Leontyne Price sings La Traviata * now with English translation! Conducted by Fausto Cleva Tenor - Ryland Davies I own nothing (for educational purposes only)
Keep in mind that this piece is usually for a dramatic coloratura soprano, not a lirico spinto soprano. And she sang it well despite this. Obviously her trill and fioritura are not as strong as say Sutherland, but Ms. Price obviously has some pretty thick vocal chords, hence why she is more suited to lirico spinto roles and less to coloratura vocal acrobatics. But in general, I am very impressed. I wish that she could have done more roles that took advantage of her strong upper register. Like some other sopranos of the time, such as Joan Sutherland, she actually started out as a Mezzo. But she quickly realized that she had a commanding grasp on the 6th octave as she could spin out C6’s and D6’s all day. It would have been great if they could have cast her in roles where she could show more high E’s and even F’s. You can hear how effortless the Eb6 was, so I know she can do an E6 or an F6 pretty easily, too.
I'm around the same age and I've never trusted another soprano to deliver on the big Verdi roles. However I'm coming around somewhat after hearing Lise Davidsen in LA Forza a few weeks ago.
All of this is just the best to ever be heard, because, not only did Ms. Price have (and still has) the gift, but she worked hard all of her life to keep her voice and gave it to us. I am eternally grateful to her for her singing and her artistry. I return to her constantly because there is no one who matches her in my estimation. WOW!!!
What everyone is forgetting is that Ms. Price was an excellent judge of her vocal abilities and thus sang in a way that prolonged her voice probably at least a decade or more than any other soprano... what she demonstrated here is not that she should sing this particular role, but that she did indeed have the ability to hit the stratosphere with her voice...and frankly Callas, Sutherland, nor any other soprano I've heard matched the sheer power of Ms Price's voice. I think she had the most FULL BODIED voice of any soprano albeit lyric, coloratura, sprinto or any other in the last 150yrs... that doesn't mean she should sing any role or would be the best at any role. It does mean she was indeed the absolute best in several roles but could adapt her voice to many others if she so chose to...
The role is this aria. Everything else violenta sings is easy. So what do you mean, it wasn't her role? She was typed into heavier Verdi. But she started off singing summertime. Some People think she was really a coloratura. Personally i think ponselle is better for srmpre libera. But if you can sing this aria, you can sing the role.
I like Price but to this 'I think she had the most FULL BODIED voice of any soprano albeit lyric, coloratura, spinto or any other in the last 150yrs' is definition of delusional. When voices like Callas, Boninsegna, Tebaldi, Ponselle, Muzio, Zeani, Bruna Rasa, Traubel, Flagstad, Caballe, Caniglia, Steber and so many others exist how can you say that Price of all people is the most full bodied. Anyone with a trained ear will be able to hear that she is literally lacking vocal fold closure in this very clip. It is her biggest voice flaw, one that you can hear in her first recordings and one you can hear in her latest. A voice so lightened and one with closure problems is not 'full-bodied', no matter how beautiful of a timbre she has. Let's be honest and not use phrases that simply and objectively do not apply.
There is no other like Leontyne Price. Her brilliant tone and musical phrasing is beyond compare. Oh that she could still be singing today ! What a treasure it is though for those of us who never heard her live but worshipped from afar.
And there it is, in all of it's glory. That's an Eb for you. So beautifully executed, and lingered upon by the primo lyrico-spinto. Gloriana, Leontyne Price.
One has to remember that Ms. Price did all that she did while under the microscope created by being the first really big Black opera star. Of course, Marion Anderson had been invited to the Met as an honor after her career was mostly over previously, and Mattiwilda Dobbs (another great and also underappreciated singer) and two other Black singers (Robt. McFerring and Glory Davy) preceded Price, but the spotlight was really on Price at a very turbulent time in race relations. The fact that she negotiated the treacherous political waters as well as singing as wonderfully well as she did, is amazing and makes her a great artist and a great human being. And she is still with us! Thank you for all you've done, Ms. Price!
I did a master class with Mattiwilda Dobbs in Kansas in the late 70s (as an accompanist) at my college. I bought her LP of Pearl Fishers (Cetra), and when I saw her again in NYC in the 80s, she signed it for me! Such a lovely singer!!
I was privileged to see Grace Bumbry in a wonderful debut as Carmen in San Francisco in the Adler days. After which she hardly came back to America. If I have it wrong, forgive me. It just seems she couldn't be the star she was, black in America.
Get your facts straight. Marian Anderson’s career was not “mostly over” when she was invited to The Met to sing the part of Ulrica. She was no longer in prime voice being nearly 60 years old, but her career was as active as ever. She was still active on the concert stage and as a recording artist. Put some respect on her name.
@@direfranchement I don’t believe the poster was trying to disrespect Marian Anderson. However she only sang one role at the MET at a time when there were others that she could have been offered. It is true that the voice for operatic purposes was not in prime condition. Many singers will end a stage career but continue with recitals where material can be chosen to their advantage regarding repertoire and range. And yes, Miss Anderson’s career continued until the mid-sixties. But a true contralto is very rare and sadly she was never appreciated in her vocal prime in her own country only because she was African-American.
No one...no one could spin high notes like Price. But it's not just about singing high notes. It's about leaving the earth when she spun the marvel of her voice. The greatness wasn't in her acting. The color and spirit was inherent within the voice itself. Her grounded mastery took all of us off of the earth.
Critics have said: "Among actresses with the voice alone, she has few if any peers"; "She leads with her Voice [meaning she commands the drama with the voice]."
She was the greatest American soprano. Erect statues all over the United States in her honor as the greatest. Or America is the greatest country with no sense of greatness. For splendid high notes, listen to her "Caro nome".
