Ex-wife of Andrew Lloyd Webber to Receive Star in Hollywood

Happy Duo: Sarah and Andrew

Soprano Sarah Brightman has performed with opera legends Luciano Pavarotti, José Carreras, Plácido Domingo, as well as Andrea Bocelli. In June it was announced that she will be getting a rare honor: a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. Curious about the opera singers that Ms. Brightman will share the same sidewalk with in California? After the jump, you can see them all and you're going to be surprised by how many appear on the list! Notably missing thus far is Renée Fleming. The British songstress first launched into fame with a 1978 hit "I Lost My Heart to a Starship Trooper" with the group Hot Gossip. She went on to marry composer Andrew Lloyd-Webber which propelled her stage career like a rocket after appearing in several of his musicals. She has an estimated net worth of $60 million while her former husband is estimated to have $1.2 billion. Her Facebook page made the announcement: "Sarah to Be Honoured with a Star on the Iconic Hollywood Walk of Fame! Today, the Hollywood Chamber of Commerce announced that Sarah will be honoured with a star on the world-renowned Hollywood Walk of Fame in Los Angeles for her outstanding contributions in live theatre and live performance. Currently celebrating its 60th year, the Walk of Fame was created to "maintain the glory of a community whose name means glamour and excitement in the four corners of the world." Watch the announcement on the official Hollywood Walk of Fame Facebook page: https://bit.ly/37GR230. More details about when Sarah's star will be unveiled along Hollywood's most majestic walkway will be revealed in the coming year!" In his tell-all book, the Broadway composer discussed his relationship with the Royal College of Music graduate: "'I suppose it was

Music Makers: Talking music drew the couple together

inevitable that I was going to have a serious affair at some point,' writes composer Andrew Lloyd Webber of his romance with singer Sarah Brightman in his book Unmasked. The candid new memoir hits stands on Tuesday, the same month as the theatrical legend’s 70th birthday. What made the affair complicated? They first met during Brightman’s audition for Cats in the early 1980s, a time when they were both married. Lloyd Webber also had two young children with his first wife (also named Sarah) of 12 years. '[The affair with Sarah Brightman] is one of the parts of my life that I have been dreading writing about the most,' Lloyd Webber writes. 'What you are reading is the umpteenth rewrite. That is the best I can say.' In the chapter titled 'Miss Sarah Brightman,' Lloyd Webber details how his famous musical Phantom of the Opera came into existence — a show that brought both Lloyd Webber, the composer, and Brightman, who starred as Christine Daaé, great success. With their professional relationship thriving, their personal

Opera Connection To TIME Magazine Covers From 1942-1970

Portrait of Renata Tebaldi by Boris Chaliapin

Started in 1923, Time went on to have the world's largest circulation for a weekly news magazine with a readership of 25 million. Covers of the magazine featured politicians, business executives, religious figures, as well as artists from various genres including ballet, film, art, and music. Within the music category, it was opera singers, composers, instrumentalists, and conductors that were proudly splashed on the cover of the successful magazine. This coverage leant itself to widening the audience of the arts outside of the concert hall and opera houses. It may be surprising to know that the artwork for many of those covers was created by painter Boris Chaliapin, son of the famed Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin and brother to hollywood actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr. (know to many for his role in the operatically-based film Moonstruck). "Boris Chaliapin was the portrait artist Time magazine’s editors turned to first when they needed a cover in a hurry. As Time’s most prolific artist, he created 413 covers for the publication during his 28-year career, between 1942 and 1970. He could execute excellent likenesses in as little as 12 hours. Week after week, millions of faithful readers recognized Chaliapin’s familiar signature on the cover, and his co-workers nicknamed him 'Mr. Time.'" The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., ran an exhibition last year featuring 26 of the 300 works by Chaliapin. Browse the various works of art by clicking here. [Source, Source] Purchase past Time magazine covers here. After the jump: a curious comparison with one of Chaliapin's portraits; more biographical information about Boris Chaliapin; view all Time covers by various artists and photographers that were related to opera including such opera divas as Geraldine Farrar, Nellie Melba, Maria Jeritza, Lucrezia Bori, Mary Garden, Rosa Ponselle, Lily Pons, Kirsten Flagstad, Lotte Lehmann, Helen Traubel, Marian Anderson, Patrice Munsel, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, and Beverly Sills. More music artist portraits by Boris Chaliapin:

George London	Gian Carlo Menotti
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederik Loewe	Fritz Reiner

Arturo Toscanini

Oscar De La Renta, Friend Of Opera And Sopranos, Is Dead At 82

 

Night at the Opera: de la Renta attending 
Anna Bolena at the MET in 2011.

