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Artist
Leontyne Price
12+ albums
operaClassicalsopranofemale vocalistsLeontyne Price
about
Wikipedia says: "Mary Violet Leontyne Price (b. February 10, 1927) is an opera singer (soprano). She was best known for her Verdi roles, above all Aida, a role that she is said to have "owned" for almost 30 years. Her rise to international fame was one of several breakthroughs by African Americans in the 1960s, and a high water mark for American classical singing. In an extraordinary generation of great singers that included Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland, Birgit Nilsson and Montserrat Caballe, Price reigned in the lirico-spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") roles of Verdi, Puccini, and Mozart. Her soprano was notable for its rich, seamless, sometimes husky, emotionally vibrant sound. Her voice ranged from A below Middle C to the D above High C. She is also a witty woman whose many bon mots have entered opera lore. Once, when she was appearing in Atlanta in the cowgirl role of Minnie in Puccini's "La Fanciulla del West," she was told she could not stay at the whites-only hotel with the rest of the Met company. She looked at the general manager and said, "Don't worry, Mr. Bing, I'm sure you can find a place for me and the horse." Price was born in a segregated black neighborhood of Laurel, Mississippi. Her father worked in a lumber mill and her mother was a midwife with a rich singing voice. When Leontyne's musical talent showed itself early, her parents traded in the family phonograph for a small toy piano for her to play. An affluent white family in Laurel, the Chisholms, also
top songs
1
Aida: Fu la sorte dell'armi...Mia rivale?
2,7212Surta e la notte...Ernani, Ernani, involami
2,7073Crudele!...Non mi dir, bell'idol mio
1,8794Il trovatore: Siam giunti...D'amor sull'ali rosee...Miserere...Udite? come albeggii... Mira, di acerbe lagrime
1,5725Ave Maria
1,2916Porgy and Bess:, Act 1: Summertime
1,2847When Johnny Comes Marching Home
1,0898America
1,0649God Of Our Fathers
1,05010We Three Kings Of Orient Are
889albums
Leontyne Price - Prima Donna Vol. 1: Great Soprano Arias from Purcell to Barber
God Bless America
The Voice of Leontyne Price
Leontyne Price - Prima Donna Vol. 5: Great Soprano Arias from Handel to Britten
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Leontyne Price - Carnegie Hall Recital Debut
The Essential Leontyne Price: Spirituals, Hymns & Sacred Songs
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The 50 Most Essential Opera Classics
Christmas With Leontyne Price
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100 Best Film Classics
Leontyne Price - Prima Donna Vol. 4: Great Soprano Arias from Mozart to Menotti
Puccini: Tosca
Christmas Celebration