Leontyne Price "Ave Maria" from Otello

[SouthPacific005]

6:13 was breathtaking.

[higharch]

I was in the audience that night. Very emotional, she dedicated her performance of this Ave Maria to Princess Grace of Monaco who died earlier that day. It was without peer.

[misax2010]

10********* Lindo Demais

[keckm88]

So beautiful, and she is so gracious.

[Nello7]

What an amazing messa di voce this woman had. Truly legendary.

[montsyblackmadonna]

The last note was divine,second only to Caballe.

[Nello7]

A tremendous artist with a tremendous gift.

[404Orion]

OMG !!!! @ 1:20

[sidhe9]

Look, we all have a favorite singer. Mine is Tebaldi. But that doesn't mean that this isn't fantastic artistry. It's still gorgeous, quit squabbling. You're missing the point.

[ShangoJamal]

@sidhe9 Amen!

[aiolosgr]

Great Verdi Diva!

[muzicista120]

Как я ее люблю!!!

[VIDALVAUGHN]

Why do so many people here feel the need to let everyone that they know a little bit about singing. With all of the technical knowledge I have about singing, I can truly say that I have come full circle and don't feel the need to heavely critique every singer. Let yourself enjoy whats fabulous and let that thats not be ignored.

[toadster749]

Excellent observation!

It's annoying to go on every single video of anyone singing (and I mean ANYONE) just to see them over-analyze the hell out of them.

[saxamaphoneguy1]

Amen! These Diva's are famous for a reason, people need to ignore little bad habits, and enjoy the product that have!

[wedidntknow]

I agree! I find that for the most part the worst critics are the students... they cant enjoy the music becuase they themselves are being critiqued on a regular basis.

[wedidntknow]

onegin65! can you please erase this banter between operawhore64 and andante735. it pains me to listen to such beautiful music and read such foolishness. even is you are a fan, to go back and forth with such ignorance is crazy. she has made this her prayer and its beautiful

[MinistahB]

All I can say is: SHE SENT SHIVERS DOWN MY SPINE!!!!!

[maryjivinjane]

It's a matter of taste, but for me personally... I don't think there will ever be a voice as beautiful as Price's. Thanks for posting this!!!

[RRydnew]

Lets stop all the fighting. The great thing about Leontyne is that she can STILL hit that note in her mid-80's! This was/is a great preformance from a remarkable singer. Thanks for posting and sorry for all of the negativity. I liked it very much!

[sopranosmom]

This is such a gorgeous piece, do you have to fight and swear and ruin it? All the singers mentioned do a splendid job with this, they are all VERY different. I personally prefer Leontyne BUT I do like ALL the others, I can't sing it, so I just want to shut up and listen.

[irontoolbox]

@sopranosmom touche



[Andante735]

What sad fucking excuse for a brain you are to think you know better than the likes of Boehm, Serafin, Toscanini, and right down the line of great geniuses who felt nothing but adulation for Tebaldi's "screamy" voice. Sad fucking excuse.

[operawhore64]

yea.. and you can kiss the dirty part you idiot...

[operawhore64]

Bah ha ha...

[operawhore64]

One other thing obviously omitted - the pure "EASE" at which she produces tone and the depth! No other singer has that. Not even Freni who I love. You want cognent discussion? Lets talk about how she relys striclty on the function of her voice and not any OVERT muscle action of the face neck or diaprham. How she allows the function of the head voice and chest registers to work as they are supposed to and does nothing to interfere. No screaming, nothing. The BEST. The last note.. HEAVEN! Arse!

[VIDALVAUGHN]

AMEN!!!!!!

[54spiritedwill54]

She is wrong for this part - heavy voice, awful diction. You need a clearer voice.

[operawhore64]

OMG.. it is the best.. whoever says different has no idea what the hell they are talking about and should just be ignored!

[Andante735]

"The best?" With all due respect to Miss Price, it's hardly the best choice for her. If you think this is the "best", then you can't have listened to Tebaldi, Freni, or Scotto, nor can you know much at all about how this music should be sung, how it should be sound, or the proper vocal attributes for this music. It seems to me than you shouldn't be commenting about people who "don't know what the hell they're talking about-especially with opening a sentence with "OMG".

[wedidntknow]

the beauty of concertizing is you can interpret the aria through your own experience outside the context of the opera. La Price has made this her prayer. so whether her voice is too heavy holds no weight.

