Estate sales can be melancholy events. Someone, after all, has died and, no matter how dignified the setting, a lifetime of treasured possessions is up for grabs. Even so, Wednesday morning’s auction of soprano Beverly Sill’s estate, at Doyles New York, was more a celebration of the singer’s life, thronged with fans who had traveled from far and wide to take part.
“Beverly Sills gave a recital in my hometown in 1977 and I never got over it,” Nancy Guy, an author and associate professor of music at U.C. San Diego, said. Sills had in part inspired her love of opera in general, including Chinese opera, she said.
Speaking to people about Sills is a reminder that what attracted them to her was not only an immense talent. She was equally loved for her commitment to her family, her humility, and her business savvy. Friend Carol Burnett, among others, affectionately referred to the Brooklyn-born singer, who rocketed to fame in the late 1960s, as “Bubbles.”
Larry Strachan, 29, a systems engineer from the Bahamas, flew to New York from France at 10 p.m. the night before. He was on vacation in Paris when he heard about the auction and he planned to fly back to France the day after to resume his vacation.
“I’m a fan because of her story,” Strachan said. “Here is a woman who has two children with special needs who overcame the odds and became one of the most famous opera singers of her generation.” Sills’ daughter, Muffy, has been deaf since birth; son Peter was born severely mentally disabled.
Philip Morgan’s wife Susan brought him to New York for the auction as a surprise trip for his birthday. They were vacationing in Montreal. A singer and former professor of voice at Lebanon Valley College in Pennsylvania, Morgan performed with Sills in 1960 at Central City Opera in Denver, Colorado.
“He’d been talking about going to Montreal, so I planned this surprise trip,” Susan said. “This is a kind of special day.”
The entire back row at the auction house was full of out-of-town fans. Freeman Stamper was there from San Francisco. He had his eye on Lot 371, two Emmy Awards from the mid 1970s.
“I have a collection of anything and everything Beverly Sills,” Stamper said before rattling off a list of dolls and memorabilia. He described himself as such a fan because of what he called Sills’ “rhythm of life,” adding that she was in the first opera performance that he ever saw, at Wolf Trap in Virginia.
In the back row in another group was Roy Dicks, 62, a performing arts writer visiting from Raleigh, North Carolina. Dicks runs beverlysills.com, the star’s unofficial Web site. It catalogs the singer’s performances and offers a discography and video links.
“Most people think of opera singers as aloof – the diva – but she was not that way,” Dicks said. He hoped to meet Sills’ daughter Muffy, who was expected to attend the auction.
Louis Webre, a senior vice president of marketing and media at the auction house, stressed the worldwide appeal of the Sills’ estate auction before launching into a history of the star’s rise to fame as Cleopatra in the New York City Opera’s 1966 performance of Handel’s Giulio Cesare.
“It’s always a special opportunity for fans worldwide to have a piece of something that a celebrity chose.”

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