What a nice rendition. I think it has changed so many times over the years and definitely depends on who is singing the song. My great grandmother may have preferred Marian Anderson. My grandmother may prefer Leontyne Price. My mother may prefer Jessye Norman. I may prefer Kathleen Battle. No matter, it is a spiritual and we are connected to it as Americans. Before their operatic tones, they sang in church like a lot of black singers. You never lose who you were....never.
all the negativity..... price is the greatest opera ,and recitalist America has produced get over it. and continue to be overwhelmed by her magnificence in private after you have told your group how much dislike her in public. gotcha!!!
"Lawd", "nobady", I think it's charming!, hehehe Anyway, I think there is a confusion here between "musical style" and specific "vocal technique". Interpretation and technique are different things - I can sing a song with perfect vocal technique but if I don't do it in style it's gonna sound pretty boring...
Although Price tries to lighten up the sound and doesn't sing this operatically (this is chamber music, hello!) this is definitely classical vocalism. However, the musical style is definitely spirituals, with specific rythm, inflexions and exclamations that sound very genuine and even visceral, I think. I agree with blackmaestro, she probably gets that beautiful "genuine" interpretation from where she grew up, which makes it very different from what other classical singers normally do.
i think its awesome the way she was able to tone done the volume on her huge sound that can fill the met or the sf opera house to this small playing area... what control... the "lawd" is annoying but this her interpretation and i can respect it from such an established singer.. i do like the jessye norman version!... notice the mrs.carter was the first to stand!;-)
What about the "Lawd" is annoying? She's singing it with the dialect that would have been used by slaves. When we sing Bach & Mozart there are performance practices that are considered stylistically correct for certain periods. In much the same way, employing dialects in the performance of spirituals is the correct way to go. Anything else wouldn't be authentic.
i guess the very idea that slaves would have sung like Price is hilarious in itself. SHE maybe singing with a dialect of the slaves but she sings with operatic technique!I mean the woman is an opera singer for goodness sake.... A european style! I agree with someone below that the soul came outat one point during the song ... at 1:17 and the wails during the end on "ride on"... but certainly not the a flat ending that is OPERA! just my opinion...:-)
You have a point. Yes concertized spirituals are classical arranged. But Leontyne sings spirituals VERY differently than the operatic literature. I always wonder how the slaves would have sung the spirituals. Remember that slavery was not as long ago as we'd like to think. These songs were passed down through the generations. Her grand parents might have been slaves. I'm sure that many of her interpretations grow out of what she heard her mother & grandmother sing & what she heard @ church?
@pianist12 A: We weren't there (I assume you weren't). B: where is the mic? This was a concert, not a studio session. More likely: poorly mic-ed. Balance in recording depends more on mic placement than on balance in the room. It is unlikely that a pianist is going to drown out Price with a D on short stick, unless your ear is right where the piano sound is directed by the lid angle.
Of course she is making a choice, as she makes a choice when singing Aida & Tosca. My point was: I appreciate her making that particular choice, unlike some other singers of these spirituals. In making this "choice", she connects to all audiences and African American audiences in particular. I've been a fan for well over 35 years!
Wonderful! Here you can really tell that she had a "traditional" southern African American upbringing-the dialect and improvisation are superb, unlike many who try to make these spirituals "too" classical in interpretation and enunciation. Even her facial expressions are evocative of and inviting "call and response". She does use some classical embellishments, but why not? Improv is improve! You go Girl!
thank you for posting these clips of leontyne price. i'm sure those of us who haven't had the privilege of hearing this great artist perform live greatly appreciate it. God bless!!!
Lawad of Lawad
gabrielcloud97 3 months ago
@lawdmyeye I kno right
deaster87 5 months ago
Yesss!! My morning pick me up!
deaster87 5 months ago
I would love for her to pull deep from her gut and give a growl in the spirit of her singing... that would just make me explode.
LawdMyEyes 6 months ago
Undedied talent. Undenied Lord Of Lords. God is so good. Praise Him in the matchless name of Jesus. Amen.
prolong4291 9 months ago
It's a privilege to listen to someone with her talent!
gwstube 10 months ago 3
That last note just seared right through me, provoking a tear
Isreal94 11 months ago 3
That pianist was feelin' it sho'nuff lol
jamminondakeys 1 year ago 2
What a nice rendition. I think it has changed so many times over the years and definitely depends on who is singing the song. My great grandmother may have preferred Marian Anderson. My grandmother may prefer Leontyne Price. My mother may prefer Jessye Norman. I may prefer Kathleen Battle. No matter, it is a spiritual and we are connected to it as Americans. Before their operatic tones, they sang in church like a lot of black singers. You never lose who you were....never.
pheelme 1 year ago 2
@pheelme TRUTH!! Better than I could say it :)
SuiGenerisKingJames 6 months ago
all the negativity..... price is the greatest opera ,and recitalist America has produced get over it. and continue to be overwhelmed by her magnificence in private after you have told your group how much dislike her in public. gotcha!!!
nevr2bg 1 year ago
Well i enjoyed her singing. Her and Jessye Norman's voice are similar.
kangofaug706 1 year ago
i would love to hear her sing this completely from chest voice... which I think is perhaps more stylistically true to spirituals...