@@nathandavis3002 Callas born american to greek parents made her career mostly in europe. Difficult to claim as ones one fore any one, but maybe just the greatest soprano period. Always a matter of personal taste and no one singer is perfect, but her achievment is so exceptionell.
@@robertcecilmorgan-wilde No - I am going by reputation, from what I have read and recordings in her prime. Ponselle's voice was much larger, more even from top to bottom, and vastly more agile than Price's. According to critics who heard both in their prime, tended to favor Ponselle in terms of vocal beauty. Also, Ponselle was a decent actress as well.
I was able to see her in the early 90's doing a recital at the Reseda Center in greater Los Angeles, I am so grateful she was as amazing as one would hope for .... Diva forever.... amen....
Nobody has such a beautiful voice as her. Her voice taste "bitter" at low and middle range and is angelic at the top. She is my number one, and always will be. She is responsible for my opera admiration. She amazed me with her voice almost 40 years ago. I am the Leontyne fanatic. The first opera love is the love forever.
Oddly enough the E Flat is not in Verdi's score. It was first interpolated for Nellie Melba,and after that most sopranos samg it that way. Sadly,when a soprano decides now to use Verdi's original intentions (uneducated) people assume (wrongly) that she just cannot achieve the E Flat!
Somethings become traditional. If you don't sing the e flat, it is because you don't have the note, no one beside maybe Muti decides to skip the note for artistic reasons. Sometimes if you get to hear a specific voice that wouldn't sing the note, that is fine.
jmahlon Very true. It makes you wonder,if we had access to operatic scores just how many other interpolations etc there are (many I would think)but as you say things become traditional.The worst offence was (and maybe still is) the number of cuts in an opera.
Unfortunately the majority of the public is uneducated, which is bad enough, but if that's not bad enough, they're so arrogant in their ignorance they pretend like they're not ignorant, you are. It gets to the point they're not worth educating with the truth, e.g. the ignorant who mistakenly equate a cappella with unaccompanied, not knowing it was later discovered the singers read over the shoulders of the instrumentalists.
Agreed... most people assume that... wach singer has their own staple.. Ms. Price is one of the geeatest to perform. I am pretty sure if she wanted she could have peeformed this role as well as other colortura parts.. Also she wanted to perserve her voice as much she could not to damage her instrument... Many singers did not do that and voices were runined and careers ended....
Can't quibble with the E flat! Yes, this is not her role, but you have to admire that a lot of it is sung far better than many of those for whom it is a staple. In the 80s, when she was singing the concert circuit after she had retired from the Opera stage, I heard her in recital at UCLA's Royce Hall. As a college student with a limited budget, a friend who worked back stage offered to get me in. When I approached the backstage door, I heard vocalizing up to G above high C, thinking 'that couldn't be her." I peeking through a window, and there she was, in all her glory and ease vocalizing into the stratosphere. Guess it makes sense when you have a high C that easy. On so many levels--a class in vocal pedagogy.
I heard the same kind of thing in San Jose in the 1970's. Price was warming up inside the hall. The audience was massed outside the door of the hall waiting to gain admittance when this incredible voice arose within in sounds such as I had never heard in my life, not even from Price, a voice bigger than any I had ever heard, moving with the speed of light, a voice that could do literally anything. Someone asked, "When can we go in?" The concert hall person answered, "When she's finished warming up." Needless to say, the performance was astonishing! I have never forgotten it. No one really knows the power and extent of the Price voice until she is heard warming up. You and I are very fortunate indeed.
Jean-Marie de la Trinite Yes, a once-in-a-lifetime voice. I waited around for about an hour after the performance in the receiving line to meet her briefly, and she was incredibly gracious too, listening to every person as if they were the only person in the room. Remarkable.
Yes, that's how she is, extraordinarily gracious to her fans, not to mention to other singers. I have never heard anyone praise her colleagues, and other sopranos, as greatly and as generously as does Price.
SteveL2012 - Yes, most singers are taught to hold something in reserve when we sing so that we know we can sing something higher, louder, softer, longer than we do in performance. So when I hear people sounding strained in public performance, I can tell they are not abiding by that dictum. Miss Price was an excellent Leonora in Il Trovatore and on records she recorded a peerless Caro Nome and Sempre Libera with the interpolated Ebs and high E (at the end of Caro Nome). One wonders why she never sang these roles on the stage? But I believe she did not see herself "physically" in these roles which is why she limited herself to a few roles.
Absolutely brilliant performance!!! I'll never forget hearing her live in the late 90's....there wasn't a dry eye in the house as we sat spellbound on the edge of our seats!
They are not even closely related and had no connection for most of their lives. Dionne didn’t even find out they were related until around the time of Oprah’s Legends Ball in 2005.
Divine. Simply DIVINE. I was blessed to hear Ms. Price recital at Purchase College in the late 90s, meet and hang out with her (and my voice teacher) afterwards. Her voice sings as if from another Heavenly realm. Still can feel the high from that night.
A lot of people talking shit in the comments who I guarantee can't sing a note. So annoying. And yes, I have a degree in classical vocal performance, so you all make me laugh. When you have sung in Carnegie Hall, get an opinion.
Give'em hell, Jaimie!! Anyone who has performed is not as quick with negative criticism. Everything feels *much* different when you are actually *on* the stage, rather than looking at it!!
This is an example of a world class "A" voice doing their best in a category not quite right for them....but very well done. What an INSTRUMENT!! She did some very nice things here in this - the "coloratura" realm...the hardest of all music written for the human voice. The High Eflat was among the greatest above High C notes I've ever heard...really only Callas and Sutherland had such opulence on that note. Miss Price was a "voice of the century"!
