Leontyne Price in Lady Macbeth "Sleepwalking Scene"

1967

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Opera
• Verdi
• Macbeth
• Lady
• Leontyne
• Price

[royalbattle]

Why do people think that Maria Callas is the standard by which all sopranos must be judged? That every soprano in the post WW2 era learnt it all from Callas. Callas didn't figure out the secrets of opera. I love Maria Callas. She was an absolutely great artist. She was not the epitome of sopranos. No one is.I am sure that at times Callas is more of a legend that a fact. People just need to let the woman be and let the many other great sopranos stand on their own.

[trinte33]

Price and Callas admired each other. Price said they got along quite well together. That said, in the opinion of many critics, experts and singers galore, Price is the measure of all singers no matter whom. To my ears, vocally she is the sine qua non, the diamond standard, without whom there is none. I call her "The Voice of the Sun."

[MrSwifts31]

In my opinion, Leontyne Price was the greatest Verdi soprano of the 20th Century.

[MrSwifts31]

@GEMahler

Well said dear boy.

If only everyone would adhere to such rules we would all be happier.

[diuscorvus]

@franceseattle Price does well in this clip, but Callas wasn't overrated at all. I love how tight Price's vibrato is, which keeps her pitch very accurate throughout her range, but Callas's sense of rhythm and diction was superhuman. I'm not sure how Price would have fared doing Macbeth on stage - the lower part of her voice doesn't seem strong enough (similar to Sutherland's), and it's almost too beautiful an instrument.

[Dianaemanuel]

Hauntingly beautiful! What an exquisite voice Price had.

[boboandjacob]

I, too, tire of listening to the moronic Callas fanatics, but let us not sell Callas short. Opera was left in wreckage after WWII. Many give credit to Callas for lifting opera back to a very high standard. She was gifted with genius and she insisted on hard work. She took opera back to the gold standard and to compete with her, everyone else had to follow here there. I would rather listen to Price, but that does not mean that we are not all forever indebted to Callas.

[Dianaemanuel]

I always remember reading that Price said she was in love with her voice and that she was so proud to have it. She cherished it.  How right she was!

How lucky we are to hear it at the click of a mouse!

[fdh1004]

Very much enjoyed the video. Thanks for posting it.

[vincenzobirli]

Truly, Leontyne is a Jewel of a Voice. I admire her in IL Trovatore, and Ernani, as well as in Aida. I wish she would have made a full recording of Macbeth, and more of Verdi, instead of Puccini, and Mozart. I think she would have done fantastic in Otello.

She had the voice range for it. Just listening to this piece from Macbeth is enough to be convincing. I hope I have the privilege of meeting Ms. Price, one day in New York City, where she lives. Bravissima, Price!

[orvtimlaw]

This is one of my favorites to hear Ms. Price sings. Such power and vocal coloring. Verdi would have been crazy with delight to have heard her. The last notes are mesmerizing. What an incredibly BEAUTIFUL voice.

[GEMahler]

@Razorbackleader The point of this Youtube video is to share the recording of Leontyne Price singing of this aria. if you don't see the point or don't enjoy what you hear, move on.