I heard about her for the first time today, looking through the campaigns of Blackgama. And I heard about Blackgama for the first time from a HIP HOP site that had a video of Janet Jackson doing her 2010 campaign. When I saw the campaigns of women I didn't know about, I started googling some out of curiosity.
I'm only 21, and I'd never heard of Leontyne Price. I checked her out on here after finding out she's a singer. And thank GOD I did. This moved me to tears.
@Mecctacular Hi. Leontyne Price was probably the biggest opera singer in the 1960s. People sometimes refer to the fact that it is significant that she is a black woman. However, she never traded on that. She didn't have to. Leontyne was considered the best soprano in the world. It is easy to see why. Leontyne was and still is a modest and refined person. I consider she is a real credit to American people, like Mario Lanza, Leonard Bernstein and John Phillip Sousa were.
I wish too I was able to listen live to her, I have always tears in my eyes listening to her singing o mio bambino caro, the only voice who makes me dream, perfction in all the extension of the word. so powerfull , all the expresion is in the voice not the face.
and to the one who wrote here, too much vibrato, I will say, you dont know nothing about music.
@sugarshula64 Wannabee is right, no one Earth, except Leontyne Price herself, has that kind of singing voice (I Googled her to see if she's still alive and she is at 83 years of age, thank God. Her singing days are no doubt over but it's good to know she alive and hopefully in good health. ,
@sugarshula64 So so right. This is how to do it. Effortlessly, beautifully and convincingly. A diva in the true sense of the word, nothing scandalous about her in the press. What you heard and saw was all about her and her voice that great voice. The is no other like her and never will there be. Love her. x
Ummmm....vibrato is a sound ideal for operatic singing, especially bel canto. I suppose she could just straight tone all the notes like a Rihanna pop song. Blech. :-(
Maybe my favorite soprano. She's an inspiration to a young dramatic voice like myself. I think she favored youth and ease over force and when most other women's voices were wrecked by menopause and overuse she could still sing.
Comments are for plus or minus thoughts. I love this performance but these videos ought not be unthought adulation except if one really feels that way. Nothing wrong with polite reasoned disagreement.
@bensmith32 Well... maybe Callas had a wobble, but you know what? Price could sing slightly out of pitch, even in this video, and it is not pleasant on the ear. Most of the time it is lovely, but not always.
Firstly, I said nothing explicit about not liking this interpretation by Price. I expressed a valid point of view based on my own subjective experience of this video. Fostering a plurality of perspectives is the purpose of public space such as this. I'm entitled to an opinion. If you can't handle a point of view that is different from your own without getting so emotional you can' t accept that diversity in opinion is good: well, that ain't my fault.
@ckap24 Halleluiah!!! Everytime I write something about Price that is something else but praise I am instantly crucified. So thank you for also stating, as I have tried numerous times, that you are entitled your own opinion.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
Price is grat, but not in this. Good technique, but that`s it. watch Moffo, Tebaldi, Gheorgiu, Freni, Netrebko, Fleming. Price has a great voice, but this needs more than technique,
I believe that "we" intrinsically decide what we feel. Personally, I feel that neither her voice nor her passion can be manufactured and that the look in her eyes tells the entire story.
Thank god we have youtube...if it isn't good for anything else, it gives a person who was too young (or not born) when Ms. Price was giving her best performances...I'll never hear her voice in a recital hall or a theatre and it breaks my heart I can't hear that heavenly sound, but I am happy I can at least hear her through recordings
This is a wonderful comment. I'm happy for you that you have been able to experience her performances, She is a great, great lady and I always remember how fortunate I was to hear her sing so much. In the theater it was as though her voice were coming from everwhere - like she made the entire building her sounding board.
I also got to see her live with the Oregon Symphony in Portland with DePriest conducting..She did all of this new Verdi repertoire I was lucky to be on the second row in the Arlene Schnitzer Hall..I swear I could see her tonsils.....she made eye contact with me a couple of times...I was devastated.......her performance was beyond anything imaginable...it literally killed me!
Breathtakingly beautiful. I heard her in concert live in the 80s. Amazing experience - no recording can reproduce how this great voice sounded unamplified. I so wish I could've heard her in live opera.
Only in concert, and I believe she had either already retired from opera or was about to. The recital was at the Met. She mostly sang art songs, very few (if any) arias. Still breathtaking.
Don't be jealous - you must be younger.... I am sure you don't want to be middle aged now. I'd imagine people in their 70s heard her and other great singers in live operas, but we don't want to be as old.
@FoggyRoad81 Price was recognised as being the greatest soprano in my day. Even when Joan Sutherland was all the rage here, Leontyne was still considered number one. Callas only became famous with the media as a celeb. Leontyne was famous for singing, not cruising round in yachts.
@SugarTomAppleRoger . When are we going to learn that to praise one artist it is not necessary to offend another. Price is obviously one of the greatest singers, but your comment about Callas I consider is totally unjustified. Sorry.
