Leontyne Price "L'amero saro costante" Il Re Pastore

[SuperLmer]

Sorry, didn't mean to be so rude but your reply was. I was not critiziing Ms.Price. You have no right to tell me that "My opinion is not needed". Your arrogance is what made me respond to you the way I did. I apologize. Anyway, we're talking about people talents, not you.

[SteveAndrewLangford]

Perlman!

[loredinusa]

I like Mrs. Price a lot, but in this aria she missed something. The expression is not feminine enough, and that "taking the sound from under" doesn't help, as it makes the aria a little heavy. Her "Dove sono" is much better. The voice is exquisite, yes, but I need that message "L'amero, saro constante" to get through and I can care less about the perfect sounds. Schwarzkopf is the one that got the message and was able to transmit it.

[htshoward]

@loredinusa Interesting point...I don't fully agree with you about Schwarzkopf, though I did think her Four Last Songs were the definitive.

[MrFpam]

@loredinusa Some of what you say may be true (although I certainly disagree that the expression is not feminine enough), but these kind of unfavourable comparisons are unnecessary and inappropriate. You present your opinions as fact and seek to foist them on others.

[bladezone1]

Ms. Price has/had the best top register of her time; it is her signature and it simmers!

[elisedance]

Gorgeous too - but I think its a bit too fast. What an ethereal voice inthe high registers... just seems a shade below Elizabeth Schwartzcopf and Katleen Battle (qv) mainly because the the speed and the resulting loss of precice entry onto the notes.

[dwayneparkerUSA]

I ADORE Price ... but she has this slide thing that she's known for ... where she sort of slides up and down to the high and low notes.

Everyone calls it style ... but it sounds sloppy. Like if you going to go up...go up note by not this sliding action where she gets to the note whenever she gets to it.

However, her entire register is incomparable. She is The Timeless Diva!

[loredinusa]

@htshoward Yes, you were able to put my thoughts into words so much better than I did :).

[htshoward]

@loredinusa Glad I could help:)  Thanks for the comment.

[sillyboydeux]

Her first Mozart recording of this was less "jaded" by her career in the big guns Verdi roles; but this is precious footage, nonetheless—not long after this she retired (the saddest night I had in the Met!). The cadenza at the end is just lovely, the sound still as pure as the skies, beautiful trills, perfect legato, and the importance is that she conveys the innocence beautifully by not oversinging.

[tetrazzini]

La classe absolue

[MaiEdwardCullen]

who plays the violin?

[troppofiato]

@MaiEdwardCullen  The violinist is Itzhak Perlman.

[khothye]

It's simply RIDICULOUS comparing two great singers so different like Price and Popp. Both of them are wonderful in this aria. In my case I just enjoy this video and listen it all the time: there is something very seducing in this dark, powerful and sensual voice singing this classic aria so gently and softly, it's a heavenly pleasure to my sensibiliy. And don't forget that Price was one of the best Donna Anna, Elvira and Fiordiligi of the XX century

[MastersoftheOpera]

I'm fully convinced upon hearing her Mozart arias that she would have made a great Mozart soprano exclusively had it not been for her more popular Verdi roles (and she recorded lots of Mozart arias other than the roles of Ana, Elvira, Fiordiligi, Countess in Figaro, Pamina, etc). Her talent is larger than most people think.

[Sadiesexy]

@MastersoftheOpera Her talent is larger than life.

[bachianasbrasileiras]

Magnificent !!!

[ceb2633]

How absolutely lovely! Thank you for the post. C.

[metropolitan1966]

Lucia Popp!!??? There is no comparison. Price's version is imaginatively realized, fantastically sung, with the stamp of the great artist all over it. Here are two great artists placing their stamp on a masterpiece, not the masterpiece stamping them. Ms Popp's version is quite un-listenable, with its school girl sentimentality and sliding and scooping into the notes. She has nothing to say in the piece, and alas, says it. Brava Leontyne, and Mr Pearlman. Simply unforgettable!!!

[OlDoinyo]

Forgive me for dissenting here. Ms Price was a world-class singer with an unquestionably outstanding voice. But in my opinion her vocal type is way wrong for this piece, much too heavy and veiled in timbre. If you listen to Lucia Popp's or Sylvia McNair's renditions of the aria, (the former is on YT; the latter is not.) I think you will hear something closer to the piece's full potential. Despite its obvious technical polish, Price's performance does not quite come to life for me.

[robertdonkers]

I know what you are saying but L Price, However singing this aria after a career of singing heavy verdi & Puccini etc parts is quutie an accomplishment. Listen how well she kept her voice, healthy, no damage and the ability to keep it so light!. During the same concert she performed Pace Pace and other heavy duties, which other soprano could do that, not many? And surely not the lightweights like Popp and McNair. Appreciate the full voice of Price singing this Mozart Aria.

[meltzerboy]

@OlDoinyo I'm with you on this one. Leontyne Price is magnificent in several Verdi and Puccini roles and some French ones as well. But here she is out of her element. Not only the vocal timbre is at odds with the music, but the tempo is much too fast (which may be the fault of the conductor), and her technique does not serve her well in this music. I prefer Schwarzkopf and Popp, and some of the early recordings, including those of Lily Pons, Selma Kurz, and Melba.

