Leontyne Price sings "My Man's Gone Now"

[princeandrey]

I love Leontyne Price, but I don't care for this rendition very much. Her head voice is too abrupt, so it doesn't flow naturally from the chest voice. The emotional connection is lost in the mechanics of the transfer. I'm not sure she has the right emotional connection in the first place, pacing it, as she does, so quickly. The voice itself is, of course, pure beauty, but in this case, to what end?

[jeanpizzle]

I patterned my singing after you, You are have been and always will be the best, most amazing gift of voice and heart. Thank you so much for sharing such a great gift with the world. 

Always an admirer, My dream was always to sing not only like you but with you. You retired much too soon.

Njeanpierre P.S. We are now three generations of classical singers because of you.

[albertthrelkeld]

Ms. Price is certainly due her laurels, and her place in operatic history is secure. However, this performance spotlights Ms. Price's grave weakness: the lower register was always unfocused. I don't care for the chest singing she does here. I hear two disconnected voices here. Leontyne's was a large, rich voice that didn't have a lot of frontal ping to project it. The lower register was pushed a bit. That and her incessant sliding bother me in this performance.

[southprince69]

2:50 is just priceless...God I love her...she feels it!

[hangout2007]

Heart wrenching, a requiem superbly done, with unbelievable operatic wailing and moans of grief. Breathtaking, exhaustingly sad.

[sprinter848]

@hangout2007 you are a true music lover...you hear with your heart.

[blessOTMA]

You need a voice like this for this song...it needs this power. Thank you Miss Price

[paulostroff99]

Awesome! TY.

[blckglam]

For the duration of her career she has sang perfectly. i think she wanted to have a little fun and give us a more authentic interpretation of the character of serena.

[JambaJoy]

It's too bad that the sound quality of this video isn't that great.

[dare57]

She's A Legend.. Beyond Critcism.. she has demonstrated for many years why she's Le.. her flaws we luv they r precious and few if there's any..

[benjaminvox]

Awesome. Thanks for sharing!

I wonder if anyone has Florence Quivar's reading of this aria with Levine conducting. i used to have it on and old VHS tape that died. I would so adore to see it on youtube... It also had Simon Estes and Grace Bumbry singing the Porgy duet. Gold. Pure gold.

[liedersanger1]

@benjaminvox It's on YouTube now.

[lilslim83]

she's not screaming she's just sings from her chest on part, it's called being classicaly trained

[Babs22h]

true she is chesting it... i guess the sound quality is screamy to myears..

[JUSC83]

I love it when she sings from her chest, she controls it soooooo well compared to other sorpranos..

[babs22hh]

@lilslim83 exactly and sense she is classically trained she's obviously using her chest voice for effect here. I dont happen to like it...particularly because she sounds like she has two distint vocies... head and chest; instead of a seamless single voice which is more classical. I prefer other verions where the head and chest voice are less distinct

[augur999]

That "joltiness" is her signature singing style..No one can sing like that and get away with it..She's made it her own..Like it or not, it's here to stay !!!

[babs22hh]

@augur999 it is her signature style and BRAVA TO LEONTYNE! i dont particularly like it in this piece; thats just my opinion ;-) and arent we all entitled to one?:-)

[Babs22h]

i dont like the way she is all screamy at parts like she is talk singing 0:47,1:18,2:10,2:30, its very jolty

[thornolie]

It's an opera with a little soul. If anyone can get away with it, it's Leontyne!

[enautica04]

I like this one alot. It's slower and more effective!

[vikramparalkar]

Brava! Leontyne Price has one of the most colossal voices in opera! I would also suggest that Gershwin aficinados listen to Audra McDonald's performance of the piece. Audra infuses a sense of genuine tragedy into the piece.

[Arnold3135]

This performance is much better and more mature than the one performed with Levine. It seemed to me that the Levine tempo was rushed. Not enough time to hear the pathos of the aria, or the humidity that's inherent in the scene. I so grateful to have live during her era of musical excellence.

[liedersanger1]

@Arnold3135 I agree with you!

[castodivo]

Her singing screams courageousness and with utter abandon. Her technique is just uncanny.

[TollerAffe]

The last bit of wailing sounds like a ghosts sound or a theremin. That was something special. WOW!

[Babs22h]

so the maestro's dances at the beginning at are awesome hes so into... I so love the note "dead!!!" and the way she gasps for air at 2:56!Watch her spike her eyebrows! but love also her extreme focus when at the inhalation--watch the eyebrows again!--

[JairusSteed]

you are so right about 2:56 lol, that is very dramatic!

[higharch]

Glorious Gloriana!

[Babs22h]

i love how she totally changes her sound and she gets all gospel belty and bright and then back to her her usual operatic tone...

[amd73td63]

Stop being LAZY. You all know Leontyne is the bomb, OOPS, that's why no comments. OK,,, new at this you tube stuff...

[weloveannanetrebko]

LOVED THAT! More polished than her other performance of that (somewhere here on youtube).Her voice and presence is phenomenal

[sketL]

Charles Dutoit is conducting

[klokheten]

Vocal and emotional power of a phenomenal kind.

Leontyne Price is an icon for real singing on the highest level. Who could the conductor be?