@adriano104 That is fair enough what you say. I didn't mean to say that Callas was only famous as a celeb. That was slack of me an incorrect. However, Callas was more famous for her "jet setting" at the time. Seriously though, if Callas was not an American, would she be considered as so great? I worked for braodcasting at the time. Leontyne Price and Victoria de Los Angeles were the big artists at the time. Callas became more sought after recently.
Just reminds me of my mom when I was a child, she was a coloratura soprano like Leontyne. Soon I'm gonna hang something about her I hope, someone said has recorded her voice in a tape, sadly I didn't keep any record from her, all I remember she was magical when she sang Un Bel Di and Quando m'en Vo
You know, her voice just sells things for me. This is so beautiful. It's not even that I love the aria, I just can't NOT love hearing her voice. It's such a Godsend. Wow. To be gifted at this level is something that hard work alone cannot get you. She was a natural that worked her behind off and it shows. BRAVA LEONTYNE!!
When I watch her (or the other legendary sopranos) sing this song, it blows me totally away, and tears fly out of my eyes without any control. It's so amazing to see how the voice truly is the most beautiful instrument there is. It's more than training, too; these women have a gift. From where, I have no idea, but it's mind f-ing blowing.
bensmith you have all right to be proud of your accomplishments. Unfortunately you don't realize how childish, yes I do say trash like, you display yourself to be by such a post as yours "If you were that great...." 3 months ago. What you claim is inevitably questionable, but how you behave is blatantly egregious.
Wow! She is magnificent! Her voice is so rich and not shrill like some singers. I've been listening to a whole range of "Visi d'arte" performances tonight and hers is one of the most beautiful, though as a mere mortal, they are all beautiful to me!
I really don't understand a word she sang. I have never been to opera. I don't know the language she sang. But one thing I know is that Leontyne Price is a great singer. Everytime she open her mouth and sing, it's like storm of emotion blow through my heart. I just feel what she sang.
Wow. Just tripped over this vid. What an amazing singer. I have never heard of her before, although I'm very much into opera. Flawless and raw emotion. Chapeau!
Birgit Nilsson was seldom impressed by other female voices. Small wonder when she had enough voice herself. But she adored Prices voice, describing it as fantastic, rich and creamy...
What I like with this video is that it shows clearly that when a singer has the voice to sing a particular role or sing, she does not have to move, make faces, fake the emotions, play the doll or add whiiped cream, caramel, fudge, honey and else. she just stands there and sing the song, straight and simply.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
your really funny but let me talk about the video.for a black girl she can really sing even though i didn't undrestand a word she was saying but i still liked it
Everytime I hear this I think of the victims of September 11th......and the Challanger accident.....it just reminds me of the sweet and bitter of life.....truly a magnificent piece of art.
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
I'm not sure whom bensmith32 thinks it is insulting but who cares? Having been a minor stage performer myself, I admire the courage of those who achieve fame through their genuine talent because among their fans are always a few trash. Think John Lennon. Think this black lady.
Please don't say such things like "this black lady." She has a name. Just like you. And one that everyone will remember (unlike yours). It's just rude. If you can say "John Lennon", why can't you say Leontyne Price?
blackeneddove is certainly not your name. You can speculate about how long and how many will remember a name that you only know isn't yours, but that is silly. A deceased white singer from Liverpool has nothing to do with the your touchiness about epdermal melanin. That merely expresses your latent U.S. social guilt about enslavement of Africans. I suggest you eat your race card and instead enjoy the black lady snging.
Her voice is a trifle tubular (nasal) and the unmitigated vibrato sounds synthetic. Also she lacks reserve power for the crescendo and frankly she is no oil painting to look at. Now you may say that I am a cad who will go to hell for saying these things but better out than in.
I was going to say you had a point about the slight nasal thing within her technique (I think it's the secret to her easy high notes) but then you actually had the audacity to say that Ms. Price sounds "synthetic" no singer in her day was as lauded/critiqued for their willingness to add "soul" flavorings to her voice. NOTHING about Leontyne Price was synthetic. As for your rude comment about her looks you already described yourself better than I could you absolute cad!
This comment has received too many negative votesshow
I was clumsy with my adjective "synthetic". I am trying to say that her vibrato is relentless and unrelated to interpretation of what she sings. As to being a rude cad, I am unrepentent and I truly enjoy the talented Ms. Price better with my eyes closed.
You can't have heard her Mozart work and think her vibrato is relentless and never changes. You're also pretending as if vibrato is the only way to indicate interpretation. Price had a variety of colors to her sound from husky, to dark and rich to sparkling, crystal high notes. Perhaps you prefer Callas who sang with three different "voices" each with its own vibrato. But even within those three voices the vibrato was the same. Most noticeably the unpleasantly wide vibrato in the top notes.