[BeauTenor]

@meltzerboy Im not sure why people think that Mozart must be sung by tiny, bright little voices. Price was an amazing Mozart singer, and Mozart fit her voice very well. Mozart is served SO well by a bigger voice that can handle the tessitura, particularly in roles like Donna Anna, QON, and Konstanze.

[meltzerboy]

@BeauTenor For me, it depends on the Mozart role, aria, or song. I agree that Donna Anna or Konstanze sung by a bigger voice is better, although it is hard to find such a voice that can ALSO handle the tessitura, apart from Sutherland (also Lilli Lehmann and Ponselle, but not Nilsson) for Donna Anna or Devia for Konstanze. Even Sutherland feared the tessitura of Konstanze and refused to sing it in the middle of her career. She did sing QoN early on, and very well I think despite the reviews.

[meltzerboy]

@meltzerboy For this aria, however, I prefer a lighter sound with less vibrato and more technical flexibility. If you listen to some of the older recordings, such as the one by Selma Kurz, you'll know what I mean. I'm not saying that Leontyne Price is a bad singer across the board, but IMO she is NOT so good for Mozart.

[Twisterjoe]

@meltzerboy I too was recalling the voice of Selma Kurz.... thank you for your homage to her and the gleaming pure voices like hers.

[TerrancePogue]

@BeauTenor I so agree with you on that it sounds nice sometimes to have a Mozart voice with some gritts....

[Sadiesexy]

@TerrancePogue Do you really think Mozart would have liked the small agile voices that are in fashion right now?

[htshoward]

@Sadiesexy no, i don't. great point!

[Twisterjoe]

@Sadiesexy i did not know that small agile voices were in fashion right now... have I missed them? Recommend some to me, because I enjoy them in some rep, and am tired of forced darker voices sometimes too.

[mvconnelly]

It's like a free voice lesson watching her. What an exceptional artist she was and still is.

[khothye]

Preciosa!! Fantástica!! Eternamente bella la gran Leontyne Price, capaz de cantar Mozart con tanta hermosura, porque pone a su disposición toda la riqueza de su sonido aterciopelado con afinación y línea perfectos. Esta es una de las joyas de Youtube. Mil gracias por subirlo.

[MrFrenchBulldog]

There is a regal aspect to this wonderous music-making that defies words. What Price and Perlman do here must amaze the gods.

[borntosingopera]

Can anyone translate this song to English for me?

[graciegirl712]

This is the translation I have. It's a little repetitive, but I put every word down.

Only one can hold me captured,

Faithful ever, With heart enraptured!

None can sever My love from me, None can sever

My love from me!

Life's true blessing Is my new treasure,

Love professing, I find peace and pleasure.

My beloved is all my joy, My beloved is all my joy.

Only one can hold me captured,

Faithful ever, With heart enraptured!

[EjmGa]

Where did you get that translation? Is that a singable English translation? That's what it seems like. The translation I have is:

I will love you. I will be constant.

Faithful spouse and faithful lover,

I will sigh for you alone!

In one so dear and tender,

My joy and my delight,

My peace I will find.

This is still a poetic translation, but it's closer to a word-for-word.

[naters81]

Here is the italian and a slightly better translation: L'amerò, sarò costante fido sposo, e fido amante sol per lei sospirerò in sì caro e dolce oggetto la mia gioia, il mio diletto, la mia pace io troverò. I will love her, I will be steady faithful spouse and true lover just for her I will sigh in such dear and sweet object my joy, my delight my peace I will find.

[cervsancho]

and to violine- Y. Perlman!

[trinte33]

Beauty personified!!!

[lababoc]

I wonder who the SPALLA is?

[eb641]

...Truly beautiful..Did she ever record "Laudate Dominum"?

[beethomozart]

long live mozart

[soprano2k]

Que bel canto! Diva suprema e assoluta!

What a treat. Double perfection with Itzhak Perlman.

Thanks, Onegin65!

[DaMusical1]

perfection at its best!!! one of the greatest mozartean sopranos of the 20th century..along with steber, shwarzkopf, and vaness

[raycanto76]

Im in awe..listen to her Verdi's Pace Pace with Mehta and then listen to her sing this Mozart..She is the essence of what a true prima donna is!!!!!!!!

[benderpm]

Brava, Diva Supreme!~~~

[fiercejarret]

How do spell Versatility.....LEONTYNE PRICE!! That's How!!

[Pywacket2]

Price was/is without peer. At home with Verdi, Mozart and even the bombastic Strauss. Extraordinary voice.

[nickakdag]

Hey...that's Itzhak

[metropolitan1966]

Onegin65 thanks a million for reposting this series of Price performances! I remember, so well, being blown away when I watched this on TV in college. It is pure Art! Leontyne still gives me goose flesh after all of these years. She is the one and only, always has been and always will be. Brava!

[plauyeung]

Real glad to see this clip again. What a treat!! This shows clearly that she is also an excellent Mozartian singer.

[feelsgoodinsideme2]

That was something else! I first heard this clip and the Museum of TV and Radio and am please to see it here. You never hear a voice like hers in music like this, and you should. How splendid she is!

[BeauTenor]

God I ADORE the her in Mozart. Something about a bigger voice singing that high, exposed line just makes me swoon. This is really extraordinary.

[FoggyRoad81]

oh yes, oh yes, oh yes! My favorite clip ever of Price, thought this was long gone. So perfect in every way. The breathing, the range, she is in perfect harmony with Perlman. HEAVEN!