of Koechlin's "Si tu le veux" Op. 5, No.5 ; integrated with various footage of travel woes, loneliness and separation from family, which is part of the sacrifices a Prima Donna must make throughout the course of a busy career. Performed in 1975; Running time = 02:41

Beverly Sills and Carol Burnett perform a hilarious pastiche of operatic and jazz highlights
Performed in New York- X-27-80 Running time = 12:43

Beverly Sills on Maria Stuarda as singer and NYCO director
Sills speaks about her past performances in the role and talks about passing it on to a worthy successor, Ashley Putnam. Sills narrates an overview of the latest cast and the production's rehearsal process. Filmed in 1981 ; Running time = 5:32

1981 NYCO "Maria Stuarda"
"Maria Stuarda : Confrontation Scene" Performed in 1981 Running time = 08:16	"Marisa Galvany on Queen Elizabeth I " Documentary Filmed in 1981 Running time = 07:47
Although no known footage of Sills in "Maria Stuarda" exists, this is the next best thing. These excerpts are from a 1981 NYCO production using the same sets and costumes that Sills performed in, and it preserves the intense performance of Elizabeth I by Marisa Galvany, who often appeared with Sills in the production. Here Ashley Putnam sings Maria, with Barry McCauley as Leicester and William Justus as Talbot.