Additional Live Recordings Sources
In addition to several official live recordings and the handful of unofficial live recordings issued on commercial CDs, there are many more live recordings available with Sills in operas, concerts, recitals, and radio/TV appearances. These are too numerous to list separately here (over 200 separate performances in opera; more that 60 in concerts and recitals), but you can find confirmation of these existing live performances in the “Recordings” column of the Performance Annals on this website.
There’s a small group of online-only companies that supply live opera performances, including quite a lot with Sills. These recordings are not official or formally licensed. These companies complete their orders on demand, issuing them either on CDs or in digital files for downloading
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The three companies below supply nicely packaged CDs, with printed labels and inserts, with reliably good sound quality.
OPERA DEPOT:
This company currently has about 2 dozen live Sills performances, including some rare ones in “Aida,” “Hippolyte et Aricie” and “Lucrezia Borgia.” When searching, use only “Sills” to get the most results, due to inconsistent cast tagging).
PREMIERE OPERA ITALY:
NOTE: This is an Italian company (prices are in Euros) and is not to be confused with Premiere Opera in the U.S. (see the separate listing further below for that U.S. company)
https://www.premiereopera.net/page/1/?s=Beverly+Sills&post_type=product
St-Laurent Studio:
This Canada-based company offers a range of classical music and opera based mostly around conductors. Currently, they offer four recordings with Sills. However, for some reason, the search function doesn’t search on vocal soloists. It’s best to use the catalog number in the listings below to find the Sills recordings on the site:
- YSL 0453 T – Haydn: Mass No. 13 (“Creation”) – Boston, Feb. 23, 1967 Leinsdorf/ Sills, Domingo, Wolff, Berberian
- YSL 0270 T – Mozart: Don Giovanni – Boston, Feb. 21, 1966 Calwell/ Sills, Gramm, Dooley
- YSL 0739 T – Schumann: Scenes From Goethe’s Faust – Boston, Feb. 25, 1966 Leinsdorf/ Sills, Bressler/Prey/Troyanos
- YSL 0412 T – R. Strauss – Finale Scene from “Daphne” – Boston, Feb. 24, 1967 Leinsdorf/ Sills
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The two companies below have been much longer established and both have the largest selections of Sills live recordings. They sell their recordings “as is,” because the original sources can range from radio broadcasts and “house” recordings by opera companies to recordings made privately from the audience. The sound quality can vary from excellent to poor, which these companies do not attempt to enhance or upgrade. Their prices are low, and, accordingly, their products are more minimally produced. Each has a reputation for lengthy shipping times (can be a number of weeks) and the catalog listings are brief and imprecise, sometimes listing the same performance separately with different catalog numbers. Our Performance Annals can be useful in confirming more specific information about their listings.
Opera Vault (formerly Premiere Opera Intl.):
https://02c17e5.netsolstores.com/login.aspx (entering www.operavault.com converts to this URL)
(NOTE: As of October 2023, Premiere Opera Intl. has rebranded as Opera Vault.) In order to search for performances, one much sign up for a free account. Currently there are over 100 Sills listings for audio and 40 for video. Because of the brief cataloging texts, search only on the last name Sills – do not use the full name Beverly Sills because that reduces the number of hits by 2/3.
Opera Passion (House of Opera):
Many of the performances offered here are duplicated at Premiere Opera (U.S.) and are from the same sources. NOTE: Oddly, the best search term for using Opera Passion is the whole name Beverly Sills, which brings up just over 100 performances. However, the same performances on CD and MP3 downloads are cataloged separately, making it seem as though there are more individual performances than there actually are. Use the “Categories” drop-down menu to find performances only on CDs, DVDs or MP3s.
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Other Sources:
eBay: Live recordings with Sills regularly show up for auction or “Buy Now” from collectors and vendors. It’s best to activate an eBay “Saved Search” alert that will send you an email when any new Sills item appears, but directly checking every so often can usually turn up desirable performances.
Berkshire Record Outlet:
A long-established source for overstock and out-of-print recordings, usually including a few Sills titles (official and unofficial) at very good prices. It’s worth regularly checking because new stock being added, as well as the re-stocking of previously offered titles, mean different results with each search.
Facebook Page: The Beverly Sills Crazies
Despite the lighthearted name, this Facebook group is seriously devoted to all things Sills. It counts among its members those who were her colleagues on stage, family, close friends, artists involved with all aspects of opera, memorabilia collectors and, of course, fans, many of whom witnessed Sills artistry in live performances. The moderator runs a tight ship to ensure there is always respect for Sills and to keep the postings focused on her. This page is listed here because Sills’ recordings, including the live ones, are constantly being discussed, often with information about where recordings can be acquired.
https://www.facebook.com/groups/205612719485350
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