My hearing is going, and the sound quality on utube is not that great, but on vinyl in the 60's Leontyne could bring tears time after time ... Fleming is good but this Lady soars!
I have heard better versions of this aria. Maria Callas is possibly the best Tosca ever. Mirella Freni... she's a soprano, and Tosca is meant to be played by a mezzo-soprano. I think Freni is a better Mimi in a La Boheme. I will admit that Leontyne Price can sing, but this aria... it has been sung better.
Your ignorance is astounding. The tessitura in this role is set so high it is NOT meant for a mezzo soprano. Also? Maria Callas wasn't a mezzo, mezzo's don't normally sing Norma and Lucia. Finally, Price is a spectacular Tosca.
paquito. Comparing her with Callas? - she is better, to my mind. I was in broadcasting in the 1960s. Price was much more famous than Callas in those days. You just need to see the number of Grammys she won. As a soprano, Price virtually owned the 1960s.
You make a good point. I still think MOST of the Callas bruhaha is because of her untimely death-- alone,etc. She fit the description of the "self-tortured" artist. Had she lived to 80 like most of the greats of the latter part of the century, she would not have near the following she has. After all, NILSSOn was the highest paid singer during the Bing years. She was making four times what Callas was, and Bing to insult Callas , paid her in ONE dollar notes $1,000.00 per performance .
This was just because there were no many singers to perform a confident foray in the Wagner repertoire. The highest paid was Nilsson (US$ 3000). And tied Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland & Leontyne Price (US$ 2750). But I totally think Callas & Sutherland performed way more roles than Nilsson. And Price was the favorite in the Verdian repertoire by far!
while i love ms. price and thought this was a beautiful performance, i just can't help but chuckle at the fact that she absolutely PISSED when she sings the high note at 2:48.
For me It's Price and Callas in a tie. I like different things about each rendition but both convey the emotion perfectly and NO ONE can equal Price's gorgeous, rich tone.
I have and I and I like Norman, but she does not stand up to Price. Also literacy helps in being convincing in an argument... YOU. DEFINITELY. HAVEN'T. HEARD...
well my oral is perfect i have a british accent and speek in very correct matter my speeling on the other hand isnt perfect, and about opera i dont need to study anything and make opera which is an art into some kinda thing that only a certain number of people should have acces too, i think opera is for everybody and all real opera singers conducters etc would agree with me and not with u (Im 18 by the way so i have time to learn)
"Speek in very correct matter" is not perfect English, and no one ever knows everything about opera. If you truly believe opera is something everyone should be able to access, please represent its students in a positive light. The last thing in the world you should want is to represent opera devotees as people who feel as if they are superior to others.
Por último, no te las eches de youtube. La conducta poco digna para un estudiante de opera, o "citoyen du monde," o alguien.
i know i noticed that i think i was thinking of something else sorry for my comment Norman is very diffrent from Price and sings french and german arias mostly doesnt do italian that much
Breathtaking
johnd200 1 year ago
Awesome!!!
Od3tt301 1 year ago 2
I heard about her for the first time today, looking through the campaigns of Blackgama. And I heard about Blackgama for the first time from a HIP HOP site that had a video of Janet Jackson doing her 2010 campaign. When I saw the campaigns of women I didn't know about, I started googling some out of curiosity.
I'm only 21, and I'd never heard of Leontyne Price. I checked her out on here after finding out she's a singer. And thank GOD I did. This moved me to tears.
Mecctacular 1 year ago
@Mecctacular Hi. Leontyne Price was probably the biggest opera singer in the 1960s. People sometimes refer to the fact that it is significant that she is a black woman. However, she never traded on that. She didn't have to. Leontyne was considered the best soprano in the world. It is easy to see why. Leontyne was and still is a modest and refined person. I consider she is a real credit to American people, like Mario Lanza, Leonard Bernstein and John Phillip Sousa were.
SugarTomAppleRoger 1 year ago 3
I wish too I was able to listen live to her, I have always tears in my eyes listening to her singing o mio bambino caro, the only voice who makes me dream, perfction in all the extension of the word. so powerfull , all the expresion is in the voice not the face.
and to the one who wrote here, too much vibrato, I will say, you dont know nothing about music.
marioenbruselas 1 year ago
Vocal Perfection. This is how it is done, all you wannabees.
sugarshula64 1 year ago 3
@sugarshula64 Wannabee is right, no one Earth, except Leontyne Price herself, has that kind of singing voice (I Googled her to see if she's still alive and she is at 83 years of age, thank God. Her singing days are no doubt over but it's good to know she alive and hopefully in good health. ,
Lucille7777 1 year ago 2
@sugarshula64 So so right. This is how to do it. Effortlessly, beautifully and convincingly. A diva in the true sense of the word, nothing scandalous about her in the press. What you heard and saw was all about her and her voice that great voice. The is no other like her and never will there be. Love her. x
NART65 1 year ago
She is amazing!
