Leontyne Price - Leontyne Price- Arias
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Artist: Leontyne PriceComposer: Giuseppe Verdi
Composer: Giacomo Puccini
Conductor: Oliviero de Fabritiis
Conductor: Arturo Basile
Orchestra: Rome Opera Orchestra
Edition: Music CD
Audio: English (Original Language)
Format: Hybrid SACD - DSD, Original recording remastered
CD Release Date: 2004-09-14
Music Label: RCA / BMG
Soundtracks:
- Ritorna Vincitor!
- Qui Radames Verra!
- O Patria Mia
- Che Piu T'arresti?
- Tacea La Notte Placida
- Di Tale Amor Che Dirsi
- Timor Di Me?; D'amor Sull'ali Rosee
- Un Bel Di Vedremo
- Tu? Tu? Piccolo Iddio! (Morte Di Butterfly)
- Chi Il Bel Sogno Di Doretta
- Vissi D'Arte
- Signore, Ascolta!
- Tu Che Di Gel Sei Cinta
Music reviews of Leontyne Price- Arias
Music Review: A Legendary Masterpiece is Available Once Again:LEONTYNE PRICE's Operatic Studio recording debut - The "Blue ALbum"
Rating: 5 Stars
For those Opera-lovers who first encountered America's Diva assoluta, soprano LEONTYNE PRICE's magical vocalism from the recording studio, this collection comprises the entire legendary "Blue Album" which many operaphile consider to be one of the finest recordings ever. For Opera neophytes, there can be no more fitting introduction to vocal splendor than the singing on this disc. The selections gathered here vividly demonstrate the reason why Leontyne Price is regarded as the supreme VERDI soprano of her generation (30 years to date) a renowned PUCCINI specialist, and one of the greatest artists of all time. Recorded in the early 60's, Ms. Price's instrument was, in her own words "a juicy lyric". The intrinsic lyricism of her voice was aligned to warm, lustrous tone that pulsated in the middle voice, yielded a dark, uniquely sensuous sound in the lower regions, and gleamed with a distinctive, fast, liquid vibrato in the upper voice. That unique vibrato was elemental to this diva's ability to infuse Verdi and Puccini's most dramatic phrases with surging power (without pushing), and still produce lovely pianos in alt - soaring there with an ease that was singular to her, and that continued to her retirement in the 2002. All of those remarkable elements are on display in this seminal recording.
Leontyne Price recorded arias and scenas from every standard repertory VERDI opera with few exceptions (Nabucco/Luisa Miller/Vespri/Falstaff) in superlative fashion. Her onstage roles included the IL TROVATORE Leonora, the role of her sensational MET debut (that resulted in a record 42 minute ovation), thrice recorded by her (with Basile, Mehta, and Von Karajan respectively), and a signature role throughout her career. The first selections represented the sum of onstage VERDI roles that the soprano has sung at that time: Leonora from IL TROVATORE and the title-role of AIDA. Ms. Price soars effortlessly to the heights repeatedly in "Tacea la notte", aligned to sensuously throbbing tone, singing the inexplicably rushed cabaletta fluently. "D'amor sull ali rosee" (once the sole property of Ms. Price's Verdian predecessor Zinka Milanov) is enhanced by the soprano's expert trills, other musical nuances, and the glorious vibrato that carries her gossamer tones to a floated high C in alt. The leading newspaper of Italy said of Leontyne Price that "..our great Verdi would have her the ideal Aida", and that sentiment has been adopted the world over. The "Aida" selections here are the first ones recorded by the American diva, and remain a revelation. She recorded this opera twice, most famously with Sir Georg Solti and Jon Vickers, then triumphantly with Erich Leinsdorf and Placido Domingo. In "Ritorna vincitor" the soprano's lyric instrument is quite "juicy" indeed, declaiming Aida's fierce opposition to the Egyptian invaders of her Ethiopian homeland with energetic and powerful vocalism. She then masterfully delineates the young princess' dilemma with plaintive and youthful passion, ending with a prayerful "Numi pieta" suffused by warm, sable-colored tone. "O Patria mia" is another of Ms. Price's most revered performances, indeed the aria that garnered her a (5) five minute ovation on live television at her "farewell to Opera" (1985) performance in the same opera. The soprano injects Aida's farewell to her homeland with rich, smoky, plangent tones that rise effortlessly to a shining high C that bedeviled some of her most illustrous rivals, and would be bettered in the future only by the wonderful Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe - and Ms. Price herself!!
Leontyne Price performed the veristic music of PUCCINI onstage in a number of his operas that included "MANON LESCAUT/TOSCA/MADAMA BUTTERFLY/LA FANICULLA DEL WEST/IL TABARRO/and TURANDOT, albeit with less frequency than with Verdi. She brought a luminous, womanly quality to all of the composer's music. Here, she sings with particular intensity and emotion as the geisha girl Cio-Cio San, her favorite Puccini role onstage, and superbly recorded complete on RCA with tenor Richard Tucker. "Un bel di" is sung fervently with glowing tone, while "Tu, tu piccolo Iddio" moves the listener to tears at the pain-laden urgency and commanding vocalism Ms. Price summons in this poignant scena. In "Vissi d'arte" the jealous and fiery Roman prima donna Floria Tosca is reduced to lamentation, which in Ms. Price's hands translates into limpid, melting tone, complete with a stunning high C followed by her trademark diminuendo on Aflat. While the complete opera is twice-recorded by the soprano (with Von Karajan and Mehta respectively),both highly-acclaimed, this aria became one of Ms. Price's most requested and performed encores. Puccini's music for the doomed Chinese slave-girl Liu is exquisitely sung. "Signore ascolta" is imbued with sweet lyricism and dulcet tones that spin on the top. "Tu che di gel sei cinta" once again displays the great soprano's ability to illuminate a scene and therein touch the heart -with sublime vocalism.The most outstanding qualities of this diva in Puccini's music were a warm femininity and profound humanity, inherent in all of her singing, but most pronounced with this composer. She also fearlessly sang his highest phrases with a vocal splendor and freedom unrivalled by anyone, nowhere more than as the tragic Butterfly. However, until she retired from public singing, one aria remained a 'sine qua non' for this diva and her public: "Chi bel sogno di Doretta" from Puccini's rarely performed operetta LA RONDINE. The performance here was her first recording of it, and is a classic in its own right. Ms. Price's voice shimmers throughout, singing the high C with astonishing purity, and caressing, velvety tone elsewhere.
For years, this "album" was unbelievably out-of-print. RCA has done a wonderful job in re-mastering this masterpiece, complete with the original Blue artwork This "Blue Album" will leave you felling anything but!!
Savor the marvellous youthful artistry of "La Splendissima" LEONTYNE PRICE.
Note:This review was written for the initial re-release of the digitally re-mastered disc. I'm sure those reviewers who've experienced the SACD version are quite accurate in their estimation of any improvements yielded by this relatively new technology. I hope to experience it soon myself.
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