"Óscar Arístides de la Renta Fiallo (July 22, 1932 – October 20, 2014) was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, De la Renta was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo, he became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers to dress Jacqueline Kennedy. An award-winning designer, he worked for Lanvin and Balmain; his eponymous fashion house continues to dress leading figures, from film stars to royalty, into the 2010s. De la Renta is particularly known for his red carpet gowns and evening wear." [Source] The designer was always a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera as an audience member and supporter. Today's most established sopranos in the opera world are often photographed wearing the designer's creations. "'I’m a woman, and I love it so I enjoy dressing up,' says Netrebko, who attends fashion week in New York and Paris, when possible, and was excited about a recent encounter with designer Oscar de la Renta. 'I was very honored to meet him — I’m always shopping at his stores. To me, his clothing is art, which I can’t stop collecting.'" [Source] Other famous sopranos to wear his gowns include Renée Fleming, Ailyn Pérez, and Angela Gheorghiu. Some of these fashionable gowns, as well as some that just seem operatically inspired, can be seen after the jump.

How Facebook Versus Drag Queens Will Affect Opera Singers

UPDATE (10/02/14): Chris Cox of Facebook has responded to the controversy and says that drag queens will be allowed to use their stage names on their accounts. No word on sopranos. Read more about it here.

==============================================================

If this Facebook debate were happening 40 years ago, this
 opera singer wouldn't even be able to go by Bubbles on
 her personal page, but rather Belle Silverman.

"Years ago, Lil Miss Hot Mess created a Facebook profile. 'The way that I move through the world as a drag queen is different than how I move through the world every day,' she says. With her stage name, she has a different social circle, a different way of being online. Her page was shut down early last week, and she wasn't the only one whose account was deactivated. Facebook also closed the pages of other queens after they were reported for not using their 'real' names on Facebook. Now, drag queens around the U.S. are gaining allies in a fight against Facebook's real name policy. Activists argue that 'real' is a complicated term, and that for some, using birth names on profiles can actually put them at risk instead of keep them safe. But Facebook contends this protocol prevents anonymous bullying. In an emailed statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: 'Having people use their real names on Facebook makes them more accountable, and also helps us root out accounts created for malicious purposes, like harassment, fraud, impersonation and hate speech. While real names help keep Facebook safe, we also recognize that a person's real identity is not necessarily the

Bianca Del Rio is one of the drag queens in danger of
 having to change her profile name to Roy Haylock.
(Photo: Santiago Felipe)

name that appears on their legal documentation, and that is why we accept other forms of identification that verifies the name a person uses in everyday life.' The policy isn't new, so why is it getting attention now? Within the last couple weeks, dozens of drag queens' Facebook profiles were reported as not having 'real' names (Facebook says it does not seek out fake profiles). Those flagged accounts were deactivated. Drag queens started organizing and, along with San Francisco City Supervisor David Campos, met with Facebook on Sept. 17. Facebook said it would reactivate approximately 200 accounts and that at the end of two weeks, queens would have to either change their names or lose their profiles. Next week, there's another meeting scheduled at Facebook — and a protest planned in San Francisco. In the midst of the back-and-forth, a number of questions about identity and safety online have come up. Here are a few of them. Facebook has said that drag queens can use their stage names if they switch over to pages in place of profiles. The way people engage is similar — except we're talking about 'fans' rather than 'friends.' Facebook also says it offered to help anyone who was interested in turning a friend list into fans. Here comes the issue: Pages are intended for 'businesses, brands and organizations.' As Lil Miss Hot Mess puts it, 'We're not Lady Gaga; we're not Coca-Cola.' For her, inviting people to a show is 'much closer to inviting people to a dinner party.' She adds, 'These names are not just marketing tools.' She says her name is another part of her identity — not a separate persona." [Source] What does this mean in terms of the opera world? If you log onto Facebook and try searching for one of your favorite singers, chances are you will get a fan page or Wikipedia produced page. Many opera singers don't want to deal with people they are not truly connected with in the offstage world sending friend requests to their private accounts. The solution? Make a variation on your name or truncate it so that no one searching actually could find it. But once they become friends with another singer,