Brava to Miss Price, and bravo to a rarified world where the blue color of the Hope Diamond suddenly becomes some other extraordinary color. That type of extra ordinariness is what is presented here. I am so very grateful to Miss Price for fitting this event into her performance life, and for the world to wait until her time indeed arrived to record the performance so that all categories could relish in becoming believers that her gifts were once-in-a-lifetime extraordinary. God, may we come to value the same more than war; in the name of Jesus.
L.Price was a large Lyric Soprano. She says this in many interviews. Her voice was never a true Spinto. And even a lirico one. It was just a very big Lyric. The same was true of Pavarotti. He was a large lyric tenor voice. Price would have been fine as Violetta. It is a looonnng sing however. And of course in the 1970's people were trying to sing against type and doing it a lot of the time so it may just have been the pressure and the inevitable comparisons. Price did not go near Bel Canto which is strange as frankly, she would have done well there beyond her endless Verdi/Puccini renderings. This performance is gorgeous and of course wonderfully done. The darkness and the stretch to the top with it's golden cordlike sound is VERY pleasurable. And we even get the Eb. What more could one want in Violetta? It is not Callas but this is gorgeous.
I disagree re: Bel Canto. As much as I dearly love Ms. Price' great artistry, a Bel Canto repertoire would not have worked for her. Her coloratura singing was always on the sluggish and/or muddy side.
@@artdanks I yield to no one in my love of Price, but coloratura was definitely not her forte. When she sang Non mi dir, you could almost hear the relief when she got to "forse, forse" and could slow down and concentrate on Mozartian beauty.
@@jonrupp98 Exactly! I can't even imagine her in even the heavier Bel Canto roles, such as Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, etc. Her voice, with all its many strengths just did not lend itself well to this genre. I think she knew that.
@@artdanks She was vocally much too light to sing anything in Bel Canto including Traviata. These roles require heavier vocal instruments. She wasn’t a genuine Verdi voice either. Verdi is the same a Bellini but with louder instruments and orchestration. Price was NOT a good Leonora as the role requires dramatic coloratura and Price did not have coloratura at all.
This recording evidences Leontyne Price's seemingly limitless vocal abilities. I agree that perhaps she lacked the agility to confidently perform the role on stage. Nonetheless, it is wonderful that this recording exists.
Absolutely and its just that a recording, a wonderful aria and a testament to her flexibility...and let us not forget that record labels and the conductors and others decide on selections. Timbre, the tempo and part of the execution is in the maestro's hands. She has sung with the world's greatest conductors..this is certainly sweet
James Morris No, Leontyne decided on the selections for her solo aria albums... and tempos are negotiated with the conductor on an album like this... LPwas considering performing this role, mentions it in several interviews in the early 1970s... then dropped the idea--I think wisely, although I would have loved to hear a recording of her singing the rest of the opera too, particularly the long scene with Germont, for which her long legato line was ideally suited (more so than this scene).
Agility she had, Range she had, Voice she had... she was just thinking for Retirement Issues...not to strain her Voice much and not have a job in her later years... that is why she sang with the Interest and not the Capital of her voice... what this woman would have left us as a Legacy if she had sung with the Capital of her voice and had perhaps a 10 years shorter career... Norma, Bolena, Traviata, the Kaiserin... and they would all be amazing... instead we have only two semi-Assoluta roles by her Aida and the Trovatore Leonora while she clearly possesed an Assoluta Voice (she is perhaps the only Assoluta Voice in History who never sang any Assoluta role)
I have been listening to leontyne price for decades and I had no idea that she had this kind of vocal range. I guess I should not be one bit surprised that she was able to hit these notes with such Agility and Laser Focused Power.. This is probably one of the best I've ever heard if not the best I have ever heard...❤
musica tiranna, 1 non ha mai cantato il ruolo, 2 si e' presa una licenza discografica, 3 una con la voce cosi puo' cantare quello che gli pare, 4 abbiamo sopportato le Dessi, le Frittoli, le Fabbricini....ma di che stiamo a parlare....
To willworkforwages: I am guessing that with all the demand for Ms. Price to sing roles that she is known for, there was little need or time for her to sing other roles, as much as she may have wanted to. When your career is going the speed of light, I think it is wise to go with it. She did this and had an amazing career as a result.
Absolutely...and hearsay is all you reporting... she has very publically spoken of roles that may have been great in studio wasnt always best live...just ask Janet Baker and others that took on roles that didnt quite make it to their potential... teh negative reviews and persecution that comes with ruining your voice that was suited... she knew where to draw the line...cheers to the assuluto !!!
Brava!!!!!!! Brava!!!!!!!!!! This took my breath awa, such much vocal artistry and brilliance compacted into one human being! You will forever be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) Dramatic Soprano! Wish I could have seen her in her prime! Sidenote: do not listen to this while driving! Lol
sopranos have different types of course apparently this is not really her area of expertise,,,,, however that being said i cant think of anyone beating her in her comfort zone,,,,
She was smart to not attempt the role on stage, the recording, as lovely it is, shows how she strugles with Sempre Libera and the demanding fioritura Verdi wrote there. But still marvelous to have it on record and in her voice. Definetely one of the most beautiful voices on recorded history and she gave some of the best ever renditions on the roles more suited to her voice like Leonora in Forza and Aida. Brava!
There is NO struggling within the fioratura passages here?? Why do people say Price couldn’t sing coloratura?? This is not true at all. She could move her voice well.
@@liedersanger1 oh Yes!! Labored so much that the voice isn’t able to sing the high e flat at the end. FOR ME, it’s fabulous and that’s all that matters!! Not bad for a black girl born during the Jim Crow era to a poor family that nurtured the importance of a good education. It’s a miracle that she rose to supreme artistry within a field that did not accept non-whites!! So, you and I have a different mind set when it comes to successful artist of color. Bravissima Leontyne!! She could care less what we think because she more than achieved her dreams!!
