Renowned opera singer, director and philanthropist Beverly Sills, who died last Monday at the age of 78, was nicknamed “Bubbles.”

It suited her. Whether performing, speaking or being interviewed, she had an effervescent quality that endeared her to both opera lovers and the general public alike.

I saw her live in just two performances -- as Ginevra in Handel’s Ariodante, and Norina in Donizetti’s Don Pasquale (the latter role giving her plenty of scope for her considerable comic gifts). And once I heard her give a speech at the National Press Club. This was in the mid-1990s, when she was chairwoman of the Lincoln Center for the Performing Arts organization.

The gist of the speech, as I recall, was a hard-headed defense of the performing arts. She said that in New York City, the arts more than paid their way. She backed up this assertion with detailed figures on how much money the people who came to the city to see a show spent while they were in town. If memory serves, she made a convincing case that the arts contributed more to the city’s economy than sports events.

It was a cogent and impressive performance, but it was also leavened by humor. I remember Ms. Sills telling a hilarious story about her good friend and fellow-diva, Leontyne Price.

Ms. Price was out shopping one day, when a large, rather absurd woman bustled up to her and gushed, “I know you! You’re Joan Sutherland!”

Ms. Price, whose heritage was African rather than Australian, smiled indulgently and replied, “No, I’m afraid you’re mistaken. I’m not Joan Sutherland … I’m Beverly Sills.”

The audience roared at the punch line. Bubbles triumphed again.