Citizen Leah Joanne may have to become
 public figure Leah Crocetto if Facebook
 has their way. (Photo: Facebook)

for example, their identity becomes pretty obvious. For example, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton goes by the moniker Jam Barto; soprano Sondra Radvanovsky goes by her married name Sondra Lear; soprano Alyson Cambridge goes by Aly Cam (which might soon change, since she is recently engaged); soprano Leah Crocetto has taken the name Leah Joanne for her personal page (possibly her middle name as the surname?); and Deborah Voigt created two pages using her casual nickname Debbie Voigt. Will Facebook take these singers to task, along with the drag queens, and force them to either change their personal pages to the names reported on government issued IDs? Luckily Facebook wasn't around for the entire last century or we would have to search Facebook for the real names of famous singers like Alice Pons, Roberta Peterman, Mary Price, Belle Silverman, Helen Porter Mitchell, and Sophia Kalos.

Opera Singers Appearing On Johnny Carson's The Tonight Show

Although we don't have video footage of Robert Merrill, Risë Stevens, Jan Peerce, Patrice Munsel, Richard Tucker, Julia Migenes, Sergio Franchi, Grace Bumbry, and Roberta Peters, from their appearances on The Tonight Show with Johnny Carson, we are fortunate to have footage of Judith Blegen, Luciano Pavarotti, Beverly Sills, Martina Arroyo, Marilyn Horne, Carol Neblett, and Plácido Domingo, from the program. As a bonus watch Kathleen Battle performing on The Tonight Show, with Johnny Carson's successor Jay Leno, after the jump. [Source]

Anna Netrebko Shows Strength: Son Tiago Is Autistic, Separation From Erwin Schrott, Mother's Early Death, Weight Gain And More

In what is certainly her most courageous interview during her professional career, soprano Anna Netrebko opens up about the most personal aspects of her life. Revelations include the disclosure of her son, Tiago, being born with Autism. She speaks out for the first time telling mothers in a similar situation not to be afraid and there are tools to help with the education of their children. In most recent history, American soprano Beverly Sills struggled with her own children: Meredith ("Muffy") was born profoundly deaf and has multiple sclerosis, while Peter, Jr. ("Bucky") is severely mentally disabled. Sills restricted her performing schedule to care for her children. Ms. Netrebko also discusses her most recent separation from bass-baritone Erwin Schrott who is the father of her child. She shows her strength and determination as a woman to get through these hardships. Her father is also interviewed about the death of Anna's mother with whom she was very close. This insightful interview will have fans seeing a very human side to one of the world's greatest opera stars. [Source]

Beverly Sills Lives On In Rare Recordings Released From Ohio

Beverly Sills as Tosca (Photo: Cleveland Public Library)

"DoeHeads – those die-hard fans of Douglas Moore’s opera, The Ballad of Baby Doe – have new reason to rejoice. Among the eight live recordings of operas performed at Musicarnival in Warrensville Heights in the 1950s and 1960s soon to be available to the public is a 1958 production of Baby Doe starring soprano Beverly Sills in one of her signature roles. There’s a lot more here than Moore, who served as director of music at the Cleveland Museum of Art in the 1920s and conducted the Cleveland Orchestra in the premiere of his Four Museum Pieces in 1923. Sills, who lived in Cleveland in the late 1950s, appears in four other productions in the Musicarnival series, including the title roles in two great potboilers – Bizet’s Carmen and Puccini’s Tosca – she performed only in John L. Price’s tent theater-in-the-round. By the end of

MET Opera Archive Alert: Beverly Sills Costume On the Loose

Could the costume in question be Thais?