ArchiducDeBelgrade 1 year ago 4
Great stuff.
SandrineSoprano 1 year ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Sorry....WAY too much vibrato on every damn note!
LawrenceDavis 1 year ago
Comment removed
AliciaOlatuja 1 year ago
@LawrenceDavis
Ummmm....vibrato is a sound ideal for operatic singing, especially bel canto. I suppose she could just straight tone all the notes like a Rihanna pop song. Blech. :-(
AliciaOlatuja 1 year ago
Who ever says they cant feel this performance 1. can you sing like this? 2. are you dead? this is amazing.
Womanmad1 1 year ago 2
Maybe my favorite soprano. She's an inspiration to a young dramatic voice like myself. I think she favored youth and ease over force and when most other women's voices were wrecked by menopause and overuse she could still sing.
eeli1 1 year ago 2
@bensmith32
Comments are for plus or minus thoughts. I love this performance but these videos ought not be unthought adulation except if one really feels that way. Nothing wrong with polite reasoned disagreement.
John
65attila 1 year ago 2
No woman sings like this nowdays... no teacher teaches to sing like this anymore
aguacun 1 year ago 4
at 2:47 on....yes lawd!!!
kenndogg 1 year ago
@bensmith32 Well... maybe Callas had a wobble, but you know what? Price could sing slightly out of pitch, even in this video, and it is not pleasant on the ear. Most of the time it is lovely, but not always.
Turand0t 1 year ago
Firstly, I said nothing explicit about not liking this interpretation by Price. I expressed a valid point of view based on my own subjective experience of this video. Fostering a plurality of perspectives is the purpose of public space such as this. I'm entitled to an opinion. If you can't handle a point of view that is different from your own without getting so emotional you can' t accept that diversity in opinion is good: well, that ain't my fault.
ckap24 1 year ago
@ckap24 Halleluiah!!! Everytime I write something about Price that is something else but praise I am instantly crucified. So thank you for also stating, as I have tried numerous times, that you are entitled your own opinion.
Turand0t 1 year ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Beautiful tone; now how about more in the way of phrasing and expression?? I was bored. See Renee Flemming or Maria Callas.
ckap24 1 year ago
@ckap24
Callas: yes
Fleming: NO
raigekimaru 1 year ago
Wow! the Great Price
hipouracanadogrito 1 year ago 3
Angel's voice! Great Leontyne Price!
lanimabilanganligot 1 year ago 3
Just great!
naturelover98 1 year ago
Quelle émotion dans la voix!!!
glitters22 1 year ago 2
Great!
thefashionair 1 year ago
Her beautiful voice offers much pleasure here.
arejn5 1 year ago
Leontyne Price is an inspiration. She has proven herself to be a great singer.
teleblanx 1 year ago
3:00 *cries*
outstep37 1 year ago 2
im so happy to be related to her!!!! go cuzzo!!!!
AngelSingingTerry 1 year ago
really the best!
Elia4225 1 year ago
This is the best Vissi d'arte ever!
teleblanx 1 year ago
Really beautiful!
shielamamaful 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Price is grat, but not in this. Good technique, but that`s it. watch Moffo, Tebaldi, Gheorgiu, Freni, Netrebko, Fleming. Price has a great voice, but this needs more than technique,
seetsebea1 2 years ago
Netrebko doesnt even sing Tosca.
Yay for apples and oranges!
Operaandchant90 1 year ago 2
but she sings Vissi `dárte. Dont`t misunderstand me, I do adore Price, bur in this special performance not so much. Thats all. Kind regards.
seetsebea1 1 year ago
OMG........ what a voice, technique, artistry... i have tears in my eyes after this..
CubbyNH 2 years ago 2
I hope heaven is full of angels that sound like her!
classyteacherdiva 2 years ago 2
I strive to reach this level of excellence. Leontyne, you're my mom's favorite!
teleblanx 2 years ago 2
I believe that "we" intrinsically decide what we feel. Personally, I feel that neither her voice nor her passion can be manufactured and that the look in her eyes tells the entire story.
gmitch06 2 years ago 4
I must agree I felt nothing. Great singing though!
smokey4149 2 years ago
Brava. I'll give credit where it is due....but I can't FEEL this performance
eternalsilverlight 2 years ago
@eternalsilverlight -look into thyself...
Sraheens1 2 years ago
Fantastic, what breath control and the notes.... that she belts out with such power and clarity, wow!!
AcademicEngineer 2 years ago 2
The best. Brava.
darkblue940 2 years ago 2
Ms. Price......wow.....There are NO words to describe that instrument!
LUCountertenor 2 years ago 2
Thank god we have youtube...if it isn't good for anything else, it gives a person who was too young (or not born) when Ms. Price was giving her best performances...I'll never hear her voice in a recital hall or a theatre and it breaks my heart I can't hear that heavenly sound, but I am happy I can at least hear her through recordings
PianistandFencer 2 years ago 37
This is a wonderful comment. I'm happy for you that you have been able to experience her performances, She is a great, great lady and I always remember how fortunate I was to hear her sing so much. In the theater it was as though her voice were coming from everwhere - like she made the entire building her sounding board.
