Brian Dickle, director of the Chicago Opera Theater wrote of Beverly Sills death today on his blog.

"The opera world mourns Beverly Sills who died yesterday. She was a unique personality and a singer and stage artist of remarkable skill and charisma who, I always thought, had the misfortune to be an exact contemporary of Joan Sutherland, without whom there would have been no dispute - she would have been the supreme bel canto singer of the century. Listening to her recordings now it is rather astonishing that this remarkable singing did not propel her to the highest levels worldwide though her appearances at the Scala, Covent Garden etc though infrequent were certainly highlights for Milan and London. But she was a woman of the broadest interests with a full family life, as well as this dedication to our world of opera that eventually took her to the pinnacles of the arts management world where she excelled no less than she had on the stage."