"Like so many New Yorkers making the move from Manhattan to Queens, the Theatre Development Fund was after one thing: closet space. That's a serious concern when your wardrobe includes 75,000 outfits and accessories. You can't just call up U-Haul. 'It's like moving your apartment. But a much, much, much bigger apartment,' said Stephen Cabral, director of the Fund's costume collection, which this week opened the doors at its new 16,000 square-foot space in the Kaufman Astoria Studios. Costumers are invited to search the racks for items for their productions or they can email their requirements and measurements. The Fund will send digital photos of the potential items, and then have the costumes mailed. You never know what you might get. A few years ago, Cabral was asked to send costumes for a theater company in Chicago that was putting on Follies. He soon got

Thais costume front

an email response: One of the young actors, an aspiring opera singer, looked at her new costume's label and burst into tears. It said 'The Metropolitan Opera' and, below that, 'Beverly Sills.' 'I thought, `There's a really good example of how little things like that can change lives,'' said Cabral, who started working with the collection 18 years ago and intuitively knows how to find virtually any item, even though the collection hasn't been fully inventoried or computerized." [Source] More guesses after the jump as to which Beverly Sills costume could have ended up in Follies.

Happy Birthday: Beverly Sills

"Ah perche, giusto ciel"
Rodelinda (Händel)

Beverly Sills (May 25, 1929 – July 2, 2007) was an American operatic soprano whose peak career was between the 1950s and 1970s. In her prime she was the only real rival to Joan Sutherland as the leading bel canto stylist. Although she sang a repertoire from Handel and Mozart to Puccini, Massenet, Wagner, and Verdi, she was known for her performances in coloratura soprano roles in live opera and recordings. Sills was largely associated with the operas of Donizetti, of which she performed and recorded many roles. Her signature roles include the title role in Donizetti's Lucia di Lammermoor, the title role in Massenet's Manon, Marie in Donizetti's La fille du régiment, the three heroines in Offenbach's Les contes d'Hoffmann, Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville, and Violetta in Verdi's La traviata. After retiring from singing in

"Al dolce guidami...coppia iniqua"
Anna Bolena (Donizetti)

1980, she became the general manager of the New York City Opera. In 1994, she became the Chairman of Lincoln Center and then, in 2002, of the Metropolitan Opera, stepping down in 2005. Sills lent her celebrity to further her charity work for the prevention and treatment of birth defects. Sills was born Belle Miriam Silverman in Brooklyn, New York to Shirley Bahn (née Sonia Markovna), a musician, and Morris Silverman, an insurance broker. Her parents were Jewish immigrants from Odessa, Ukraine (then part of Russia) and Bucharest, Romania. She was raised in Brooklyn, where she was known, among friends, as "Bubbles" Silverman. As a child, she spoke Yiddish, Russian, Romanian, French and English. She attended Erasmus Hall High School in

Tito Capobianco Loses Wife of 55 Years To Illness

Gigi and Tito Capobianco, known as
a famous duo in the opera world.

The opera world has suffered a devastating loss with the death of Gigi Capobianco. The dancer-turned-opera director and choreographer was the wife of legendary Tito Capobianco. Together the two formed the most memorable opera productions in the United States including the "Three Queens" trilogy of Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda and Roberto Devereux featuring soprano Beverly Sills. She made her Metropolitan Opera debut choreographing Massenet's Thaïs in 1978, also featuring Ms. Sills in the title role.

"Piangete Voi...Al dolce guidami...Coppia iniqua"

Donizetti Anna Bolena (Beverly Sills)

"Elena 'Gigi' Capobianco was a prima ballerina in her youth in her native Argentina, but she graciously put herself second to her husband Tito Capobianco's career as an opera director. Yet "Tito y Gigi" was a better description of the couple who worked together on more than 250 opera productions. Her exacting standards gave him feedback whether informally as an assistant or officially as his stage director and choreographer around the world, including his tenure as general director of the Pittsburgh Opera from 1983 to 1998. 'At his productions, she would sit in the back of the theater watching things and they would go home and trade notes,' said her son, Danilo Capobianco. 'Any arguments and disagreements were for the benefit of the product. My Mom saw things as analytical and he from the heart. It was a good combination.' 'She was an unstoppable inspiration who never gave up in her obsession for excellence and beauty,' said Mr. Capobianco. She died Wednesday in Lutz, Fla., of a long-term fight with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. She was 77."