Greg07623 2 years ago 2
@PianistandFencer My sentiments exactly. I don't know what's worse: wishing I was born earlier or thanking GOD I am still young.
erer2930 1 year ago
I also got to see her live with the Oregon Symphony in Portland with DePriest conducting..She did all of this new Verdi repertoire I was lucky to be on the second row in the Arlene Schnitzer Hall..I swear I could see her tonsils.....she made eye contact with me a couple of times...I was devastated.......her performance was beyond anything imaginable...it literally killed me!
androgynae 2 years ago 2
I've just been surfing on You Tube and Price is the only singer who consistently gives me goosebumps.
NKWIAM 2 years ago 2
excelente voz!!
marierd86 2 years ago
Breathtakingly beautiful. I heard her in concert live in the 80s. Amazing experience - no recording can reproduce how this great voice sounded unamplified. I so wish I could've heard her in live opera.
jewelmarkess 2 years ago 2
OMG you got to hear her live??? Sooooo jealous!
honeygirl931 2 years ago
Only in concert, and I believe she had either already retired from opera or was about to. The recital was at the Met. She mostly sang art songs, very few (if any) arias. Still breathtaking.
Don't be jealous - you must be younger.... I am sure you don't want to be middle aged now. I'd imagine people in their 70s heard her and other great singers in live operas, but we don't want to be as old.
jewelmarkess 2 years ago
Sehr gut gesungen!!! Manche A-Vokale fallen aus dem runten Resonanzklang raus. Genial der Schluss!!!!
vocede 2 years ago
i am so thankful for Youtube that generations of all ages can see, listen, and enjoy true artists
marsmannix 2 years ago 4
Flawless technique and an inmense heart!
yodavidnavarro 2 years ago
what language is she singing in??
ThePurplesmileys 2 years ago
italian...
immature0916 2 years ago
Italian x
microfatcat 2 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
This performance is not bad, really not. But I think no comparison to the performance of Renee Fleming! That concerns both, techniqe and voice!
moonligh111 2 years ago
Price is one of the greatest Toscas of the century. Renee Fleming only wishes she could sing this music as Price did in her prime.
FoggyRoad81 2 years ago 5
@FoggyRoad81 you forget Montserrat Caballé, she truly stands at Leontyne's level...but Leontyne is beyond description.
ainhoator 1 year ago
@FoggyRoad81 Price was recognised as being the greatest soprano in my day. Even when Joan Sutherland was all the rage here, Leontyne was still considered number one. Callas only became famous with the media as a celeb. Leontyne was famous for singing, not cruising round in yachts.
SugarTomAppleRoger 1 year ago 4
@SugarTomAppleRoger . When are we going to learn that to praise one artist it is not necessary to offend another. Price is obviously one of the greatest singers, but your comment about Callas I consider is totally unjustified. Sorry.
adriano104 1 year ago 3
@adriano104 That is fair enough what you say. I didn't mean to say that Callas was only famous as a celeb. That was slack of me an incorrect. However, Callas was more famous for her "jet setting" at the time. Seriously though, if Callas was not an American, would she be considered as so great? I worked for braodcasting at the time. Leontyne Price and Victoria de Los Angeles were the big artists at the time. Callas became more sought after recently.
SugarTomAppleRoger 1 year ago
ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha ha !!!
4everbarbie 2 years ago
Beautiful, thank you Leontyne.
operaisbeautiful 2 years ago
Breath taking...
projectgcitizen 2 years ago 2
Leontyne Price owns this aria.
UNEEKMONIQ 2 years ago 2
Simply breathtaking. No use comparing sopranos. But to me, no one will ever trump Leontyne Price or Maria Callas.
Such love!
darkblue940 2 years ago 4
her technique is flawless
Rebhappy 2 years ago
im named after this chick
jeangrey18 2 years ago 3
I heard her sing this live in Rochester NY in the early 70s. No recording will ever do that sound justice.
LISZT1951 2 years ago 4
2:39-2:52 is absolutely amazing.
wcgrad2010 2 years ago 2
Just reminds me of my mom when I was a child, she was a coloratura soprano like Leontyne. Soon I'm gonna hang something about her I hope, someone said has recorded her voice in a tape, sadly I didn't keep any record from her, all I remember she was magical when she sang Un Bel Di and Quando m'en Vo
hammertoejoe 2 years ago 2
Umm, Leontyne is not a coloratura, but thanks for sharing.
Chasson0318 2 years ago
I remember listening to Leontyne Price in the car and literally having to pull over!! This video is evidence of why!
