时间:2018-12-16 作者:英语课 分类:2012年VOA慢速英语(四)月


英语课

PEOPLE IN AMERICA - Beverly Sills, 1929-2007: A Beautiful Voice for Opera and the Arts


STEVE EMBER: I’m Steve Ember.


BARBARA KLEIN: And I’m Barbara Klein with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Beverly Sills. Her clear soprano voice and lively spirit made her one of the most famous performers in the world of opera. Sills worked hard to make opera an art form that the general public could enjoy. She spent the later part of her career as a strong cultural leader for three major performing arts centers in New York City.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: That was Beverly Sills performing a song from the opera “The Tales of Hoffman” by the French composer Jacques Offenbach. Sills is singing the role of Olympia, a female robot who keeps breaking down while singing a series of high notes. This difficult aria 1 gives a good example of the sweet and expressive 2 voice that made Beverly Sills famous.
BARBARA KLEIN: Beverly Sills was born Belle 3 Silverman in nineteen twenty-nine. Her family lived in the Crown Heights area of Brooklyn, New York. Her father, Morris, came from Romania and her mother, Shirley, was Russian. Sills said that her father believed that a person could live the real American dream only with an educated mind. Part of her early education came in the form of listening.
Beverly’s mother played old opera records. The young child learned to sing by repeating the words of the songs. Shirley Silverman pushed Beverly at a young age to become a performer. By the age of four Beverly was singing on a weekly children’s radio program and also making radio advertisements.
Beverly also had roles in several short movies. By the age of nine, she had a voice teacher, Estelle Liebling, who taught her the art of coloratura. Coloratura is a method of singing in which notes are added to make a part of a song more complex. Most coloratura sopranos can sing very high notes.
STEVE EMBER: Beverly graduated from professional school in nineteen forty-five. She then started singing with traveling opera companies performing the works of such composers as Gilbert and Sullivan. During these ten years she also made guest appearances at opera companies throughout America. She tried seven times to audition 4 and be accepted into the New York City Opera. Finally, in nineteen fifty-five she succeeded. Also that year, Beverly Sills met Peter Greenough while she was performing in Cleveland, Ohio. She married him the next year and moved to Cleveland.
BARBARA KLEIN: Sills continued singing for the New York City Opera and traveled back and forth 5 to Cleveland. In nineteen fifty-nine she had a daughter named Meredith. Two years later, she had a son, Peter. Beverly Sills and her husband soon learned that their daughter was deaf.
They also found out that their son had major developmental problems. He was mentally handicapped 6 and autistic. In nineteen sixty-one, Sills stopped singing to take care of her children during this difficult time. Her daughter slowly learned to go to school and lead a normal life. But her son later had to live in a care center with medical professionals.
STEVE EMBER: In time, Beverly Sills returned to work. Here she talks about how her family’s situation changed her professionally. The recording 7 is part of a two thousand six documentary 8 movie about her life:
BEVERLY SILLS: “My whole attitude about life is different and naturally it affected 9 my singing. It affected my whole attitude about my career. How can I be affected by a trivial 10 thing that someone will say to me backstage, that perhaps that they did not like my singing? How can I be affected by that? That’s something that’s a million miles from me! I felt as far as my singing was concerned that the only person I really had to please was me.”
Beverly Sills’ big break into fame took place in nineteen sixty-six when she performed Cleopatra in Handel’s “Julius Cesar.” Her performances received some of the greatest critical praise of her career. Here is a song from that opera.
(MUSIC)
BARBARA KLEIN: Two years later Sills received more praise for her role in the French opera “Manon.” One critic wrote that if he had made a list of the wonders of New York City to give a traveler, he would put Beverly Sills as “Manon” at the top of the list. She would even be ahead of the Statue of Liberty and the Empire State Building! Here is Beverly Sills singing the part of Manon.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Over the next twenty years Beverly Sills became known as "the queen of American opera." In addition to singing, she often appeared on popular television shows. Audiences liked her because of her laughter and funny jokes. Most American opera singers at the time went to Europe for training and jobs. But Sills learned her art in America and that’s where she performed. She limited her visits to foreign countries so she could always be near her children.
BARBARA KLEIN: When she did perform internationally, critics highly praised her performances. In nineteen seventy-three she performed Donizetti’s “Lucia de Lammermoor” at Covent Garden in London. Here is the famous mad scene where Lucia becomes wild with sadness over a lost love. It is one of the more difficult songs in opera to sing, but Sills performs the aria beautifully.
(MUSIC)
STEVE EMBER: Beverly Sills retired 11 from singing in nineteen eighty. But she did not leave the opera world. She became director of the New York City Opera. For eight years she worked hard to modernize 12 the City Opera. She also raised millions of dollars to keep it operating. She later held other important positions, including chairwoman of the board of supervisors 13 for New York City’s Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts. In two thousand two, she became chairwoman of New York’s Metropolitan 14 Opera House before retiring for goodthree years later.
Beverly Sills died in two thousand seven of lung cancer. She was seventy-eight. She once said that she had never been a happy woman. But she said she had always been able to feel cheerful because her work kept her going.
We leave you with Beverly Sills singing the role of Violetta in Giuseppe Verdi’s opera “La Traviata.” In this magical performance you can hear the joyous 15 celebration she found in music.
(MUSIC)
BARBARA KLEIN: This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Barbara Klein.
STEVE EMBER: And I’m Steve Ember. You can learn more about famous Americans and download scripts and audio of our programs at www.voanews.cn. Join us again next week for PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English.