Babs22h 1 year ago
Comment removed
Babs22h 1 year ago
This makes me want to leap, bound, and do cartwheels!
sarahbarasinger 1 year ago
chills!
khamikins 2 years ago 2
is this the white house?? the guy on the front looks like president carter.
derrickbanes 2 years ago
@derrickbanes The answer is yes to both questions
cjjacks12 2 years ago
"Lawd", "nobady", I think it's charming!, hehehe Anyway, I think there is a confusion here between "musical style" and specific "vocal technique". Interpretation and technique are different things - I can sing a song with perfect vocal technique but if I don't do it in style it's gonna sound pretty boring...
OlgaSofia86 2 years ago
Although Price tries to lighten up the sound and doesn't sing this operatically (this is chamber music, hello!) this is definitely classical vocalism. However, the musical style is definitely spirituals, with specific rythm, inflexions and exclamations that sound very genuine and even visceral, I think. I agree with blackmaestro, she probably gets that beautiful "genuine" interpretation from where she grew up, which makes it very different from what other classical singers normally do.
OlgaSofia86 2 years ago
LOVE this song...love Marian Anderson's version also
canadianclarke 2 years ago
@canadianclarke you should also take at look at Jessye Norman's performance, its very powerful.
deyyyybitch 2 years ago
Thank you for posting-she is so amazing: Love her
rodlarocque 2 years ago
Boy, that B-flat was kicker!
operadragon1121 2 years ago
It's an A natural.... still amazing though!
TheAleph74 2 years ago
the soul came out at 1:17
5574480 2 years ago 3
Yeh she actually sang in her chest voice at 1:17 for a moment.
mulioctaveman 2 years ago
YEah, i thought that part was beautiful !
WoodeytheBigEyedOne 2 years ago
i think its awesome the way she was able to tone done the volume on her huge sound that can fill the met or the sf opera house to this small playing area... what control... the "lawd" is annoying but this her interpretation and i can respect it from such an established singer.. i do like the jessye norman version!... notice the mrs.carter was the first to stand!;-)
Babs22h 2 years ago
What about the "Lawd" is annoying? She's singing it with the dialect that would have been used by slaves. When we sing Bach & Mozart there are performance practices that are considered stylistically correct for certain periods. In much the same way, employing dialects in the performance of spirituals is the correct way to go. Anything else wouldn't be authentic.
blackmaestro 2 years ago 20
i guess the very idea that slaves would have sung like Price is hilarious in itself. SHE maybe singing with a dialect of the slaves but she sings with operatic technique!I mean the woman is an opera singer for goodness sake.... A european style! I agree with someone below that the soul came outat one point during the song ... at 1:17 and the wails during the end on "ride on"... but certainly not the a flat ending that is OPERA! just my opinion...:-)
Babs22h 2 years ago 2
You have a point. Yes concertized spirituals are classical arranged. But Leontyne sings spirituals VERY differently than the operatic literature. I always wonder how the slaves would have sung the spirituals. Remember that slavery was not as long ago as we'd like to think. These songs were passed down through the generations. Her grand parents might have been slaves. I'm sure that many of her interpretations grow out of what she heard her mother & grandmother sing & what she heard @ church?
blackmaestro 2 years ago
they sang them like blues and work songs
loaactnow 1 year ago
Love it! Love her!
valambiguous 3 years ago 2
I am always in awe of Leontyne Price.
JosephCercy 3 years ago
Absolutely Consummate!!
Chasson0318 3 years ago 2
The pianist is too loud...
pianist12 3 years ago 11
@pianist12 the poor man is so enjoying himself that forgot that the one who has to shine is the only afro beauty herself...
joaopedro12 2 months ago
@pianist12 A: We weren't there (I assume you weren't). B: where is the mic? This was a concert, not a studio session. More likely: poorly mic-ed. Balance in recording depends more on mic placement than on balance in the room. It is unlikely that a pianist is going to drown out Price with a D on short stick, unless your ear is right where the piano sound is directed by the lid angle.
xgianpatrick 1 month ago
Does the page turner bear any relation to Ms. Price? Not that he has to, but she was close to her family and her brother...what is his job with her??
coopandre 3 years ago
@coopandre no her brother is Major General George E. Price of the United States Air Force. He died in 1979.
blackmaestro 1 year ago
@blackmaestro No he didn't. He's very much alive!! Thirty years after you say he died! Trust me.
liedersanger1 1 year ago
@liedersanger1 well do forgive me! That;s just sidebar, but who is important here is our heroine...Ms. Price
blackmaestro 1 year ago
Is that Ms. Price's brother sitting behind the pianist???
coopandre 3 years ago
No, he's seated in the audience in the front row next to Mrs. Carter.
sketL 3 years ago
Onehuin65, YOU ROCK! Thank you thank you thank you : LOVE IT!
hwhap13 4 years ago
Dude. She is obviously making a choice to speak in "traditional" souther African American dialect--as you call it. A choice mind you.
fuzmiq 4 years ago
Of course she is making a choice, as she makes a choice when singing Aida & Tosca. My point was: I appreciate her making that particular choice, unlike some other singers of these spirituals. In making this "choice", she connects to all audiences and African American audiences in particular. I've been a fan for well over 35 years!
coopandre 4 years ago 3
Wonderful! Here you can really tell that she had a "traditional" southern African American upbringing-the dialect and improvisation are superb, unlike many who try to make these spirituals "too" classical in interpretation and enunciation. Even her facial expressions are evocative of and inviting "call and response". She does use some classical embellishments, but why not? Improv is improve! You go Girl!
coopandre 4 years ago 4
thank you for posting these clips of leontyne price. i'm sure those of us who haven't had the privilege of hearing this great artist perform live greatly appreciate it. God bless!!!
homeydoc 4 years ago 2