Mary Violet Leontyne Price (Laurel 1927)

In 1960 he made his debut at La Scala with Aida, who played ...

Mary Violet Leontyne Price (Laurel 1927)

In 1960 he made his debut at La Scala with Aida, who played well in Philadelphia, rejecting the debut in the same role at the Metropolitan in New York only because they "did not have the right costume." The Met debut came anyway in Il Trovatore at the same time the American debut of Franco Corelli, January 27, 1961, anniversary of the death of Giuseppe Verdi. In the same year he played at the Met Aida, Madama Butterfly, Liù in Turandot, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, La Fanciulla del West, rapidly becoming a star of the highest US theater, doomed to last nearly 25 years. In 1967 he inaugurated the new location at Lincoln Center with Antony and Cleopatra by Samuel Barber. Also in the sixties, during which reached the heights of artistic maturity, he toured Europe, interpreting works of Puccini and Verdi. Memorable in particular the interpretation of Verdi's Requiem Mass in 1967, on the tenth anniversary of the death of Arturo Toscanini, with La Scala led by Herbert von Karajan. With Karajan had already worked a few years before impacting Carmen, leaving an important witness, the only remaining disk, having always refused to play such a role in the theater. The collaboration with the great Austrian conductor continued until 1978, when he played the Troubadour in Salzburg. In subsequent years he absented himself for some time from the stage to devote himself to the intensive study of modern composers such as Gershwin and Poulenc, of which performed various jobs. Towards the end of his career he also devoted himself to chamber music, especially by Russian composers, including Stravinsky, and his countrymen as the aforementioned Samuel Barber, which is considered one of the best performers. In 1985 he took leave from the audience at the Met and the operatic stage playing again Aida; altogether he sang in 204 performances with the utmost American theater. He continued his concert activity, retiring for good in 1997. In October 2001, aged 74, took part in a concert at Carnegie Hall in memory of the massacre of September 11 victims. photo Portrait of the soprano with a handwritten signature.Excellent condition