Leontyne Price sings Madama Butterfly (vaimusic.com)

[concertcollector]

WOW! A GIFT FROM GOD SHE IS!

[drplot1]

All I can say: Wow! How beautiful. I prefer not to compare. Only Leontyne sings like Leontyne; I was lucky enough to hear her sing live before she retired. It was unforgettable.

[hollatotal30]

@drplot1 Agreed I can listen to both Price and Sutherland sing this all day.

[Anton10or]

Second only to Dame Joan Sutherland she is wonderful!!!

[wTrevorh]

@Anton10or, Leontyne is second to NO ONE!! She and lady Callas are unmatched.

[thecatsmeow12]

The greatest female opera singer of all time. The way she holds on to a note. Its as if she is not breathing. No one can touch her talent even though their are some great female singers today.

[aj92507]

amid the harsh lights and everyone and everything all up on her...this angelic woman not only delivered this aria with absolute exactness, she made me feel as if we were alone in the theatre. I love when artists are so magnificent they propel you to another place. 

[currybrowning]

I love Leontyne..........her voice brings across so much emotions.

[pheelme]

What a beautiful soul and a TRUE Dramatic Soprano. She brings such feeling and emotion. It's enough to make a grown man cry.

[amaranthann]

No one can sing opera as well as Leontyne.

[kenrayez1]

I am so proud to have met Ms. Price and she was so warm and beautiful as she is a singer! When I hear her sing, I began to think of heaven and that is my feelings toward her singer! She sings like a beautiful angel!

[fathijama]

Such an amazing voice, powerful and classy. Cant stop listening to her over and over again

[XVI9XXII]

Sheesh. This woman is an angel. Have you HEARD her sing La Forza del Destino with Zubin M.?! AMAZING.

[MajorChordz]

3:18 ...... that's all I am going to say!!!

[Sebastian740]

Breathtaking makes you want to cry.

[gallantentry]

Stunning! It is nice to just enjoy the voice without all the harsh critique.

[onotuoedaul]

HAHAHA eu quero é ve-la vestida de japonesa, lol, isso seria engraçado, rs

[AnjelicaLuz]

I think this is the best rendition I've heard of this aria... BRAVA, MRS. PRICE!!!

[roselicaerp]

Que poderio de voz, bela. Tendo um grave bem acentuado, quem ouve ser uma mezzo, mas os agudos fabulosos. Magnífica. Uma DIVA. Roseli

[MastersoftheOpera]

Her Madame Butterfly is gorgeously sung. This is not just a recital piece for her. She recorded the entire opera in the 1960's opposite Richard Tucker. Her Butterfly is beautiful & heartbreaking. Brava! Love her

[tanuzzo12]

Woa!

[Tenorbravo]

Miss Price...... is amazing! Stunning performance..Love it. thank you for this geme.

[Athina90210]

She was the Queen of the Recital....a title she deserved....

[Sidslotm]

I cried the first time I heard her sing this, and again today all these later.

[smcdon817]

She is amazing! Stunning performance

I just have one question... please... anyone... what was that hang gesture @ :47?? Whatever it is... it works for her... she is that amazing! lol

[wunderkindepiphany]

she may have been recalling a gesture that was given to her in the blocking of a particular production.

[liedersanger1]

The gesture is imitating the cannon shot salute from the ship she imagines carrying her husband back to her, as she imagines it--"rumbling its salute." Then, "Behold... he comes!"

[lawguy310]

It's madame's way to keep time with the music and to build momentum. I have seen it now over the years in many of her tapings. Still unmatched in 2010. La Vie longue Le Price!!!

[denzor06]

cool clip

[peteobh]

I just watched her 'pace pace mio dio' and it was stunning. I now realise she is not in her prime here but deserves adulation. Apologies for any offence

[liedersanger1]

There are lots right here on YouTube!

[shatteredpiecesofme]

Puccini is a freaking GENIUS. and Madame Leontyne is of course incredible as always.

[H2obearer]

Absolutely Incredible!

[peteobh]

From her videos here I think her high notes are bright but very thin and the vibrato is uncomfortably quick. I just don't see the greatness... Please don't just dismiss my comment as an insult

[lamarcallas]

Your comment is interesting. I think the vibrato is excitingly quick. Slow vibrato seems to me often but not always like a wobble. you are right that the high notes are thin but she is a lyric soprano and not a dramatic so "think" high don't follow. with any singer is is not the instrument but the way they use it. The greatness is in how she sings and of course the effortlessness of her high notes.

