Leontyne Price
Mary Violet Leontyne Price (/liˈɒntiːn, ˈliːəntiːn/ lee-ON-teen, LEE-ən-teen; born February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim.[1] From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer. She regularly appeared at the world's major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala; at La Scala, she was also the first African American to sing a leading role.[2] She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Verdi's Aida.[1]
Leontyne Price
Operatic spinto soprano
1952–1997
- Cissy Houston (first cousin)
- Whitney Houston (first cousin once removed)
- Gary Garland (first cousin once removed)
- Bobbi Kristina Brown (first cousin twice removed)
- Dionne Warwick (first cousin once removed)
- Dee Dee Warwick (first cousin once removed)
- Damon Elliott (second cousin once removed)
Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Price attended Central State University and then the Juilliard School (graduating cum laude), where she had her operatic debut as Mistress Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. Having heard the performance, Virgil Thomson engaged her in Four Saints in Three Acts, prior to embarking on her debut tour; she also starred (alongside her husband William Warfield) in a successful revival of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Numerous concert performances followed, including a recital at the Library of Congress with composer Samuel Barber on piano. Her 1955 televised performance of Puccini’s Tosca, plus appearances at the San Francisco Opera as Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and Aida, brought her to international attention. She went on to sing at many of the world's major opera houses with Aida, before her successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1961, as Leonora in Verdi's Il trovatore. Continuing her career there, she starred in a multitude of operas for 20 years, securing her place among the leading performers of the century. One of these works was Barber's Antony and Cleopatra, which she starred in for its world premiere. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aida.[3]
A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, her musical interpretations were subtle but often overshadowed her acting.[3] She was noted for her roles in operas by Mozart and Puccini, as well as playing Cleopatra in Handel's Giulio Cesare and Poppea in Monteverdi's L'incoronazione di Poppea. However, the "middle period" operas of Giuseppe Verdi remain her greatest triumph; Aida, the Leonoras of Il trovatore and La forza del destino, as well as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Her performances in these works, as well as Mozart and Puccini's operas, survive in her many recordings.
After her retirement from opera, Price continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts until 1997. After that, she would come out of retirement to sing at special events, including a memorial concert for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at Carnegie Hall, in 2001. Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, in addition to her 13 Grammy Awards.[4][2]
Life and career[edit]
Youth and schooling[edit]
Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in Laurel, Mississippi, on February 10, 1927.[5][3] Her father, James Anthony, worked as a carpenter and her mother, Katherine Baker Price, was a midwife.[5] A deeply religious family, both of her parents were children of Methodist ministers;[1] her mother sang as a soloist in the church choir and her father played a tuba in the church band.[6] Her brother and only sibling, George, was born two years later.[5] She showed a natural affinity for music at an early age and began piano lessons at the age of three and a half with the local pianist Hattie McInnis.[7] Initially, she played on a toy piano, but by the time she was five, her parents traded in the family phonograph as the down payment on an upright piano.[7] Meanwhile, at age eight, she had begun visiting the home of Alexander and Elizabeth Chisholm, a wealthy white family for whom Leontyne's aunt worked as a laundress.[8] Leontyne and George became good friends with the Chisholms' older daughters, Jean and Peggy, and Mrs. Chisholm encouraged Leontyne's piano-playing and singing, often inviting her to sing at house parties.[7] Aged 9, she was taken on a school trip to hear Marian Anderson sing a recital in Jackson. The experience was her first significant exposure to classical music, and she later recalled that "The whole aura of the occasion had a tremendous effect on me, particularly the singer's dignity and, of course, her voice".[6] Multiple commentators asserted that this event galvanized Price's interest in a musical career.[2][1][6] In her teen years, Price attended Oak Park Vocational High School, where she was a cheerleader and salutatorian.[7] She earned extra money by singing for funerals and civic functions.[7]
Awards[edit]
Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Spingarn Medal (1965),[20][32] the Kennedy Center Honors (1980), the National Medal of Arts (1985), the Golden Plate Award of the American Academy of Achievement (1986),[33] numerous honorary degrees, and 13 Grammy Awards for operatic and song recitals and full operas, and a Lifetime Achievement Award, more than any other classical singer.[34] In October 2008, she was among the first recipients of the Opera Honors by the National Endowment for the Arts. In 2019, Leontyne Price was awarded an honorary doctorate degree from Boston Conservatory at Berklee.[35]