@@silvanero It’s the fioriture (note spelling) just before the E-flat. Nobody-not even you-is ahead of me in admiration for LP. But the guy was right on that point.
@@liedersanger1 Right on point?? I’m sure if Ms. Price wanted to sing Violetta she would have been a fabulous success but she knew what was best for her. Anyway, she only essayed the arias and not the role. I don’t know why people are trying to criticize her for singing the aria as her interpretation wasn’t bad at all. Who cares if it wasn’t perfect. None of the greats were; they all had their flaws. I wish critics had the nerve to speak directly to artists about their flaws so that the singers could respond accordingly. Until one has been there and done it, you don’t fully understand the pressure and stress that’s associated with being an artist of her caliber. Brava, Price!! Furthermore, you really don’t need to correct my spelling….. get a life…..”it’s labored”….😠🖕🏾you sing it if you can sing it better…. What have you sung, performed??
I'm a absolute fan of the great Leontyne Price but it is justice to admit that the vocalises, here, are very approximative. She was much better in Leonora (Il trovatore).
Recorded in London in 1970 and included in an RCA operatic recital album "Five Operatic Scenes," with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fausto Cleva.
![LUCIANO PAVAROTTI & LEONTYNE PRICE [Un ballo in máschera]](http://i.ytimg.com/vi/S6Hdh0lSYrU/mqdefault.jpg)
Happy 97th Anniversary Of Life
Saturday, February 10, 2024
Her Royal Highness
Queen Leontyne Price
Grandest & Dearest Soprano Of Them ALL !!!
Immense Leontyne Price.
Preciosa Aria.
Beautiful.
Keep in mind that this piece is usually for a dramatic coloratura soprano, not a lirico spinto soprano. And she sang it well despite this. Obviously her trill and fioritura are not as strong as say Sutherland, but Ms. Price obviously has some pretty thick vocal chords, hence why she is more suited to lirico spinto roles and less to coloratura vocal acrobatics. But in general, I am very impressed. I wish that she could have done more roles that took advantage of her strong upper register. Like some other sopranos of the time, such as Joan Sutherland, she actually started out as a Mezzo. But she quickly realized that she had a commanding grasp on the 6th octave as she could spin out C6’s and D6’s all day. It would have been great if they could have cast her in roles where she could show more high E’s and even F’s. You can hear how effortless the Eb6 was, so I know she can do an E6 or an F6 pretty easily, too.
Caro De Francovich,s'e' voluta levare una soddisfazione...manco la Devia e' una grande Violetta ma ci ha annoiato per una vita.
Oro colato...mo' c'avemo la Netrebko, la Devia, la Yoncheva....la Pratt....
one of the greatest operatic singers ever to grace a stage...
29 people should not be on this channel cause they have no understanding of this level of singing or they're DEAF!
and "grace" is the exact right word!
She is a phenom, along with Callas and Bertolli.
I see 43 people had EXTREME difficulty with their hearing apparatuses....CHANGE THE BATTERIES!😂😜😝LMAO
New fact to me but still a fact nonetheless.
I'm 72. Leontyne Price has been my favorite soprano since I was a child -- and by now I've listened to a thousand.
Me to.
I am become transformed by the listening
I'm around the same age and I've never trusted another soprano to deliver on the big Verdi roles. However I'm coming around somewhat after hearing Lise Davidsen in LA Forza a few weeks ago.
I'm 58 and she's been my number one since the age of 15. Her Madam Butterfly is also a gem.
For what it's worth, that is one of the freest, clearest and most beautiful high Ebs I have ever heard.
It's forced . You want beautiful high E flats. Joan Sutherland was the queen of beautiful high notes
Sounds great to me 🤷♀
It is great!
@@crazyorganist1609 hater!
@@crazyorganist1609 what about callas' eb6s
All of this is just the best to ever be heard, because, not only did Ms. Price have (and still has) the gift, but she worked hard all of her life to keep her voice and gave it to us. I am eternally grateful to her for her singing and her artistry. I return to her constantly because there is no one who matches her in my estimation. WOW!!!
Shortly after she turned 90 she was interviewed and asked if she still sings. She said "yes....my voice is the only part of me that still works!".
have you heard Kathleen Battle sing, " una voce poco fa"?
What everyone is forgetting is that Ms. Price was an excellent judge of her vocal abilities and thus sang in a way that prolonged her voice probably at least a decade or more than any other soprano... what she demonstrated here is not that she should sing this particular role, but that she did indeed have the ability to hit the stratosphere with her voice...and frankly Callas, Sutherland, nor any other soprano I've heard matched the sheer power of Ms Price's voice. I think she had the most FULL BODIED voice of any soprano albeit lyric, coloratura, sprinto or any other in the last 150yrs... that doesn't mean she should sing any role or would be the best at any role. It does mean she was indeed the absolute best in several roles but could adapt her voice to many others if she so chose to...
There’s no better description, and I couldn’t be more agreed with you
The role is this aria. Everything else violenta sings is easy. So what do you mean, it wasn't her role? She was typed into heavier Verdi. But she started off singing summertime. Some People think she was really a coloratura. Personally i think ponselle is better for srmpre libera. But if you can sing this aria, you can sing the role.
I like Price but to this 'I think she had the most FULL BODIED voice of any soprano albeit lyric, coloratura, spinto or any other in the last 150yrs' is definition of delusional. When voices like Callas, Boninsegna, Tebaldi, Ponselle, Muzio, Zeani, Bruna Rasa, Traubel, Flagstad, Caballe, Caniglia, Steber and so many others exist how can you say that Price of all people is the most full bodied. Anyone with a trained ear will be able to hear that she is literally lacking vocal fold closure in this very clip. It is her biggest voice flaw, one that you can hear in her first recordings and one you can hear in her latest. A voice so lightened and one with closure problems is not 'full-bodied', no matter how beautiful of a timbre she has. Let's be honest and not use phrases that simply and objectively do not apply.