[peteobh]

Personally the I don't like the vibrato but again that's taste. Renée Fleming a lyric soprano but her top is just so rich and impressive, and I know comparing sopranos is like apples and oranges! I know Price was exceptional in the things she did but putting artist on a pedestle and slating others is dangerous. She shouts a little at the end of the last Bflat too :)

[MySparta]

I love her. I also loved her performance in AIDA...

Thank you

[meowey55]

oh my god i'm freaken crying lol wow awesome i loved the ending how she finished the touch lol it was like a cherry on top of this song

[Opera0827]

She is the sopran of all sopranos!!!!! Where are the dramatic sopranos today? Nobody compare to her!!!!!!

[JSBach5000]

I think her voice is too rich, dark and sensual to be butterfly. My fave is Victoria de Los Angeles for this role. but, I could listen to Ms. Price sing anything, anytime. She is magnificent.

[trevjr]

My god the way her voice just soars!!! and you are right, the way she ends the notes, just fantastic!!! No one like her, I just want to cry when i hear her.

[SmoczycaJola]

Cudowny śpiew!!! Fantastyczny głos!!

Genialna!!!!!

Prawdziwy diament!!!!

Dziękuje

[yodavidnavarro]

Everytime I see Leontyne performing like this. I wonder how great she was and I realize that there's no one even remotely talented as her nowadays! Leontyne, Maria and Nilsson are Icons. They're in their own league and there's no way to replace them!

[tenorenm]

complimenti bellissa interpretazione

[muhammad1906]

DIVA!!!!!

[liricobarroco]

i lover the dark and shiny voices!!!

[notcant]

she has the voice of a goddess! :-)

[Lillibet12]

you can say that again

[cassone2007]

BRILLIANT!

[theRubyRunner]

They way she holds those notes at the end make her my favorite. I've heard other version and their beautiful. But they way she ends it just brings it home for me.

[wedidntknow]

i think that leontyne and renee are similar in their high registers... its as if the sound isn't coming out of there mouths but thier pores like an outer body experience. like the notes are detached from the rest of the voices coming from heaven and then rests on thier heads... i dont know if it makes sense but its the only way i can explain it....lol

[operawhore64]

no no.. absolutely.. a friend and I say that her voice has a body of its own... all of the Greats have that... please use that when listening to other singers.. Joan had it, Freni..I seen them and it was unbelieveable...

[LeeVita19]

Bella Donna; Bello Canto. Molto Grazie Signora Price. Con Amore Sempre!!!

[kanonkula]

fantastic.. what an inspiration

[bklyn289]

She has been a long time favorite!!!

[GermanOperaSinger]

Her story is truly inspiring...from her poor background to become one of the greatest sopranos of the century...she proved America that success stories do come from that little southern state called Mississippi!

[dennisdeem]

I don't know who's I like better: Freni or Price.

[xdanina28]

I love her!

[trevjr]

Yeah her voice is small when the whole orchestra cannot drown her out. HAHA

She is my favorite of all time.

'Puccini Heroines' best ten bucks I ever spent. After her all the other sopranos seem slightly deficient.

Get the Barber Knoxville Summer of 1915 or 13 or 17, I keep forgetting. You will not believe that singing, I promise you.

Aida, Tosca, wow they are all good.

Oh, get the Strauss 4 last songs, oh wow.

I just love her, not starting any fights about who is better.

[yng31wie]

Haha ! I can't agree more about "Puccini Heroines" being the best 10 bucks a person could spend! A close second is " Sinatra Sings Jobim" $ 9.99 to be exact I think I've had to replace it twice already. p.s. I think you can get " Sketches of Spain" for $9.99 as well. Like my father always said..." Da cheapest ting is da best ting" Who would have thought that he'd be right!

[masonbarge]

Another good cheapie is the first Weekend volume of sopranos.

[ctasdd]

Wow great singing.Its nice to see such a great voice and great brain,and talent work so beautifully.

[LeeVita19]

Ms. Leontyne Price is THE VOICE from Heaven above. Leontyne I adore you!!!

[loosetea]

Price's Puccini is one of the greatest examples of the true verismo style.She is in gorgeous voice, without the scooping and sliding that came occasionally, then more frequently in some perforamnces of this period. The legato, the musicianly fine taste of singing from the a heart, well informed by the mind, and disciplined from years of assidious practice and study, give us this glorious performance.SMALL VOICE?I heard her live many times, and she shook the rafters of Carnegie Hall and the Met.

[levante83]

I adore this woman, she is so beautiful, in any sense!

