Leontyne Price was one of the greatest Verdi sopranos of the 20th century. Her voice was magnificent, and she was a good musician. Her vocal production was excellent.
One of the most frequently recorded opera singers, Price was the recipient of more than 20 Grammy Awards, including a lifetime achievement award (1989). She also received the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), a Kennedy Center Honor (1980), and the National Medal of the Arts (1985). In 2008 she was among the first to be named a National Endowment for the Arts Opera Honoree.
I hope that you enjoy this posting.
Verdi, Ernani, Finale
Elvira (to Ernani as she rushes in)
Ferma, crudele estinguere,
Perchè vuoi tu due vite?
(to Silva)
Quale d’averno demone
Ha tali trame ordite ?
Presso al sepolcro mediti,
Compisci tal vendetta !
La morte che t’aspetta,
O vecchio, affretterò.
(about to confront Silvia, she stops)
Ah, ma che diss’io? Perdonami.
L’angoscia in me parlò.
Silvia
È vano, o donna, il piangere, è vano.
Elvira
Ah!
Sivia
Èvano, io non perdono, è vano.
Ernani (to himself)
La furia è inesorabile.
Elvira (to Silvia)
Figlia d’un Silva io sono.
Io l’amo indissolubile
Nodo mi stringe a lui.
Silvia
L’ami? Morrà costui,
Per tale amor morrà.
Elvira
Per queste amare lagrime
Di me, di lui pietà.
Ernani
Quel pianto, Elvira, ascondimi,
Ho d’uopo di constanza.
Elvira
Pietà !
Ernani
L’affano di quest’annima
Ogni dolore avanza
Elvira
Di lui, di me pietà.
Ernani
Un giuramento orribile
Ora mi danna a norte.
Elvira
Pietà!
Silva
No.
Ernani
Fu scherno della sorte
la mia felicità.
Elvira and Ernani
Non ebbe di noi miseri,
Non ebbe il ciel pietà.
Di lui, di me pietà
Morrà, morrà,
Per tale amor morrà!
È vano , o donna, il piangere,
È vano, io no , no perdono.
Si, per tale amor morrà!
Sivla (approaching Ernani threateningly)
Se uno squillo intenderà,
Tosto Ernani morirà.
Ernani
Intendo, intendo.
Compiasi il mio destin fatale.
(Ernani thrusts dagger into his breast)
Elvira
Che mai facesti?
Ahi, misero!
Ch’io mora! A me il pugnale!
Silva
No, sciagurata, arrestati,
Il delirar no vale.
Ernani
Elvira! Elvira!
Elvira
Attendimi.
Sol te seguir, desio-
Ernani
Vivi d’amrmi e vivere,
Cara, t’impongo, addio
Elvira and Ernani
Per noi d’amore il tálamo
Di morte fu l’altrar.
Ernani
Elvira, Elvira,
Addio!
Verdi, Ernani, Final Scene
Elvira (to Ernani, as she rushes in)
Stop, cruel one, why do you want
to extinguish two lives?
(to Silva)
What demon from Hell
has arranged such plots?
Close to the tomb you meditate,
you carry out such vengeance!
O old man, I’ll hasten
the death that awaits you.
(about to confront Silva, she stops)
Ah, but what have I said? Forgive me.
Anguish spoke in me.
Silva
Vain, O woman, is weeping. It is in vain.
Elvia
Ah!
Silva
It’s vain, I do not forgive, it’s vain,
Ernani (to himself)
His fury is inexorable.
Elvira (to Silva)
I am the daughter of a Silva.
I love him, and indissoluble bond
ties me to him.
Silva
You love him? He will die,
for such love he will die.
Elvira
For these bitter tears
have pity on me, on him.
Ernani
Hide that weeping from me , Elvira;
I need constancy.
Elvira
Pity!
Ernani
The suffering of this spirit
exceeds all grief.
Elvira
Have pity on me, on him.
Ernani
A horrible oath
now condemns me to death.
Elvira
Pity!
Silva
No.
