Leontyne Price

[Anne]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/offer-listing/B000003FWD/ref=dp_olp_2/002-8946394-4608867?ie=UTF8&qid=1177205395&sr=1-2

Check out the prices!  Pun not intended.

[knight66]

More than worth the lower price, but for the highest one you could probably have got her to come and sing in your livingroom...well, almost. I have a four disc set and think she was absolutely fantastic. They were imaginatively planned recitals going from Handel to Barber, through some very unexpected music and quite a bit that she never sang live. What a treat for the ears. Never a dull moment.

I have been tempted by that larger 11 disc set...but have not so far succumbed.

Mike

[Maciek]

You know, I think I only have one CD (unless I'm forgetting something). This one:


Where should I go next? (Assuming that I don't, at the moment, have a fortune to spend.)

[PerfectWagnerite]

You know, I think I only have one CD (unless I'm forgetting something). This one:


Where should I go next? (Assuming that I don't, at the moment, have a fortune to spend.)

I have that one also, and some Verdi recordings. To be honest I am not a big fan of her voice, always sounds a bit raspy, especially in the lower register. Even in the Barber I much prefer Upshaw.

[Anne]

I think she has a very good Aida recording.

[Maciek]

Ah, yes - I remember now! I think I heard several bits from that one once - it was outstanding. I'll add it to my wish list then.

[knight66]

I think Price excelled in Verdi, Strauss and Puccini.

This first disc has two of them...

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Leontyne-Price-Puccini-Verdi-Arias/dp/B000003GAV/ref=sr_1_20/026-2800580-8030813?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177281596&sr=1-20



Her complete Tosca is first rate, she does not have the detailed characterisation of Callas...but who does, it is nevertheless a great set.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Puccini-Tosca-Price-Stefano-Karajan/dp/B0000042FF/ref=sr_1_22/026-2800580-8030813?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177281938&sr=1-22

Both are available cheaply via the marketplace.

The full Carmen is also terrific....another John Culshaw production and again Karajan conducts. Frankly it does not sound very French, but I do love this set for its red blood approach and no holds barred singing. It is availabe from a UK marketplace seller at almost nothing.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/offer-listing/B000009W7K/ref=dp_olp_2/026-2800580-8030813?ie=UTF8&qid=1177282106&sr=1-34

Here is a famous set, Trovatore conducted by Mehta, one of the best things he has done. A very young Domingo, Milnes and Cossotto...superb.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Il-Trovatore-Giuseppe/dp/B000009NIY/ref=sr_1_45/026-2800580-8030813?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177282106&sr=1-45

Having narrowed the range of her recordings, I have never heard one that did not satisify me. One final favourite is Verdi Aida, the Solti version. I am constantly recommending it.

http://www.amazon.co.uk/Verdi-Aida-Giuseppe/dp/B000023ZF0/ref=pd_bowtega_1/026-2800580-8030813?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1177282587&sr=1-1

Mike

[Maciek]

Mike, thanks so much for the recommendations! I've heard very little from her so far but everything I've heard was outstanding, so I'm really looking forward to getting to know her better!!!

[Lilas Pastia]

The shipping charge of 2.59$ is obnoxious. At the price they sell those, they should pack them with gold ribbons.

I prefer Price's EMI Leonora (Trovatore). The voice gloriously lustrous in its high register, and Karajan lets her indulge in some interpolated high notes, tenutos, portamentos and assorted expressive shadings.

If I had to take one aria from Price to the desert island, it would be a toss between Summertime and D'Amor, sull'alli rosee.

Check Youtube for gold nuggets.

[Maciek]

Check Youtube for gold nuggets.

Thanks for the tip, Andé! It's a goldmine indeed!

[Lilas Pastia]

My pleasure! Her Boston Summertime (1981) is stupendous despite the crumbling sound (skip the White House one, it does't do her - or us - any favor).