[masonbarge]

Another thing about her - her diction is unbelievably clear for any soprano, much less one singing with this degree of drama.

As for her voice being "small" on top. Huh? And yes, I saw her live on several occasions.

And one other plaudit. From what I have seen, she is blessed with a warm and gracious personality.

[28547UR]

Leonyne Price, I love you.

[leoperarm]

Absolutely beautiful. Great voice, you can actually feel the power and the theme of the story.

[jrynds]

Thank God for Youtube! These historic clips are preserved for a new generation. Many people know of this prima donna as a name in a history book without experiencing the person. Too bad there's no clip of a Puccini interview!

[carmenlover91]

no words...she's amazing...great voice...

[collettestevie]

Ladies and Gentlemen, presenting Opera's Royalty. The sublime Leontyne Price.

[Vandyman1000]

You really cannot be serious about Price's voice being a small voice...Seriously, if you ever heard her in person, you would never have made that comment. Have you never heard her sing Pace, pace mio Dio and hit the final high note....Anything but small!

[ifmusicbe]

I agree, no one who has heard her in person could ever legitimately claim the voice is small. The voice is one of the biggest and most glorious I've ever heard. The high notes are focused, rather than big and warbly, which simply shows that she has great technique and vocal intelligence, in addition to her unparalleled natural talent.

[Pandora6546]

another marvellous performance - brava diva!

[BBsweetypie]

I love Leontyne and would like to hear and see more of her.

[Italia1987]

i love her...my inspiration

[quilluh]

This may sound odd, but I despise opera - however I love an amazing operatic voice - and Leontyne Price has no equal. She is amazing!

[jdeslauriers]

I understand. But, I think if you look at it from a historical perspective... If you go see an opera, research all about it. composer, the story, what was going on historically at the time. If you put it into context, it becomes much more interesting. I use to hate Wagner, but now I am addicted to his works!

[amaranthann]

there is no other soprano like her. Madama Butterfly is my favorite opera; Un Bel Di my favorite song, and Price, my favorite to sing it.

[depyp]

i love this opera and my fav. singer is KIRI TE KANAWA a love her, well i love all opera it´s the best music in this life!¡!¡!

[sdyry]

4 minuts of beauty

I'm Mooved!

[Greatfan]

I heard her in my country, Argentina, and will never forget that rich, 'unbearably beautiful' sound ! HerD' amor sull'ali rosee " got approximately 6:30 minutes full throated ovation !

[Greatfan]

Miss Price sometimes saved her voice. When she did so it was a homogeneous sound. The top were smaller but all the voice was smaller. That happened in some acts of Trovatore, but when she gave her all it was big and creamy from bottop to top. A great technician of the voice !

[nichtsleezy]

This comment is addressed to that musical(stome 3139) idiot who stated that Price had very little voice on top. You fool, she paced herself and her voice so that she could float those beautiful high notes like no other of her voice type. You idiot, she has a naturally perfect acoustical position which allows her to sing those celestial notes as well as maintain them over her 40-year singing career. She can still sing high notes now at the age of 80.

[stome3139]

Have you read well ? Why do you insult me ? Price had an easy top, she could sing even D and Eflat, my remark is something half humankind know, Miss Price voice on top was small, any of her live recordings shows it

[nichtsleezy]

Have you heard her live? I do not think one can judge the size of a voice just from listening to recordings. Have you heard any of Bartoli's recordings? I love her but her voice sounds huge on recordings and small everywhere else. Would you agree?

[soundfond]

For every Great Singer, there's a troll that tries to diminish them...Holla potrobsas/stome3139, Hi troll. Why do you insist on the boring and vile slandering? If you don't appreciate her voice that much, why the heck don't you stop streaming this clip? Try your well-known lies somewhere else, no one is gonna fall for it in here. Her voice won't become "TINY" just because you say so. You're the one with "NO power" in here, thankfully.

[trepicioni]

Price wanted to play as a drammatico and her voice was so little...her high notes are lyrical and small, her top simply did not blossom or bloom, there was very little difference in volume between her piano Bflat and her forte Bflat, she had no fortissimo, she scheeches

[davidperk]

haahaa. that's just about the most beautiful opening F sharp to this aria ever sung, and nothing small about it.