@@KajiVocalsNo, “full bodied” is quite accurate. And no “vocal closure”problems either.
@@liedersanger1 How can you not hear closure problems in her voice? Listen to her with good, clear audio and it’s going to be painfully audible.
Wow! I was lucky enough to see Ms. Price at the Seattle Opera House in the mid-nineties. I still get chills.
in recital?
Her natural voice is the best . The sound fly so easy and so far . You will never ever feel any tense..
There is no other like Leontyne Price. Her brilliant tone and musical phrasing is beyond compare. Oh that she could still be singing today ! What a treasure it is though for those of us who never heard her live but worshipped from afar.
Madame Price is teaching at Juilliard.
@@burnellbrowne4303 *REALLY?!?!?*
Please say yes?!?!
Burnell Browne No she is not.
And there it is, in all of it's glory. That's an Eb for you. So beautifully executed, and lingered upon by the primo lyrico-spinto. Gloriana, Leontyne Price.
One has to remember that Ms. Price did all that she did while under the microscope created by being the first really big Black opera star. Of course, Marion Anderson had been invited to the Met as an honor after her career was mostly over previously, and Mattiwilda Dobbs (another great and also underappreciated singer) and two other Black singers (Robt. McFerring and Glory Davy) preceded Price, but the spotlight was really on Price at a very turbulent time in race relations. The fact that she negotiated the treacherous political waters as well as singing as wonderfully well as she did, is amazing and makes her a great artist and a great human being. And she is still with us! Thank you for all you've done, Ms. Price!
I did a master class with Mattiwilda Dobbs in Kansas in the late 70s (as an accompanist) at my college. I bought her LP of Pearl Fishers (Cetra), and when I saw her again in NYC in the 80s, she signed it for me! Such a lovely singer!!
@@glgree1 - Yes, I remember it well!
I was privileged to see Grace Bumbry in a wonderful debut as Carmen in San Francisco in the Adler days. After which she hardly came back to America. If I have it wrong, forgive me. It just seems she couldn't be the star she was, black in
America.
Get your facts straight. Marian Anderson’s career was not “mostly over” when she was invited to The Met to sing the part of Ulrica. She was no longer in prime voice being nearly 60 years old, but her career was as active as ever. She was still active on the concert stage and as a recording artist. Put some respect on her name.
@@direfranchement I don’t believe the poster was trying to disrespect Marian Anderson. However she only sang one role at the MET at a time when there were others that she could have been offered. It is true that the voice for operatic purposes was not in prime condition. Many singers will end a stage career but continue with recitals where material can be chosen to their advantage regarding repertoire and range. And yes, Miss Anderson’s career continued until the mid-sixties. But a true contralto is very rare and sadly she was never appreciated in her vocal prime in her own country only because she was African-American.
Happy 91st Life Anniversary - Saturday, February 10, 2018
Grand Opera Soprano Queen Leontyne Price
And She Shall Reign Forever & Ever!
No one...no one could spin high notes like Price. But it's not just about singing high notes. It's about leaving the earth when she spun the marvel of her voice. The greatness wasn't in her acting. The color and spirit was inherent within the voice itself. Her grounded mastery took all of us off of the earth.
Critics have said: "Among actresses with the voice alone, she has few if any peers"; "She leads with her Voice [meaning she commands the drama with the voice]."
She was the greatest American soprano. Erect statues all over the United States in her honor as the greatest. Or America is the greatest country with no sense of greatness. For splendid high notes, listen to her "Caro nome".
Perhaps maria callas is her only rival for that title? High praise
@@nathandavis3002 Callas born american to greek parents made her career mostly in europe. Difficult to claim as ones one fore any one, but maybe just the greatest soprano period.
Always a matter of personal taste and no one singer is perfect, but her achievment is so exceptionell.
Nathan Davis mmm I’d still say Price should hold that title even over Callas
The greatest American soprano was Rosa Ponselle, perhaps next Lillian Nordica. Price was certainly a very fine soprano.
@@robertcecilmorgan-wilde No - I am going by reputation, from what I have read and recordings in her prime. Ponselle's voice was much larger, more even from top to bottom, and vastly more agile than Price's. According to critics who heard both in their prime, tended to favor Ponselle in terms of vocal beauty. Also, Ponselle was a decent actress as well.
I was able to see her in the early 90's doing a recital at the Reseda Center in greater Los Angeles, I am so grateful she was as amazing as one would hope for .... Diva forever.... amen....
A vocal wonder! Nothing more needs to be said. Leontyne Price is opera personified.
yes to all the posts praising ms. price. wonderfully done.
Nobody has such a beautiful voice as her. Her voice taste "bitter" at low and middle range and is angelic at the top. She is my number one, and always will be. She is responsible for my opera admiration. She amazed me with her voice almost 40 years ago. I am the Leontyne fanatic. The first opera love is the love forever.
Brilliant Performance.... Too bad she never sung this part... I do think she could have mastered it if she had been cast... Just Brilliant
Traviata was not part of her repertoire, but I'm glad she recorded this. It's a please listening to it.
Diva ... divine ... Leontyne she gives chills to body and soul I discovered her while I still an opera novice . She opened my ears and heart!
Master of breath control!
Oddly enough the E Flat is not in Verdi's score.
It was first interpolated for Nellie Melba,and after that most sopranos samg it that way.