Ernani
My happiness was
a mockery of fate.
Elvira and Ernani
Heaven had no pity on us,
it had no pity on wretched us.
Have pity on him, on me.
Silva
He will die, he will die,
for such love he will die.
Vain O woman is weeping.
It’s vain, I do not forgive, not I.
Yes, for such love he will die.
Silva (approaching threateningly)
If he hears a blast,
Ernani will die at once.
Ernani
I understand, I understand.
Let my fatal destiny be fulfilled.
(Ernani thrusts a dagger into his breast)
Elvira
What have you done?
Ah, wretched man!
Let me die! Give me the dagger!
Silva
No, hapless girl, stop;
raving is no use.
Ernani
Elvira, Elvira!
Elvira
Wait for me.
I want only to follow you –
Ernani
Live – I command you, dear,
to love me and live. Farewell.
Elvira and Ernani
For the nuptial bed of love
was the altar of death.
Ernani
Elvira, Elvira
farewell.
Korngold, Die Tote Stadt, “Glück, das mir verblieb”
Glück, das mir verblieb,
rück zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Abend sinkt im Ha(a)g—
bist mir Licht und Tag.
Bange pochet Herz an Herz—
Hoffnung schwingt sich himmelwärts.
Wie wahr, ein traurig Lied.
Das Lied vom treuen Lieb,
das sterben muss.
Ich kenne das Lied.
Ich hört es oft in jungen,
in schöneren Tagen….
Es hat noch eine Strophe—
weiß ich sie noch?
Naht auch Sorge trüb,
rück zu mir, mein treues Lieb.
Neig dein blass Gesicht—
Sterben trennt uns nicht.
Mußt du einmal von mir gehn,
glaub, es gibt ein Auferstehn
Korngold, The dead city, “Happiness that remained”
[You my] happiness that remained,
turn to me, my true love.
Evening is setting in the grove—
you are light and day to me.
Anxiously heart beats against heart—
hope soars heavenward.
How true, a sad song.
The song of the faithful lover
who must die.
I know the song.
I heard it often in younger,
in better days….
It has another verse—
do I still know it?
Though grim sorrow may approach,
turn to me, my true love.
Incline your pale face—
death will not separate us.
If you must leave me one day,
trust there is a resurrection.
Verdi, Il trovatore, “Tacea la notte”
Tacea la notte placida
e bella in ciel sereno
La luna il viso argenteo
Mostrava lieto e pieno…
Quando suonar per l’aere,
Infino allor sì muto,
Dolci s’udiro e flebili
Gli accordi d’un liuto,
E versi melanconici
Un Trovator cantò.
Versi di prece ed umile
Qual d’uom che prega Iddio
In quella ripeteasi
Un nome… il nome mio!…
Corsi al veron sollecita…
Egli era! egli era desso!…
Gioia provai che agli angeli
Solo è provar concesso!…
Al core, al guardo estatico
La terra un ciel sembrò.
Obliarlo! Ah! tu parlasti detto
che intender l’alma non sa.
Di tale amor che dirsi
mal può dalla parola,
d’amor che intendo io sola,
il cor s’inebriò.
Il mio destino compiersi
non può che a lui d’appresso.
S’io non vivrò per esso,
per esso morirò.
Verdi, The Troubadour, “The serene night was silent”
The serene night was silent
and, lovely in the calm sky,
the moon happily revealed
its silvery and full face!
When, resounding in the air
which till then had been so quiet,
sweet and sad were heard
the sounds of a lute,
and a troubadour
sang some melancholy verses.
Verses, beseeching and humble,
like a man praying to God:
and in them was repeated a name,
my name!
I ran eagerly to the balcony…
There he was; it was he!
I felt a joy that only the angels
are allowed to feel!
To my heart, my ecstatic eyes,
the earth seemed like heaven!
Forget him! Ah, you’ve spoken a word
that my soul cannot understand.
With such love that words
can scarcely tell,
of a love that only I know,
my heart is intoxicated.
My fate can be fulfilled
only at his side.
