Leontyne Price

The Best of Leontyne Price!:
This is a very special collection. For one, it was to be her last recording of Arias, and I do believe she went out in style. Never was her "O patria mia" better sung than this; supreme legato, diction, ease of production---flawless. She seemed to be making a strong statement to those who would captiously point out her mannerisms saying: "I am still Leonessa"!!!! She shows on this albumb that an intelligent artist can take out the swooping, bad diction, breathiness whenever she chooses. Furthermore, was she ever more beautiful than on the cover? This is a superb account of amazing vocalism and my favorite collection of Leontyne Price.

A beautiful final recital from leontyne price...glorious high notes and sublime pianissimos!:
This last recital studio recording from leontyne price is nothing short of a masterpiece.Her high notes are radiant,her legato excellent,and finally her pianissimi perfection.I am amazed when listening to her here,that this album was made just five years from her final stage performance at the met,price's singing is that good.I would also like to say that the presentation of this album is first class,the cd is housed in a cardboard sleeve(reminscent of a beautiful Lp cover)with a glossy sensational cover picture of leontyne.The sound quality is also excellent.P.S. she ends ave maria from otello with the second most beautiful pianissimi I've ever heard(after Caballe's version).this album of verdi arias is surely a fine example of a legendary recording.It is also available at a great price.

The Age of BEAUTY: Leontyne Price and Verdi Together Again!!:
The great American soprano Leontyne Price has been an legend almost since the beginning of her international Operatic career. She: Triumphed in every musical capital; Was chosen to open the New MET in an opera (ANTONY and CLEOPATRA) written expressly for her voice; Holds the record for the most Grammys ever awarded to a sole classical vocalist (16)sixteen; Holds the record for the longest MET ovation (42 minutes at her debut in IL TROVATORE); Has been acclaimed as "Diva di tutte le dive"..."the Stradivarius of Singers"..."our great Verdi would have found her the perfect Aida"..."America's Diva assoluta" - and is one of the most-recorded (studio)and celebrated Prima Donnas in the history of Opera. So when the diva recorded the arias on this CD in the early 80's, she was inevitably inviting comparison to the catalog of her incomparable recordings of old. The arias on this CD hail from some of Ms. Price's most illustrous Verdi roles (AIDA, AMELIA, and ELVIRA), and the OTELLO scena, that she previously recorded in the mid-60's. There is no question that soprano Leontyne Price in 1980 was a different singer from the Mississippi-born soprano of the 1960s. Her voice is dark and weightier in the middle with less throb, chesty in the lower regions, with a slight loss of thrust and/or power in the upper regions. Despite those cavils, these performances demand little to no apology or allowances for age or longevity. Ms. Price sings beautifully throughout, with few new musical insights to be sure, but compensatory glorious tone - minus wobble, suspect intonation, and/or loss of range that other divas of her generation failed to escape. In "Ritorna Vincitor" the Aida Ms. Price gives us is an intense, fiery, and determined heroine whose repeated declamations of "struggete" (fight them!) are nearly hurled at her absent Ethiopian brethren. (here, and so often in her singing, the rasp of her lower voice serves the dramatic intent admirably.) She's stated her belief that Aida should be portrayed as a princess in captivity, and the soprano delineates the conflicts that overwhelm the young Ethiopian royal expertly, though the sound is much darker and less ductile than before. "Numi pieta" is sung with broader strokes than in previous times, but is still suppliant and touching. The second AIDA aria "O Patria Mia" finds Ms. Price in nearly miraculous form, spinning out velvety soft highs, creamy, dark-hued tone in the middle, and a gorgeous, long-held high C at the aria's climax - all representative of the singer from 10 years earlier. Ms. Price starrred in a series of UN BALLO IN MACHERA performances at the MET (in the mid-60's) and the San Francisco Opera, and on a classic recording (RCA)as well. In 1980, we miss the femininity and vulnerability that the soprano generated in her earlier essays of the Act II scena. The dramatic intensity is lessened and more general in scope. Ms. Price sings with forthright security overall, the middle produced with notably less vibrato than usual, but the tops still lovely, if less refulgent than before. "Morro ma prima in Grazia" is probably the least successful of all of the arias on this set. Ms. Price's singing is almost blunt in delivery, phrasing choppy, and lacking cohesion. Dramatically, she seems uninterested and lethargic, with her voice mirroring all of the above. The OTELLO scena is more nuanced, and sung with a greater attention to dynamic shadings. Ms. Price's singing rightly focuses on the melancholy and foreboding of the doomed heroine, the tonal panapoly yields more somber, yet softer hues.This Desdemona sounds much more mature vocally than the silvery creation Ms. Price left on her earlier recording, though no less beautiful. "Ernani involami" ( ERNANI) is actually an improvement over the thrillingly sung, but somewhat technically awkward version on the Thomas Schippers-led complete set of this opera. Here Ms. Price sings the cavatina with the fluid assurance of a bel canto specialist, the voice supple, warm, and brilliant in the upper regions. She sings the cabaletta with greater ease, handles the fioritura with bravura, capping it with a high C worthy of any she previously sang in this piece. Maestro Zubin Mehta, usually one who could elicit greater emotional involvement from the diva, contributes a great deal of unimmaginative conducting here. There is little sweep in the more dramatic pieces, and even less chiaruscuro in the slower arias, and the Israel Philharmonic Orchestra's playing - while proficient- is pallid throughout as a result. The focus however, is on the SINGER in this recital, and Leontyne Price clearly shines in the spotlight - one that had been trained on her for nearly 25 years!! This collection is not recommended to LEONTYNE PRICE neophytes, as her voluminous earlier studio output truly displays her talents at their zenith. Indeed this Verdi collection excludes IL TROVATORE and LA FORZA DEL DESTINO , both indelibly linked to this diva. Rather, this is a collection for Opera-lovers, connoisseurs, and of course, Price fans, who appreciate, understand, and celebrate the value of an artist's maturity - and want to revel in the amazing vocalism that accompanies it - "La Splendissima" Leontyne Price.

A Verdian soprano at her finest:
Throughout her career, Price had an almost intimate relationship with much of Verdi's work. Frequently, in her later concert performances (some of which are available on CD and DVD), she demonstrated a certain hurried sloppiness, with swooping notes and an unbalanced middle range. This CD, however, is Price at her mature best. She displays extraordinary care in her overall technique, and demonstrates overwhelming legato as opposed to careless sweeping through notes. Overall, this is a must own CD for Price and Verdi lovers, as well as being a wonderful example of a perfect Verdian at her prime for an operatic neophyte. The only reservation is with the tempi of Zubin Metha: although the Israel Philharmonic provides a magnificent, well toned and orderly handling of Verdi's scores, Metha is a bit erratic in his conducting. Nonetheless, this recording proves Price to be the ultimate combination of extraordinary technique with artistic expression. One cannot ask for or even imagine better.