Sadly,when a soprano decides now to use Verdi's original intentions (uneducated) people assume (wrongly) that she just cannot achieve the E Flat!
Somethings become traditional. If you don't sing the e flat, it is because you don't have the note, no one beside maybe Muti decides to skip the note for artistic reasons. Sometimes if you get to hear a specific voice that wouldn't sing the note, that is fine.
jmahlon Very true.
It makes you wonder,if we had access to operatic scores just how many other interpolations etc there are (many I would think)but as you say things become traditional.The worst offence was (and maybe still is) the number of cuts in an opera.
Unfortunately the majority of the public is uneducated, which is bad enough, but if that's not bad enough, they're so arrogant in their ignorance they pretend like they're not ignorant, you are. It gets to the point they're not worth educating with the truth, e.g. the ignorant who mistakenly equate a cappella with unaccompanied, not knowing it was later discovered the singers read over the shoulders of the instrumentalists.
Agreed... most people assume that... wach singer has their own staple.. Ms. Price is one of the geeatest to perform. I am pretty sure if she wanted she could have peeformed this role as well as other colortura parts.. Also she wanted to perserve her voice as much she could not to damage her instrument... Many singers did not do that and voices were runined and careers ended....
@@russedav5 All unaccompanied choral music is a capella. Not all a capella choral music is unaccompanied.
🔥💜🔥
Can't quibble with the E flat! Yes, this is not her role, but you have to admire that a lot of it is sung far better than many of those for whom it is a staple. In the 80s, when she was singing the concert circuit after she had retired from the Opera stage, I heard her in recital at UCLA's Royce Hall. As a college student with a limited budget, a friend who worked back stage offered to get me in. When I approached the backstage door, I heard vocalizing up to G above high C, thinking 'that couldn't be her." I peeking through a window, and there she was, in all her glory and ease vocalizing into the stratosphere. Guess it makes sense when you have a high C that easy. On so many levels--a class in vocal pedagogy.
I heard the same kind of thing in San Jose in the 1970's. Price was warming up inside the hall. The audience was massed outside the door of the hall waiting to gain admittance when this incredible voice arose within in sounds such as I had never heard in my life, not even from Price, a voice bigger than any I had ever heard, moving with the speed of light, a voice that could do literally anything. Someone asked, "When can we go in?" The concert hall person answered, "When she's finished warming up." Needless to say, the performance was astonishing! I have never forgotten it. No one really knows the power and extent of the Price voice until she is heard warming up. You and I are very fortunate indeed.
Jean-Marie de la Trinite Yes, a once-in-a-lifetime voice. I waited around for about an hour after the performance in the receiving line to meet her briefly, and she was incredibly gracious too, listening to every person as if they were the only person in the room. Remarkable.
Yes, that's how she is, extraordinarily gracious to her fans, not to mention to other singers. I have never heard anyone praise her colleagues, and other sopranos, as greatly and as generously as does Price.
Too many words, Steve. Make a judgement. She was the greatest American soprano. Erect statues all over the United States in her honor as the greatest.
SteveL2012 - Yes, most singers are taught to hold something in reserve when we sing so that we know we can sing something higher, louder, softer, longer than we do in performance. So when I hear people sounding strained in public performance, I can tell they are not abiding by that dictum. Miss Price was an excellent Leonora in Il Trovatore and on records she recorded a peerless Caro Nome and Sempre Libera with the interpolated Ebs and high E (at the end of Caro Nome). One wonders why she never sang these roles on the stage? But I believe she did not see herself "physically" in these roles which is why she limited herself to a few roles.
Love how she makes it sound like anyone could do it. She is a brilliant technical genius.
Absolutely brilliant performance!!! I'll never forget hearing her live in the late 90's....there wasn't a dry eye in the house as we sat spellbound on the edge of our seats!
Wow, the gifted voices of this lady and her cousins Dionne Warwick, Cissy and Whitney Houston!
They don’t compare.
They are not even closely related and had no connection for most of their lives. Dionne didn’t even find out they were related until around the time of Oprah’s Legends Ball in 2005.
Love her .. since I've heard her best CD recording during my college!! :) .. it's a meditation from the bad times!
Was lucky enough to hear Ms. Price at the Kennedy Center in late 80's. Finale Pace, Pace stunning!
Divine. Simply DIVINE. I was blessed to hear Ms. Price recital at Purchase College in the late 90s, meet and hang out with her (and my voice teacher) afterwards. Her voice sings as if from another Heavenly realm. Still can feel the high from that night.
Her precision is phenomenal.
Great example of open throat! Amazing technique! Notes were stunning and not forced. ❤
A lot of people talking shit in the comments who I guarantee can't sing a note. So annoying. And yes, I have a degree in classical vocal performance, so you all make me laugh. When you have sung in Carnegie Hall, get an opinion.
Quite right
Give'em hell, Jaimie!!
Anyone who has performed is not as quick with negative criticism. Everything feels *much* different when you are actually *on* the stage, rather than looking at it!!
Brava ! She takes the aria very light and with great vocal technique and charm and glory in the voice. Love ya Leontyne and have always. Thank you.
... A , INCOMPARAVEL NOBREZA , DO TIMBRE , DA VOZ. , DA RAINHA , LEONTINE PRICE , EVER !!!!!!!!!!!!!!❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤❤
Happy 90th Anniversary of Life Madam Leontyne Price. Thank you for being the greatest soprano of them ALL !!!
She is still alive and most likely listening to her recordings… if not trying to sing along!
Also her recording of Thaïs's aria is stunning
Damn! I didn’t know she was capable of performing a high E flat. Well done!
Madame Price, una immensa cantante... come si dice nel fermano "Do' la tocchi, sona!". È, proprio, un soprano meraviglioso.