[vitroz]

you deserve to be put in the ingoramus corner....one of the greates singers of out times! I heard her live...I know of what I speak

[shittypuzzle]

that you for that comment.some ppl just love to hear themselves speak so they say some controversial crap.thanx

[jdeslauriers]

i've heard her live. lol, it's not small. You know, one thing MOST people don't know. A small voice can cut through an orchestra more than a large voice depending upon the frequency of which the voice resonates. That's what cuts... not so much size, although, it helps. But Leontynes voice was far from small. I would say, a step under dramatic. Not quite the oompf needed for that fach.

[coopandre]

The older Price did ease up on the high notes (understandably). Some of the dramatic effect may have been lost on those single notes, but the remainder of the pieces made up for what MAY have been lost in not belting out the high notes.

[trepicioni]

You have no idea what you are saying.Price voice was small and on top she tended to dissapear, she had an easy top but her high notes were uninteresting and TINY.She had no fff, even she attempeted a forte she screcched.Her natural voice was a pure lyrical parted in many pieces, ordinary instrument

[jdeslauriers]

You 100% wrong. did you ever hear or live? IF her voice was small, she would never have cut through the orchestra. I assure you, there was no problem hearing her. Actually, IMO, it was her lower voice that got lost sometimes. Aida is not for the tiny-voiced. Not sure why you hate her so much. She was an outstanding artist. Helped pave the way for blacks to enter the white world of opera.

[nichtsleezy]

TREPICIONI-STOME--You are such a sorry excuse for a person. Please go to your favorite singer's site and make your comments. But please allow the fans of the great Price enjoy her great Voice and artistry without your psychotic comments!!

[coopandre]

Contrast her high Eb in Traviata (loud) and her high F in Caro Nome (soft). Yes, this was L.P. and yes she sang those arias, although not the entire operas.

[operaoaf]

Price had a voice that was so well suited to the Verdi and Puccini repertoire. Her voice was powerful while capable of producing delicate pianissimi and melting legato. She had a strong chest voice and her dark tones always made her interpretations so memorable and unique.

[Sibadd]

What I love about this song - especially LP singing it - is that it reflects my possibly forlorn hope (if Puccini is accurate) that one day a decent and honourable America will sail back into the world's harbour. democracystreet blogspot com

[cuteasian4you]

If I was to name a soprano that has all the greatness and beauty of voice, Leontyne is my number one! If you want beautiful quality of voice, excellent performance, Leontyne is the diva of the divas!!!

[Duncan456]

Brava Diva!

[stome3139]

La Price always looked outrageous and her voice was small and uneven.Un soprano lirico covering and inventing colors that never existed in her voice.Small size voice and tiny bird high notes

[davidperk]

???????????????????????????

[Timishead]

ughhh she has one of the hugest creamy lyric voices ever. "juicy lyric" her high notes are booming what have you been listening too? hahah if her voice is tiny what are dessay's high notes? hahah an tiny ameba high notes? teheh please

[variete7]

Ms. Price's voice has most beautiful, silky, strings-like high notes, so she can sing without laud screaming noise. That makes her exceptional and her singing always conveys a touch of intelligence.

[corelli2]

okay, what kind of an idiot are you?? a total musical moron? What you say doesn't even make sense. "inventing colors that never existed". what is that supposed to mean? from what planet are you?

[stome3139]

Yes, La Price was a pure lyrical voice that covered and darkened her middle to cheat, her voice on top was very little, she could sing D and Eflat like a soprano leggero

[stome3139]

When one sees Aida one likes to be able to hear the Aida soaring in the soprano line in the triumphal scene.Price could never be heard.Her top simply did not blossom or bloom.There was very little difference in volume between her piano Bflat, B and C nad her forte Bflat, B and C.She had no fortissimo and NO great power

[stome3139]

The same happened in Forza series of Bs natural in convent scene entrance and next very difficult duet with the bass, it's what the role and the score requires and what Price was not able to deliver

[vkaminsky]

We should all ignore this "stome" creature. It is clear from his inability to write a logical/structured sentence that he ability to think rationally is compromised.

[nichtsleezy]

I think that horrible person who calls himself Stone, is also Trepicioni. What a termite!

[trepicioni]

Her countryfellow Martina Arroyo had a spinto voice, Martina voice was very big on top.She had major problems with the phrasing and had no edge in her voice like Price, but Martina voice was infinitely better than Price's in all sense

[nichtsleezy]

You are an idiot. I think that you might be a little racist. I feel that you have something against Leontyne that has nothing to do with her artistry or voice, hence the words "looked outrageous". A subconscious statement that suggests you do not understand her hair, coloring, or what it is like to be a black woman.

[RayFallon]

Dumbass....

[rksu747]

Immpeccable!