If I can’t live for him,
then for him I’ll die.
Verdi, La forza del destino, “Pace mio dio”
Pace, pace, mio Dio!
Cruda sventura
m’astringe, ahimè, a languir;
come il dì primo
da tant’anni dura
profondo il mio soffrir.
L’amai, gli è ver!
Ma di beltà e valore
cotanto Iddio l’ornò,
che l’amo ancor,
né togliermi dal core
l’immagin sua saprò.
Fatalità! Fatalità! Fatalità!
Un delitto disgiunti n’ha quaggiù!
Alvaro, io t’amo,
su nel cielo è scritto:
non ti vedrò mai più!
Oh, Dio, Dio, fa ch’io muoia;
ché la calma può darmi morte sol.
Invan la pace qui sperò quest’alma
in preda a tanto, a tanto duol.
Misero pane, a prolungarmi vieni
la sconsolata vita…Ma chi giunge?
Chi profanare ardisce il sacro loco?
Maledizione, maledizione, maledizione!
Verdi, The Force of Destiny, “Peace my god”
Peace, peace, o my God!
Cruel misfortune
compels me, alas, to languish;
for so many years
have I suffered,
as bitterly as at first.
I loved him, its true!
But God had blessed him
with such beauty and virtue
that I love him still,
and never shall I be able
to efface his image from my heart.
Ah, destiny! destiny!
A crime divided us here below!
Alvaro, I love you,
and in heaven it is written
that I shall never see you again!
Oh God, God, let me die:
for only in death shall I know peace.
My soul sought peace in vain in this world,
my soul, the prey of eternal sorrow.
O wretched bread, which lengthens out
this sorry life. But who comes now,
daring to profane this sacred refuge?
A curse upon him! A curse upon him!
Verdi, Aida, “O patria mia”
O patria mia, mai più ti rivedrò!
O cieli azzurri, o dolci aure native,
Dove sereno il mio mattin brillò,
O verdi colli, o profumate rive,
O patria mia, mai più ti rivedrò! ecc.
O fresche valli, o queto asil beato,
Che un dì promesso dall’amor mi fu;
Or che d’amore il sogno è dileguato,
O patria mia, non ti vedrò mai più! ecc.
Verdi, Aida, “O my fatherland”
O fatherland, I shall never see you again!
O blue skies, soft breezes of my homeland,
where I lived out the quiet morning of my life,
O grassy hills, O fragrant streams,
O fatherland, I shall never see you again! etc.
O cool valleys, blessed, peaceful haven,
one day promised me by love,
now that the dream of love is gone,
O fatherland, I shall never see you again! etc.
Leontyne Price
February 10, 1927
Taken from : https://www.metopera.org/discover/archives/notes-from-the-archives/leontyne-price-a-legendary-met-career/ accessed 7/24/25
Metropolitan Opera audiences began an extraordinary love affair with American soprano Leontyne Price immediately upon her debut on January 27, 1961. She was by then an internationally heralded singer and an experienced, refined musician and artist. But more than anything, it was the sheer beauty of her voice that excited her listeners. What they heard was a vibrant, glowing, yet never metallic tone that called forth adjectives like velvety, soft-grained, and elegant. Her vocal production seemed effortless, free, and soaring, with plentiful volume and an amazing dynamic control. And the timbre of her voice was unique, personal, and immediately identifiable—she sounded like no one else. At the age of 90, in a charming interview for the documentary film The Opera House, she commented on her own voice, remembering when she heard the reverberations for the first time in the new Met auditorium, saying, it was “so beautiful you just wanted to kiss yourself!” This was not a prima donna’s vanity, but a mere statement of fact. And the audiences wanted to kiss her too, for hearing Leontyne Price live was an experience not to be forgotten.