FANTASTICO COME RIESCE A PIEGARE LA SUA GRANDE VOCE PER RENDERE LA LEGGEREZZA DRAMMATICA DI vIOLETTA.....CHE DIRE...MERAVIGLIOSA ARTISTA
The most beautiful voice. A diva for the ages. Brava.
The Ah, fors'è lui was just gorgeous!
Bravo.. Happy 97th Birthday on Feb 10th❤🎉
Leontyne price is one of the best singers in this century 🙌 👌 👏 ❤
Ms. Leontyne's performance is beautiful and enchanting as usual! This is one of my favorite cluster of songs and she handles it like true master.
DIVA
This is an example of a world class "A" voice doing their best in a category not quite right for them....but very well done.
What an INSTRUMENT!!
She did some very nice things here in this - the "coloratura" realm...the hardest of all music written for the human voice.
The High Eflat was among the greatest above High C notes I've ever heard...really only Callas and Sutherland had such opulence on that note.
Miss Price was a "voice of the century"!
Sutherland definitely. Callas???
I agree. That Eb was pretty incredible. Shocking actually.
@@vivemafille Hey, don't forget. Without Callas, there will be no Miss Price...
MichaelChong100 utter crap
Brava to Miss Price, and bravo to a rarified world where the blue color of the Hope Diamond suddenly becomes some other extraordinary color. That type of extra ordinariness is what is presented here. I am so very grateful to Miss Price for fitting this event into her performance life, and for the world to wait until her time indeed arrived to record the performance so that all categories could relish in becoming believers that her gifts were once-in-a-lifetime extraordinary. God, may we come to value the same more than war; in the name of Jesus.
Brava. How wonderful. Thanks for posting this. First time hearing it.
Thanks for this peace ! I had never heard Miss Price in this aria !
L.Price was a large Lyric Soprano. She says this in many interviews. Her voice was never a true Spinto. And even a lirico one. It was just a very big Lyric. The same was true of Pavarotti. He was a large lyric tenor voice. Price would have been fine as Violetta. It is a looonnng sing however. And of course in the 1970's people were trying to sing against type and doing it a lot of the time so it may just have been the pressure and the inevitable comparisons. Price did not go near Bel Canto which is strange as frankly, she would have done well there beyond her endless Verdi/Puccini renderings. This performance is gorgeous and of course wonderfully done. The darkness and the stretch to the top with it's golden cordlike sound is VERY pleasurable. And we even get the Eb. What more could one want in Violetta? It is not Callas but this is gorgeous.
I disagree re: Bel Canto. As much as I dearly love Ms. Price' great artistry, a Bel Canto repertoire would not have worked for her. Her coloratura singing was always on the sluggish and/or muddy side.
Spot-on commentary.
@@artdanks I yield to no one in my love of Price, but coloratura was definitely not her forte. When she sang Non mi dir, you could almost hear the relief when she got to "forse, forse" and could slow down and concentrate on Mozartian beauty.
@@jonrupp98 Exactly! I can't even imagine her in even the heavier Bel Canto roles, such as Norma, Anna Bolena, Maria Stuarda, etc. Her voice, with all its many strengths just did not lend itself well to this genre. I think she knew that.
@@artdanks She was vocally much too light to sing anything in Bel Canto including Traviata. These roles require heavier vocal instruments. She wasn’t a genuine Verdi voice either. Verdi is the same a Bellini but with louder instruments and orchestration. Price was NOT a good Leonora as the role requires dramatic coloratura and Price did not have coloratura at all.
Damn!.... Love her! Brava!
The lovely and talented miss Leontyne Price 🌹 sings so poetically from the soul and 💓 the heart.
AAAAAAAAA!!! I love L-e-o-n-t-y-n-e!!! Always my Diva.
Anche per me!
Incredibile sopranooo!!! Saluti per tutti i fan della Price.
Oh my god !! What a voice!! SHEAR BEAUTY !!!!
beyond perfect
This recording evidences Leontyne Price's seemingly limitless vocal abilities. I agree that perhaps she lacked the agility to confidently perform the role on stage. Nonetheless, it is wonderful that this recording exists.
Absolutely and its just that a recording, a wonderful aria and a testament to her flexibility...and let us not forget that record labels and the conductors and others decide on selections. Timbre, the tempo and part of the execution is in the maestro's hands. She has sung with the world's greatest conductors..this is certainly sweet
James Morris
No, Leontyne decided on the selections for her solo aria albums... and tempos are negotiated with the conductor on an album like this... LPwas considering performing this role, mentions it in several interviews in the early 1970s... then dropped the idea--I think wisely, although I would have loved to hear a recording of her singing the rest of the opera too, particularly the long scene with Germont, for which her long legato line was ideally suited (more so than this scene).
What a thought! You're right on the mark... that would have been an amazing scene.
Agility she had, Range she had, Voice she had... she was just thinking for Retirement Issues...not to strain her Voice much and not have a job in her later years... that is why she sang with the Interest and not the Capital of her voice... what this woman would have left us as a Legacy if she had sung with the Capital of her voice and had perhaps a 10 years shorter career... Norma, Bolena, Traviata, the Kaiserin... and they would all be amazing... instead we have only two semi-Assoluta roles by her Aida and the Trovatore Leonora while she clearly possesed an Assoluta Voice (she is perhaps the only Assoluta Voice in History who never sang any Assoluta role)
I have been listening to leontyne price for decades and I had no idea that she had this kind of vocal range. I guess I should not be one bit surprised that she was able to hit these notes with such Agility and Laser Focused Power.. This is probably one of the best I've ever heard if not the best I have ever heard...❤
BRAVISIMA !!!!