JazzMaestra 2 years ago 3
Her voice is like dark chocolate or coffee. Just so deep and warm. Amazing
gangoffour1 2 years ago 5
Une merveille !!!!
hautv 2 years ago 11
She looks so poignant singing this and her notes are beautiful and haunting !
WoodeytheBigEyedOne 2 years ago 2
DIVINE!!!!!
ppvoice 2 years ago 4
3:03 just kills me! That's just amazing that such a sound came out of a human being.
manny8fresh 2 years ago 6
YOU SAID IT!!!! 3:03..
kronk99 2 years ago 3
You know, her voice just sells things for me. This is so beautiful. It's not even that I love the aria, I just can't NOT love hearing her voice. It's such a Godsend. Wow. To be gifted at this level is something that hard work alone cannot get you. She was a natural that worked her behind off and it shows. BRAVA LEONTYNE!!
Iareto 2 years ago 2
She is amazing. What a voice!
MrPhil1975 2 years ago
Leontyne you were my inspiration when I was a young girl.
acadia0 2 years ago 2
Simply PRICEless!!!!
netchaeva 2 years ago 6
it simply doesn't get much better than this.... thank you for posting
smcdon817 2 years ago 4
Jaw-dropping WOW. Simply beautiful.
dbwill211 2 years ago 3
B R A V A P R I C E!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I agree 200% with UrsulanChild!
Also, everybody should watch the interviews available here on you tube! They are true guidances of how one should pursue a career!
lelecoloco 2 years ago 4
Tolle große Stimme!!!
vocede 2 years ago
An amazing voice lesson wrapped up in a stellar performance. Words can't do her justice. Leontyne Price is synonymous with vocal excellence.
UrsulanChild 2 years ago 6
Beautiful
SonoPortoricano 2 years ago 3
Madame Leontyne "The Voice" Price- TRULY a treasure!!!
lafonta 2 years ago 3
When I watch her (or the other legendary sopranos) sing this song, it blows me totally away, and tears fly out of my eyes without any control. It's so amazing to see how the voice truly is the most beautiful instrument there is. It's more than training, too; these women have a gift. From where, I have no idea, but it's mind f-ing blowing.
mlc2005 2 years ago 4
thank you so much for everything Ms. Price... you give a lot of singers hope and inspiration
smcdon817 2 years ago
everyone i watch this...I just want to die....soo perfect.
Oprabaritone624 2 years ago
Totally agree with you. I've added this to my list of Favorites, naturally.
priscillaofmanila 2 years ago
shes so dope
ssaturn 2 years ago
bensmith you have all right to be proud of your accomplishments. Unfortunately you don't realize how childish, yes I do say trash like, you display yourself to be by such a post as yours "If you were that great...." 3 months ago. What you claim is inevitably questionable, but how you behave is blatantly egregious.
cuddlyable3 2 years ago
Wow! She is magnificent! Her voice is so rich and not shrill like some singers. I've been listening to a whole range of "Visi d'arte" performances tonight and hers is one of the most beautiful, though as a mere mortal, they are all beautiful to me!
elephantbarbiegirl 2 years ago 6
It's amazing how they sing this way and not pass out from lack of oxygen to the brain. I'd pass out singing like that!
AutopsyReport22 2 years ago 4
It comes from years of training and constant practicing to get a voice like hers. It is indeed magnificent.
steinwaygrande1 2 years ago 4
Leontyne Price is amazing!!! Her singing is technical perfection! One of the best sopranos i've heard!
ju5t4n0w 2 years ago 6
I really don't understand a word she sang. I have never been to opera. I don't know the language she sang. But one thing I know is that Leontyne Price is a great singer. Everytime she open her mouth and sing, it's like storm of emotion blow through my heart. I just feel what she sang.
chpiyatas 2 years ago 9
I believe it's Italian she's singing.
bighugebird 2 years ago 3
Try to get the words , It's a Emotional Song , it's Italian , one of Maria CALLAS Vidoes on here have the words in English.
404Orion 2 years ago
Wow. Just tripped over this vid. What an amazing singer. I have never heard of her before, although I'm very much into opera. Flawless and raw emotion. Chapeau!
yalejomo 2 years ago 7
Fantastic !! By far the best soprano the world has ever seen !!!!
bassoassoluto 2 years ago 5
wow she is good i love her
sdimella 2 years ago
Wow, she's amazing. She inspired me so much. I love it!!!
Vaneessin 2 years ago
This is from the Mike Douglas Show, right?
MissDellaReese 2 years ago
This is actually from the Ed Sullivan Show
marylandman45 2 years ago
i love she singin my fav aria
epvideochannel 2 years ago
She just stands there and sings it out...dignity, beauty, poise, sincerity... no gimmicks. Just the epitome of talent.
njmezzo 2 years ago 6
Wow... She's marvelous!
Really she's a great Tosca, I never have been listened her in this role, amazing.