[brodsky96]

just listen and look an shut up!

[Arnold3135]

OK I've come late to this discussion.I think all of us can agree that LP's voice is among the greatest voices ever produced in America. And yes, she wouldn't sing this role on stage, for obvious reasons -- the very nature of the two principal characters. While unimportant in other roles, this one it matters. But for anyone to suggest that the presentation heard here is less than credible is simply wrong. This is glorious! Middle voice/registration issues are not in evidence her.Sublime it is.

[ntsubise]

What a voice...

[404Orion]

SUPREME , She is in her element here , i usually find her singing a little too academic / technical which makes her bland for my taste , but i understand her quality & agree that she is one of the most important singer in world history , this is absolutely the best i've see of her , STUNNING

[Italia1987]

people...this is VERDI we're talking about. her voice is NOT too heavy.

[LeeVita19]

FOREVER FLAWLESS!!!

[davedave9103]

Incredibly heartfelt and beautiful---

[00ceroalaizquierda00]

Great!!!!

[nessie96]

Wow!!!!!

[mfuz99]

dayum lady. Just too gorgeous. Why should we have a lighter voice in this aria? I see no need.

[OperaGhost1990]

She´s the best. She´s the authentic la divina, la stupenda, la assoluta. She deserves all these adjectives and more. That last pianissimo was the most sublime thing I have heard in months.

[ferro2323]

..every Opera Singer, or any singer for that matter has their own style. Leontyne has a beautiful voice, natural and powerful, she sings with emotion and feeling, which is what brings the music in every Opera to life!

[necessarydiva]

Early Price, Middle Price, late Price, whatever? No one is better, no one!

[urierman]

Price's performances always have a wooden feel to them, she is very calculated with her phrasing and expressions. But - I adore her voice, and particularly in her older age. So smoky and rich - love it!!

[dolcevita2180]

I'm agree with Caruso3!

[dolcevita2180]

Mirella Freni-Desdemona e' la numero 1!!

[clearandsunny]

This is late-career Price, but still lovely. She has trouble with the break; many soprani do in this repertoire, and the legato and phrasing are inconsistent. However, this is a live performance, and has many admirable qualities.

[Arnold3135]

If you will permit to point an error, Price has never, and I mean never had a problem with the break or passagio in her voice. You may be confusing her with S. Verrett, who definitely had a problem negotiating her break. If anything, Price was a little sloppy in the middle register during the latter part of her career. She was technically well prepared for the phenomenal career she pursued and achieved.

[arethaismydrug]

It is clear that you are a music simpleton. And chronically malcontent.

[MrCafiero]

Actually the recording quality helps her voice because she is always airy in the middle of her voice. This makes it seem much less so. I think she had a fabulous instrument, but her technique was not up to par with it.

[FoggyRoad81]

Yes her "bad technique" is why at 81 she sang an excerpt just a few months ago at the Met Opera ball and sounded absolutely fabulous. Please take your ignorance via Price's technique somewhere else please.

[snickersxsparkie]

She is truly the greatest of all sopranos in recording history!!! It's too bad the recording is not very good, it makes the voice and the orchestra sound unstable.

[ArequiredTaste]

ok what sickens me is people who know NOTHING about music!!!! Clearly you all haven't studied the voice enough to know that at a certain age the voice will wane. Maybe u should research and find Leontyne singing this aria at an earlier time...No doubt by Far the greatest! (yes i may be biased, but not foolish in my comment at least).

[Kimmycup]

Caruso3, You are right to some degree. Leontyne does a fair Desdemona and its the lyrics like the Frenis, Tebaldis and Te Kanawas that do a outstanding Desdemona yet, You CANNOT call yourself a fan of the opera and make comments like that about Leotyne. She is too outstanding of a soprano, no matter the role, to be belittled like that!

[vkaminsky]

Caruso3, we are painfully aware of your opinion (you express it several times for in both sections of this aria). If you find her so awful, why insist on repeatedly viewing her videos solely to post your opinion.

[caruso3]

Who care. She is wrong for this aria. Sound a bit too heavy, specially in the middle voice.

[sentheru]

Oh, be quiet.

[sentheru]

Excellent recording, excellent diction, beautiful phrasing, amazing soprano instrument...

[caruso3]

Tebaldi's voice is clearer also has a better diction.

Price's voice is wrong for this aria.

[basie8]

Your command of the English language is very limited, yes? You say the same things over and over.