Price was a known entity by the time of her Met debut. She had been brought to the attention of General Manager Rudolf Bing as early as 1952 when the young Juilliard graduate starred in a touring company of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess that also played on Broadway. Her vocal qualities had drawn critical admiration, and in 1953 she was invited to sing “Summertime” for a radio broadcast Met fundraising event, held at the Ritz Theater. Her growing career in Europe included debuts at the Vienna State Opera, London’s Royal Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and the Verona Arena. It was at the last of these that Bing heard her as Leonora in Il Trovatore and offered her a contract backstage afterwards, together with her co-star, tenor Franco Corelli.
Price’s Met debut, again as Leonora, met with critical approval as well as sensational public success. From Harold Schoenberg’s New York Times review: “Her voice, warm and luscious, has enough volume to fill the house with ease, and she has a good technique to back up the voice itself. She even took the trills as written, and nothing in the part as Verdi wrote it gave her the least bit of trouble … Voice is what counts, and voice is what Miss Price has.”
Her triumphs continued as she took on new roles in the same season as her debut: the title roles in Aida and Madama Butterfly (pictured above), and Donna Anna in Don Giovanni. Her performances were the phenomenon of the season as indicated in a Time magazine review of her Donna Anna: “If anybody was unhappy about her success, it was the Manhattan ticket brokers: obtaining Price tickets these days, they report, is about like wangling a reserved seat beside the first astronaut.”
For her second Met season, Price was given the honor of a season opening new production of Puccini’s La Fanciulla del West. Reaction to her first performance was positive, but at the second, she had to cancel after Act II. It was the only setback in her career, but the role of Minnie was perhaps a step too heavy for the still-young soprano. She carefully returned to more congenial repertory, wisely took a few months rest, and dropped the role of Minnie. Soon, she was back with new successes: Elvira in Ernani (1962), Fiordiligi in Così fan tutte (1965), and Amelia in Un Ballo in Maschera (1966).
Then followed the greatest honor of all: Price was chosen to open the new Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center in 1966 as Cleopatra in the world premiere of Samuel Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, composed specifically for the occasion. While the opera did not garner much favor, Price had a personal triumph, and her status was confirmed as the company’s leading American soprano.
But Leontyne Price was first and foremost a Verdi singer. More than half her 204 Met performances were as Verdi’s leading ladies. She added Leonora in La Forza del Destino—another of her finest roles—in 1967, and often repeated the Trovatore character of the same name. But it was as Aida that she was most famous and for which she set the standard still in force today. Her ability to shape Verdi’s melodies with a smooth legato and to approach the role’s high climatic notes without strain made her the unrivalled interpreter of the Ethiopian princess. She sang Aida for the opening night in 1969, again for a 1976 new production premiere, and finally for her own farewell performance in 1985.
Price’s Met repertory of course included other composers as well. In addition to Don Giovanni and Così fan tutte, she sang Mozart’s Pamina in Die Zauberflöte. Puccini’s vocal style suited her less well than Verdi’s, but she was a notable Tosca, Butterfly, Liù in Turandot, and Manon Lescaut. She sang Tchaikovsky’s Tatiana in Eugene Onegin in English in 1964, and the title role in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos in 1979.
Whenever Leontyne Price sang, it was an event. Among her most ravishing concerts were three performances she gave at the Met of Verdi’s Requiem, twice in 1964 in memory of the recently assassinated John F. Kennedy, and once in 1982 in memory of long-time Met assistant manager Francis Robinson. She also sang a special televised concert partnered by mezzo-soprano Marilyn Horne with the Met Orchestra conducted by James Levine in 1982.
It is impossible to speak of Price’s Met career without noting that she was the first African American superstar singer—one who was indispensable and around whom the company planned its season repertory. The legendary black contralto Marian Anderson had broken the Met’s color barrier in 1955, but she was at the end of her distinguished career and only sang one role in a handful of performances. As one of the company’s leading prima donnas, Price accompanied the Met on tour, including to several Southern cities where theaters were segregated. Her presence there was an important factor in changing the discriminatory policies. In fact, the rise of her Met career coincided with the Civil Rights Movement in the United States, and she was proud to be a part of it. Along with her exceptional artistic achievements, it remains part of her remarkable legacy.