Whoever owns the blue disc is not lucky he is blessed thankyou Leontyne for your artistrywhich is a gift to mankind
I meant the famous Bue Album sorry
She would have been a ravishing Violeta
con tutto il rispetto..........voce stupenda ma assolutamente inadatta a questo ruolo!!!
musica tiranna, 1 non ha mai cantato il ruolo, 2 si e' presa una licenza discografica, 3 una con la voce cosi puo' cantare quello che gli pare, 4 abbiamo sopportato le Dessi, le Frittoli, le Fabbricini....ma di che stiamo a parlare....
Fabulous....unbeatable !!
LEONTYNE
Thank you for posting this! What a voice Leontyne had ❤️❤️❤️❤️❤️
Asian Guy in TO you’re welcome!
She still does at 91!
Una splendida voce non ci sono dubbi. BRAVA LEONTYNE te lo dico io un italiano.
UNBELIEVABLE : she’s so ...... oh my Gooooood !!!!!!!
She’s OVERWHELMING !!!!!!!
What gorgeousness is the thumbnail. She's stunning.
To willworkforwages: I am guessing that with all the demand for Ms. Price to sing roles that she is known for, there was little need or time for her to sing other roles, as much as she may have wanted to. When your career is going the speed of light, I think it is wise to go with it. She did this and had an amazing career as a result.
Absolutely...and hearsay is all you reporting... she has very publically spoken of roles that may have been great in studio wasnt always best live...just ask Janet Baker and others that took on roles that didnt quite make it to their potential... teh negative reviews and persecution that comes with ruining your voice that was suited... she knew where to draw the line...cheers to the assuluto !!!
DIVA DIVINA!!!!
Brava!!!!!!! Brava!!!!!!!!!! This took my breath awa, such much vocal artistry and brilliance compacted into one human being! You will forever be the G.O.A.T. (Greatest Of All Time) Dramatic Soprano! Wish I could have seen her in her prime!
Sidenote: do not listen to this while driving! Lol
SING IT!!!!!!!!!!! MMMMM HMMMMM!!!!! She is just tops!
She never sang this role onstage did she? I wonder why not?
sopranos have different types of course apparently this is not really her area of expertise,,,,, however that being said i cant think of anyone beating her in her comfort zone,,,,
I really love strong and heavy voices for some reason. They can do a lot with it.
Happy 95th Life Anniversary
To Her Royal Highness,
Leontyne Price
Grandest Of Them All!
The best Aida..
She was smart to not attempt the role on stage, the recording, as lovely it is, shows how she strugles with Sempre Libera and the demanding fioritura Verdi wrote there. But still marvelous to have it on record and in her voice. Definetely one of the most beautiful voices on recorded history and she gave some of the best ever renditions on the roles more suited to her voice like Leonora in Forza and Aida. Brava!
There is NO struggling within the fioratura passages here?? Why do people say Price couldn’t sing coloratura?? This is not true at all. She could move her voice well.
@@silvanero Its labored.
@@liedersanger1 oh Yes!! Labored so much that the voice isn’t able to sing the high e flat at the end. FOR ME, it’s fabulous and that’s all that matters!! Not bad for a black girl born during the Jim Crow era to a poor family that nurtured the importance of a good education. It’s a miracle that she rose to supreme artistry within a field that did not accept non-whites!! So, you and I have a different mind set when it comes to successful artist of color. Bravissima Leontyne!! She could care less what we think because she more than achieved her dreams!!
@@silvanero It’s the fioriture (note spelling) just before the E-flat. Nobody-not even you-is ahead of me in admiration for LP. But the guy was right on that point.
@@liedersanger1 Right on point?? I’m sure if Ms. Price wanted to sing Violetta she would have been a fabulous success but she knew what was best for her. Anyway, she only essayed the arias and not the role. I don’t know why people are trying to criticize her for singing the aria as her interpretation wasn’t bad at all. Who cares if it wasn’t perfect. None of the greats were; they all had their flaws. I wish critics had the nerve to speak directly to artists about their flaws so that the singers could respond accordingly. Until one has been there and done it, you don’t fully understand the pressure and stress that’s associated with being an artist of her caliber. Brava, Price!! Furthermore, you really don’t need to correct my spelling….. get a life…..”it’s labored”….😠🖕🏾you sing it if you can sing it better…. What have you sung, performed??
Spectacular, and who is the wonderful Alfredo?
leontin to mega gwiazda kunszt wokalny piekno glosu koncowka perfetto zyj nam krolowo 120 lat
Fenomeno
Wonderful!
She’s Whitney Houston’s cousin, right? I got here by watching Roberta Peters.. but I’m almost sure she is without googling lol
She’s very good. People who say her voice has spinto or dramatic (!!!) qualities are deaf though, standard lyric at most.
Shit! This is Violetta! And what a beautiful Eb attack at the end. She could've done this role.
The first recording of Traviata I listed to is this great rendition by Miss Price. The best in my opinion.
I'm a absolute fan of the great Leontyne Price but it is justice to admit that the vocalises, here, are very approximative. She was much better in Leonora (Il trovatore).
brava!!!!
Wish this had been before a live audience!
전설적인 흑인 소프라노
레온타인 프라이스의 목소리를
찾아 반갑네요.
현대 케슬린 베틀로 이어지지요.
대부분 라트라비아타에 남아 있네요
glorious voice..what a surprise...that high note..she gets it...but not her role....
fenomeno vocale .
non canta all'italiana ma che Voce !
brava !
Info about this recording, please?
Recorded in London in 1970 and included in an RCA operatic recital album "Five Operatic Scenes," with the London Symphony Orchestra conducted by Fausto Cleva.
Me encantooooo !!!!
Beautiful set of arias.🌷💚⭐
What a treasure! Unbelievably devine.