Leontyne Price
The daughter of a carpenter and a midwife, African-American soprano Leontyne Price (born Mary Violet) studied piano and singing with the assistance of a local family that recognized her innate talents. After earning her degree from College of Education and Industrial Arts at Wilberforce, OH (where she studied with Catherine Van Buren), Price was awarded a scholarship to attend the Juilliard School of Music where she continued vocal training with Florence Page Kimball. Upon hearing her there, Virgil Thomson invited her to sing Saint Cecilia in the 1952 revival of his Four Saints in Three Acts. She then toured the United States and Europe as Bess in Gershwin's Porgy and Bess (1952-1955); on this tour she met and married bass-baritone William Warfield who was singing the role of Porgy.
In October 1953, Price sang the premiere of Samuel Barber's Hermit Songs at the Library of Congress in Washington, D.C., and she gave her first New York recital in November 1954; in December of the same year she sang Barber's Prayers of Kierkegaard with the Boston Symphony Orchestra. Her appearances in Tosca, Die Zauberflöte, Dialogues des Carmelites, and Don Giovanni on television brought her to wide attention for both her outstanding singing, and for being the first African American leading soprano of note.
In the following seasons, she made her debuts at San Francisco, Chicago, Vienna, London, and Milan. This culminated in her first appearance at the Metropolitan Opera House as Leonore in Il trovatore, an evening that garnered a front page review in The New York Times. The Metropolitan would soon become her favored opera house; she sang most of her wide repertoire there, including Aida, Tosca, Madama Butterfly, Leonore in La Forza del Destino, Ernani, Amelia in Un ballo in maschera, Donna Anna (Don Giovanni), Pamina (Die Zauberflöte), Fiorgiligi (Così), Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos), and Tatiana in Eugene Onegin. She sang her last operatic performance there in 1985 as Aida.
Price was known as much for her concert and recital appearances as for those in opera. Besides performances of common repertory works, such as Beethoven's Missa Solemnis and the Verdi Requiem, she also undertook Honegger's rather obscure Jeanne d'Arc (with the New York Philharmonic) and Bruckner's Te Deum (at Salzburg). Her solo concerts often featured lesser-known arias and excerpts, including the "Awakening of Helen" from Strauss' Egyptian Helen, selections from Barber's Anthony and Cleopatra and The Songs of the Rose of Sharon by John La Montaine.
She gave annual recitals throughout North America and was also heard regularly in Europe, being a special favorite at the Salzburg Festival. Her recital repertoire was extensive, ranging from the songs of Poulenc, Hahn, and Marx, to traditional spirituals; her final encore was often "This little light of mine" -- one of her mother's favorite pieces.
Leontyne Price's voice was a spinto soprano of great beauty. She had a wonderful feeling for the sweep of the long phrases of Verdi and her technique allowed her to encompass all of the difficulties of Donna Anna (Don Giovanni) and Elvira (Ernani). Her lower register had a quality often described as "dusky" which many listeners found quite sensual. Most of her important operatic roles were recorded by RCA, but only a small fraction of her recital repertoire found its way onto disc. Leontyne Price will always be remembered as one of the greatest Verdi sopranos of the twentieth century.
© TiVo
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Puccini: Tosca
Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Giuseppe Taddei, Fernando Corena, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1963
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca by Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price, Herbert von Karajan, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra
Opera - Released by Alexandre Bak - Classical Music Reference Recording on 8 Nov 2022
24-Bit 96.0 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price - Verdi and Puccini Arias
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 13 Jan 2015
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Spain (Falla, Albeniz, Granados)
Classical - Released by Living Stereo on 23 Jan 2007
24-Bit 88.2 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price: Personal Choice (2024 Remastered Edition)
Classical - Released by Musical Concepts on 1 Jan 1960
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Requiem/Quattro Pezzi Sacri
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 2000
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Puccini: Tosca
Leontyne Price, Giuseppe Di Stefano, Giuseppe Taddei, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Classical - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 1 Jan 1963
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Gershwin: Porgy and Bess (Live)
William Warfield, Leontyne Price, Cab Calloway, RIAS-Unterhaltungsorchester, Alexander Smallens
Opera - Released by audite Musikproduktion on 19 Nov 2008
24-Bit 48.0 kHz - Stereo -
The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs
Sacred Vocal Music - Released by RCA Gold Seal on 9 Jan 1997
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi Heroines: 15 Great Arias and Scenes from 8 Operas
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 4 Apr 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price - Samuel Barber
Art Songs, Mélodies & Lieder - Released by RCA Red Seal on 7 Feb 2012
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price Sings Barber
Classical - Released by RCA Gold Seal on 7 Jun 1993
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price - Great Scenes from Gershwin's Porgy and Bess
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 9 Mar 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price - My Favorite Hymns
Vocal Recitals - Released by RCA Red Seal on 7 Feb 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Il Trovatore (2 CDs)
Classical - Released by Deutsche Grammophon (DG) on 1 Jan 1995
The Qobuz Essential Discography16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Christmas With Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price, Wiener Philharmonic Orchestra, Herbert von Karajan
Pop - Released by Decca Music Group Ltd. on 2 Nov 2012
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Artists Of The Century: Leontyne Price
Classical - Released by RCA Classics on 25 May 1999
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Essential Leontyne Price/Highlights
Classical - Released by RCA Gold Seal on 18 Sep 2009
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
The Ultimate Christmas Album
Dame Joan Sutherland, Kiri Te Kanawa, Leontyne Price, Luciano Pavarotti
Classical - Released by Decca - London on 1 Jan 1995
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Leontyne Price - Prima Donna Vol. 5: Great Soprano Arias from Handel to Britten
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 8 Mar 2013
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo -
Verdi: Heroines
Classical - Released by RCA Red Seal on 28 Mar 2006
16-Bit CD Quality 44.1 kHz - Stereo