Thank You
gerardolec 2 years ago 2
Birgit Nilsson was seldom impressed by other female voices. Small wonder when she had enough voice herself. But she adored Prices voice, describing it as fantastic, rich and creamy...
mozzrt 2 years ago 4
beautiful!
Pixiebabe 2 years ago 3
Please, Gheorghiu...
What I like with this video is that it shows clearly that when a singer has the voice to sing a particular role or sing, she does not have to move, make faces, fake the emotions, play the doll or add whiiped cream, caramel, fudge, honey and else. she just stands there and sing the song, straight and simply.
Brava.
freespiritQC 2 years ago 5
This comment has received too many negative votes show
your really funny but let me talk about the video.for a black girl she can really sing even though i didn't undrestand a word she was saying but i still liked it
daijah102 2 years ago
That's what I would call a very nasty and racist comment.
You didn't understand a word... Do you speak italian? I do, almos perfectly and I do understand a lot about what she's singing.
freespiritQC 2 years ago 4
You learn Italian, Price is understood him perfectly. A question: what has do that she is black?
loumanar 2 years ago 7
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Very good indeed, but I just listened to Gheorghiu sing it and I prefer her somewhat more nuanced and subtle interpretation.
ellerveira 2 years ago
Leontine is form heaven....the best female singer ever.. !!!! God bless this great woman !!!
bassoassoluto 2 years ago
Superb. The phrasing at the the end is is breathtaking. No one can touch her. She the real deal!
Houndentenor1998 2 years ago 3
This is my personal favorite live recording of this area. I love it!
Houndentenor1998 2 years ago 4
Breathtaking!!!
Isolar 2 years ago 3
Everytime I hear this I think of the victims of September 11th......and the Challanger accident.....it just reminds me of the sweet and bitter of life.....truly a magnificent piece of art.
Platynumlove 3 years ago 2
I always cry when I listen to this! Her voice was, and always will be, completely untouchable.
maryjivinjane 3 years ago
Occasionally someone manages to surpass the routine levels of arrogance and bad nature, even here on YouTube. Enough said.
cuddlyable3 3 years ago
SO very beautiful.
XX, Gay
GayCarrington 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I'm not sure whom bensmith32 thinks it is insulting but who cares? Having been a minor stage performer myself, I admire the courage of those who achieve fame through their genuine talent because among their fans are always a few trash. Think John Lennon. Think this black lady.
cuddlyable3 3 years ago
Please don't say such things like "this black lady." She has a name. Just like you. And one that everyone will remember (unlike yours). It's just rude. If you can say "John Lennon", why can't you say Leontyne Price?
blackeneddove 2 years ago 6
This has been flagged as spam show
blackeneddove is certainly not your name. You can speculate about how long and how many will remember a name that you only know isn't yours, but that is silly. A deceased white singer from Liverpool has nothing to do with the your touchiness about epdermal melanin. That merely expresses your latent U.S. social guilt about enslavement of Africans. I suggest you eat your race card and instead enjoy the black lady snging.
cuddlyable3 2 years ago
HAPPY 82nd BIRTHDAY TODAY TO MS. LEONTYNE PRICE THE GREATEST DIVA TO EVER LIVE!!! HAIL TO THE QUEEN!!! I ADORE YOU MS. PRICE!!!
LeeVita19 3 years ago 6
Her voice is a trifle tubular (nasal) and the unmitigated vibrato sounds synthetic. Also she lacks reserve power for the crescendo and frankly she is no oil painting to look at. Now you may say that I am a cad who will go to hell for saying these things but better out than in.
cuddlyable3 3 years ago
I was going to say you had a point about the slight nasal thing within her technique (I think it's the secret to her easy high notes) but then you actually had the audacity to say that Ms. Price sounds "synthetic" no singer in her day was as lauded/critiqued for their willingness to add "soul" flavorings to her voice. NOTHING about Leontyne Price was synthetic. As for your rude comment about her looks you already described yourself better than I could you absolute cad!
FoggyRoad81 3 years ago 5
This comment has received too many negative votes show
I was clumsy with my adjective "synthetic". I am trying to say that her vibrato is relentless and unrelated to interpretation of what she sings. As to being a rude cad, I am unrepentent and I truly enjoy the talented Ms. Price better with my eyes closed.
cuddlyable3 3 years ago
You can't have heard her Mozart work and think her vibrato is relentless and never changes. You're also pretending as if vibrato is the only way to indicate interpretation. Price had a variety of colors to her sound from husky, to dark and rich to sparkling, crystal high notes. Perhaps you prefer Callas who sang with three different "voices" each with its own vibrato. But even within those three voices the vibrato was the same. Most noticeably the unpleasantly wide vibrato in the top notes.
FoggyRoad81 3 years ago 6
I think she is a beautiful waman.
