Leontyne Price #1485
$ 8.00
Caption from poster__
Leontyne Price
" I am here
and you will know
that I am the best
and will hear me.
The color of my skin
or the kink of my hair
or the spreas of my mouth
has nothing to do with
what you are listening to.”
A native of Laurel, Mississippi, Mary Violet Leontyne Price decided on a
singing career after graduation from the College of Education and Industrial
Arts, Wilberforce, Ohio, in 1948.Four years at the Juillard School of Music,
with Florence Page Kimball guiding her as she would continue to do, led to
her 1952 debut on Broadway. Ira Gershwin, based on that performance,
chose Price as Bess in a revival of Porgy and Bess that played New
York City 1952-54 and then toured both nationally and internationally. In
1955, Leontyne Price was chosen to sing the title role in a television
production of Tosca,becoming the first black singer on a television opera
production. In 1957, she debuted in her first stage opera, the American
premier of Dialogues of the Carmelites by Poulenc. She performed in
San Francisco until 1960, appearing in Vienna in 1959 and Milan in 1960.
Her debut at the Metropolitan Opera House in New York in 1961 was
as Leonora in Il Trovatore.Quickly becoming a leading soprano there,
Leontyne Price made the Met her primary base until her retirement in
1985. After her retirement she continued to give recitals. Associated
especially with Verdi and Barber, Leontyne Price sang the role of
Cleopatra, which Barber created for her, at the opening of the new
Lincoln Center home for the Met. She also performed at recitals,
especially in the 1970s, and was prolific in her recordings. citals,
especially in the 1970s, and was prolific in her recordings.