[CARUSO2]

What an awful diction - heavy and heavy sound which is wrong for this aria - need a clearer sound.

[sentheru]

And perhaps you need to learn better English. When criticizing diction, it is a good idea to have a command of the language for which one claims expertise.

[dinohobo]

Yes, the voice is heavy, but whose voice wouldn't be at 60 something years old. This performance was just awesome. One thing is for sure, Price was snubbed because of her artistry and her color but she prevailed over that. Like her or not, you have to respect her and her magnificent gift. She has been herald and still remains the voice of the century. Now Callas, Sills and so many others were good in their own right, but Price is untouchable!!!

[sentheru]

You're totally right, dinohobo!

What I love is the distinctive sound of her voice. I also admire this among other artists written about here, but she has something very different. I do not agree with an earlier statement that someone has to have a light voice to sing Desdemona.  Verdi is so dramatic and wonderful in his writing that I cannot imagine an immature, choir boy sound making his music sound sophisticated.

[CARUSO2]

Tebaldi is better in this aria - heavy heavy and heavy

and bad diction.

[Andante735]

That's the first time I've heard about Tebaldi's questionable diction. I'm not sure how you surmised that statement, but it's about as far from accurate as saying that cow's walk on their heads and whistle. The comment about that person "kissing her ass" on her own site was beyond crude and disrespectul.

[CARUSO2]

She is wrong for this part - heavy voice, awful diction. You need a clearer voice.

[davidperk]

Why did LP not record Desdemona? Long story, not all of it clear. She was signed up to sing it for RCA in the late 70s, then Renata Scotto was picked at the last minute. Rumor has it that Placido Domingo, whose first Otello it was, nixed Price. They never did sing together again after that, either on recordings or in the house. Price also stopped recording exclusively with RCA, and made a number of late recordings for Angel-EMI and London-Decca. SOMETHING happened.

[sentheru]

If Placido did this, then he was a jerque (that's a "fancy jerk.")

Price is fabulous in this role, and it is everyone's loss that she did not make the recording.

[basie8]

I hope that is only a rumor. If it is true, Mr. Domingo will sink very low in my esteem.

[davidperk]

If it wasn't Domingo, it was somebody at RCA. David Garvey, Price's accompanist, told someone who knew him well, and who posts on the OPERA-L list-serve, that Domingo had done something awful to her, but didn't specify what. Reading backwards from this event, as it were, one might suspect this was it.

[sentheru]

Shame on Domingo, if he did do something awful to her. Bottom line is that it would be wonderful to have a full recording of Miss Price in this role.

[davidperk]

And, alas, we never will.

[sentheru]

But, you know, there are recordings of her singing excerpts with Domingo in the huge collection "The Essential Leontyne Price." This 10-disc collection has her singing many, many roles and in full voice. Apparently, she recorded the love duet from Otello with him in this vast collection. That recording apparently took place before their "falling out."

It costs almost $500 for the whole thing. That's a deal-breaker for most students...

[dinohobo]

I have the Essential Price collection, got it when it 1st came out. Didn't pay anywhere near the current asking price of $500.00. Glad I got it when I did. (smile)

[sketL]

It's not rumor. It is true

[chubblove]

Thank you Onegin65 grateful toyou for this..

[FoggyRoad81]

Oh and the Ave Maria made me get teary.

[FoggyRoad81]

OK as someone who LOVES Leontyne Price, can we please NOT critic the person who is making it possible for me to see her singing this wonderful music. This is not the kind of thing you can easily purchase anymore. Our friend is a musical historian and it's a privelige to be able to share in his collection FOR FREE. I can't imagine how any criticism would be warranted. Thank you so much, I appreciate the videos.

[basie8]

Such rich, gorgeous, ethereal tone. Why didn´t she at least record the whole role of Desdemona? She recorded an excellent Carmen, which she never sang on stage, and Desdemona was certainly more congenial to her voice than Carmen.

[jmahlon]

I'm not trying to get on you about it. Just seems like you didnt give it much thought as it was cut in the middle of a phrase.

[Vogeln]

Don't let it bother you Onegin65. Most of us are just thrilled to have these videos of Ms. Price. We know that you have to work around Youtube's constraints. Thank you so much for posting. We fans will be eternally grateful.

[jmahlon]

cut after the aria and before ave maria. that is easy.

[jmahlon]

Dude find a logical place to cut the video into two parts.