A truly legendary moment is her farewell performance as Aïda (Met, 1985). On paper the line up is improbable: the three principals are well into their late fifties.  There's a clip of O Patria Mia that is heart stopping as pure singing. Even more moving is the look on her face as she mentally comes down to earth and is greeted by a wild, endless ovation from the Met audience. You can see the emotion welling up in her eyes and trembling lips.

[Maciek]

Yes, Summertime was the one I went straight to!

Apart from the singing, I'd also like to mention that she is a beautiful woman.

[val]

To me, she was the greatest Aida I ever heard. Superior to Ponselle, Callas, Milanov, Tebaldi. She was "my ideal" Aida, the same way Callas was my ideal Norma.

[Tsaraslondon]

To me, she was the greatest Aida I ever heard. Superior to Ponselle, Callas, Milanov, Tebaldi. She was "my ideal" Aida, the same way Callas was my ideal Norma.

I never heard her live, but, I agree with you For me hers was always the ideal Aida voice. Unfortunately I can't bear Solti's conducting on her first recording. What I would give to have had that cast (the cast of Price's first studio recording) conducted by Serafin, often underestimated as a conductor.

[knight66]

I should think you are aware of her second recording with Leinsdorf and Bumbry. I felt she was in better voice in the earlier set and Leinsdorf was not exactly dramatic in his approach. Shame you don't get along with Solti's approach.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

I should think you are aware of her second recording with Leinsdorf and Bumbry. I felt she was in better voice in the earlier set and Leinsdorf was not exactly dramatic in his approach. Shame you don't get along with Solti's approach.

Mike

Yes, Mike, I am aware of the Leinsdorf, but, as you point out, she is in much fresher voice on the first and Leinsdorf is a rather undramatic conductor. What I do not like about the Solti is the way he seems to have to underline every dramatic point; how every sforzando is hammered home with a force to jolt you out of your seat. It all seems so unmusical to me. I am often taken with how unobtrusively right the conducting is on the Serafin version. If you do want something more interventionist, then I would go with Karajan II or Muti, though, unfortunately, you do not get Price.

[Sarastro]

It's not clear for me why I like Price (of course I couldn't have listened to her live, I was born too late), as she has a horrible accent and something like hoarseness (don't beat me!)...still she's singing so close and intimate to me, so sensitive and tender, sometimes nervous, strong...as far as I can remember I liked all the recordings with her I've already listened to. The last discovery for me was her Liu.

[Holden]

....and of course there is this



and this



I don't know which I like better - probably the HvK. Her voice never fails to make shivers run up and down my spine!

[wagnernn]

Price is truly  a spinto (isn't she?),but I find that she can sing many coloratura roles beautifully.I love her high notes which are very powerful and "glorious" in dark mood.I 'd never forget her singing in Il Trovatore: Wide range of vocal,psychologically acting,powerfull and idiosyncratic voice.
In my opinion,many verismo roles aren't suitable for her ,though many spinto can master their singing in those roles (Ponselle,Tebaldi,Freni,Milanov....)

[Tsaraslondon]

Price is truly  a spinto (isn't she?),but I find that she can sing many coloratura roles beautifully.I love her high notes which are very powerful and "glorious" in dark mood.I 'd never forget her singing in Il Trovatore: Wide range of vocal,psychologically acting,powerfull and idiosyncratic voice.
In my opinion,many verismo roles aren't suitable for her ,though many spinto can master their singing in those roles (Ponselle,Tebaldi,Freni,Milanov....)

Coloratura was not Price's forte, though she did of course have many other wonderful qualities. Just listen to her clumsy voicing of the fast section of Donna Anna's non mi dir, or Violetta's Sempre libera, a role, incidentally, she never sang on stage. Even in Il Trovatore, though the timbre is absolutely right for the role, her singing is nowhere near as accurate as Callas's. For me, she was always at her best in middle to late Verdi - Aida, la Forza del Destino, the Requiem. I also remember an absolutely stunning performance of Thais's big mirror aria on one of her recital discs. Now that's a role that would have suited her to a t.