Beverly Sills and Jerry Hadley are certainly two of the most
distinguished artists America has produced in the last half-century.
Not to take anything away from them but Crespin was altogether an
original. She sang both soprano and mezzo operatic repertory
successfully, everything from Carmen to Brunnhilde, and excelled in art
song as well (her Nuits d'été and Schehérézade recordings, to name two,
remain classics), and even popular music. On top of that her memoirs
are among the most frank and engaging reminiscences ever penned by an
opera singer. Her passing is a great loss for the world of music. Ken
in TX





I just wanted to say how sad I am about all the losses the
opera

world has faced recently.



Beverly Sills: One of my favorite sopranos of all time. She was

generous enough to bestow the first ever Beverly Sills Award to

Nathan and now she is gone. :(



Regine Crespin: Although I have heard very little of her singing,

her voice was beautiful and rich. She carried and air of

sophistication.



Jerry Hadley: I just got word that he is in the hospital on life

support after attempting suicide at his home. He has suffered

severe brain damage and doctors don't expect him to recover. Words

cannot describe how devastated I am by this. Just the other day I

was looking through some pictures and came across a picture of the

two of us after a recital he did here in Seattle with Thomas

Hampson. The date was May 6th, 1996 - the same day I graduated from

college. More recently I heard him in SF Opera's production of

Louise. Although he wasn't in the best voice, he still put in 110%

effort. My heart goes out to his family.



Elizabeth






















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