1 aria
n.独唱曲,咏叹调
  • This song takes off from a famous aria.这首歌仿效一首著名的咏叹调。
  • The opera was marred by an awkward aria.整部歌剧毁在咏叹调部分的不够熟练。
2 expressive
adj.表现的,表达…的,富于表情的
  • Black English can be more expressive than standard English.黑人所使用的英语可能比正式英语更有表现力。
  • He had a mobile,expressive,animated face.他有一张多变的,富于表情的,生动活泼的脸。
3 belle
n.靓女
  • She was the belle of her Sunday School class.在主日学校她是她们班的班花。
  • She was the belle of the ball.她是那个舞会中的美女。
4 audition
n.(对志愿艺人等的)面试(指试读、试唱等)
  • I'm going to the audition but I don't expect I'll get a part.我去试音,可并不指望会给我个角色演出。
  • At first,they said he was too young,but later they called him for an audition.起初,他们说他太小,但后来他们叫他去试听。
5 forth
adv.向前;向外,往外
  • The wind moved the trees gently back and forth.风吹得树轻轻地来回摇晃。
  • He gave forth a series of works in rapid succession.他很快连续发表了一系列的作品。
6 handicapped
a.残疾的,有智力缺陷的
  • a visually handicapped child 弱视儿童
  • mentally and physically handicapped 身心俱残
7 recording
n.录音,记录
  • How long will the recording of the song take?录下这首歌得花多少时间?
  • I want to play you a recording of the rehearsal.我想给你放一下彩排的录像。
8 documentary
adj.文献的;n.纪录片
  • This case lacked documentary proof.本案缺少书面证据。
  • I watched a documentary on the Civil War.我看了一部关于内战的纪录片。
9 affected
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
  • His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。
10 trivial
adj.琐碎的,不重要的,无价值的
  • Be patient.Don't lose your temper over trivial matters.忍着点,别为了一点小事发火。
  • It's useless to fire away with such trivial details.喋喋不休地谈这些琐碎细节是无用的。
11 retired
adj.隐退的,退休的,退役的
  • The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
  • Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。
12 modernize
vt.使现代化,使适应现代的需要
  • It was their manifest failure to modernize the country's industries.他们使国家进行工业现代化,明显失败了。
  • There is a pressing need to modernise our electoral system.我们的选举制度迫切需要现代化。
13 supervisors
n.监督者,管理者( supervisor的名词复数 )
  • I think the best technical people make the best supervisors. 我认为最好的技术人员可以成为最好的管理人员。 来自辞典例句
  • Even the foremen or first-level supervisors have a staffing responsibility. 甚至领班或第一线的监督人员也有任用的责任。 来自辞典例句
14 metropolitan
adj.大城市的,大都会的
  • Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
  • Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。
15 joyous
adj.充满快乐的;令人高兴的
  • The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
  • They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。
学英语单词
ace it
Acer leiopodum
affiliated society
American hop
analysts
Androsace zayulensis
annuler
antennal neuron
Archibald prize
bacterial membrane
besport
blocking relay
body-ring
broken circle
c-type
caprimulgidaes
Carya tomentosa
cattle actinomycosis
cavum hyaloideum
chloroacrolein
chorea syndrome
chronic hepatic encephalopathy
cmyc
codebook coding
concave grating spectrometer
condylar fracture
cupro fibre
curvature vorticity
De Sauty's method
deflocculator
Dorila
dye-dilution
ecobuoy
edge-defined film-fed growth
Emissy
endoecism
ethyl sulfonamide
extraneous nonterminal
flank on
flat deck poultry cage
foliated talc
gulancha
Heilong
hexyne
hollow flint glass
honeworts
Huatong
hydroxyskatol
ingratiate hiself with
job vacancy
Kordofan
Kotoko
local shear
localized
lone signal unit
lonithermies
lump-sum pension
macrophoma magnoliae
marcerized cotton
mid-months
Modal fibre
monoclinic pyroxene
mound-birds
neuro-patterns
off one's game
oncoapoptosis
one flew over the cuckoo's nest
oxygen resuscitator
pack tilting device
Palairos
pancreaticjejunostomy
pelvimetry
poitrel
predrag
price fixing agreement
pumpkin vines
quench-fire
scalping screen
security operations
selection examination
sequesterer
short-driven bolt
sister species
skyscraper sheaf
SMSI
solid-state scintillation counter
spermatozoicide
split fractions
stack tree
stopper ladle
subdivision rules
subscleral
system source
teaming up
transfix
turn something over to somebody
undecidable ring
wavy water surface
whale-watch
whaps
yamanashi
zone letter