OldHollywood1 3 years ago 5
My hearing is going, and the sound quality on utube is not that great, but on vinyl in the 60's Leontyne could bring tears time after time ... Fleming is good but this Lady soars!
cacciato66 3 years ago 3
This has been flagged as spam show
I have heard better versions of this aria. Maria Callas is possibly the best Tosca ever. Mirella Freni... she's a soprano, and Tosca is meant to be played by a mezzo-soprano. I think Freni is a better Mimi in a La Boheme. I will admit that Leontyne Price can sing, but this aria... it has been sung better.
karatepanda13 3 years ago
Your ignorance is astounding. The tessitura in this role is set so high it is NOT meant for a mezzo soprano. Also? Maria Callas wasn't a mezzo, mezzo's don't normally sing Norma and Lucia. Finally, Price is a spectacular Tosca.
FoggyRoad81 2 years ago 3
Great voice, so natural and powerful. Thanks for sharing.
TimeshipStudio 3 years ago
2:26 to 2:27...awfull!!!
makes me even laugh of somepeople who compare her to callas...
paquitomoralles 3 years ago
paquito. Comparing her with Callas? - she is better, to my mind. I was in broadcasting in the 1960s. Price was much more famous than Callas in those days. You just need to see the number of Grammys she won. As a soprano, Price virtually owned the 1960s.
swanningaround 3 years ago 5
swanning,
You make a good point. I still think MOST of the Callas bruhaha is because of her untimely death-- alone,etc. She fit the description of the "self-tortured" artist. Had she lived to 80 like most of the greats of the latter part of the century, she would not have near the following she has. After all, NILSSOn was the highest paid singer during the Bing years. She was making four times what Callas was, and Bing to insult Callas , paid her in ONE dollar notes $1,000.00 per performance .
Operanut9 2 years ago
This was just because there were no many singers to perform a confident foray in the Wagner repertoire. The highest paid was Nilsson (US$ 3000). And tied Maria Callas, Joan Sutherland & Leontyne Price (US$ 2750). But I totally think Callas & Sutherland performed way more roles than Nilsson. And Price was the favorite in the Verdian repertoire by far!
yodavidnavarro 2 years ago
2:26...to 2:29...what is that???
someone called me deaf here...must have been her...
paquitomoralles 3 years ago
yes!!!!!!
shes definitely ....average...
she gives me no pleasure at all...
and hey..im free to have a opinion.
just..average
paquitomoralles 3 years ago
Is there anything closer to perfection? I can't find!
yodavidnavarro 3 years ago 2
I forget to breathe, and then start crying every time I watch this. Gotta love Puccini.
Bondodevil 3 years ago 2
while i love ms. price and thought this was a beautiful performance, i just can't help but chuckle at the fact that she absolutely PISSED when she sings the high note at 2:48.
tenorlovesasoprano 3 years ago
For me, nobody can sing this piece so beautifully.
operafan85 3 years ago 2
For me It's Price and Callas in a tie. I like different things about each rendition but both convey the emotion perfectly and NO ONE can equal Price's gorgeous, rich tone.
jhughessings 3 years ago
Bravissima!!!
rossini90 3 years ago 3
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Listen to Jessye Norman she owns this!
ahmad123987 3 years ago
Not a chance.
jalex11 3 years ago
well if u think that u defenetly havent herad it
ahmad123987 3 years ago
I have and I and I like Norman, but she does not stand up to Price. Also literacy helps in being convincing in an argument... YOU. DEFINITELY. HAVEN'T. HEARD...
jalex11 3 years ago
excuse me but im french, and English is my fifth language after French Italian Russian Spanish and Arabic so sorry
ahmad123987 3 years ago
sorry i mean sixth
ahmad123987 3 years ago
Well apparently you need to study English AND opera more.
jalex11 3 years ago
well my oral is perfect i have a british accent and speek in very correct matter my speeling on the other hand isnt perfect, and about opera i dont need to study anything and make opera which is an art into some kinda thing that only a certain number of people should have acces too, i think opera is for everybody and all real opera singers conducters etc would agree with me and not with u (Im 18 by the way so i have time to learn)
ahmad123987 3 years ago
"Speek in very correct matter" is not perfect English, and no one ever knows everything about opera. If you truly believe opera is something everyone should be able to access, please represent its students in a positive light. The last thing in the world you should want is to represent opera devotees as people who feel as if they are superior to others.
Por último, no te las eches de youtube. La conducta poco digna para un estudiante de opera, o "citoyen du monde," o alguien.
theazreal 3 years ago 2
After all this arguing I am convinced Norman never even recorded this aria.
jalex11 3 years ago
i know i noticed that i think i was thinking of something else sorry for my comment Norman is very diffrent from Price and sings french and german arias mostly doesnt do italian that much
ahmad123987 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
i ment 0:46
paquitomoralles 3 years ago
This comment has received too many negative votes show
0:48...weak.. scared...shy...flat
paquitomoralles 3 years ago
I suspect you're deaf...you should get that checked.
jalex11 3 years ago