jmc's classics
Today is the birthday of Leontyne Price( B 1927) one of the first African Americans opera stars. She is a retired. She is a Lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed Lyric"). That means that they can be pushed to sing high notes. There are several types of sopranos in opera.
She was born in Laurel, Mississippi. She was given a toy piano at the age of three. Her father worked in a lumber mill and her mother was a midwife. In high school she worked for a rich white family who incouraged her musical talents and helped to pay for her college tuition. She attended Wilberforce College in Ohio which is a predominitly black college. In generations past, during segregation most black people attended all black colleges. until the 60's especially in the south, blacks and whites were segregated in America. She won the presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964. She also studied at Juillard in New York which is one of America's most prestigious music schools. She was a member of the Delta Sigma Theta sorority which is a predominantly African-American sorority. She sang in La Scala in Milan Italy. She made her debut on the grand opera in 1957 in the premiere of Poulenc's opera Dialogues of the Carmelites. She is most famous for her role in Verdi's opera Aida. On January 27, 1961 she made her debut at the Met in Il Trovatore also by Verdi. She has also sang in Porgy and Bess by Geroge Gershwin one of the first operas to have an all black cast. Another role that she has sang is in Richard Strauss' opera Ariadne auf Naxos. She has had a long illustrious career and was a pioneer for African-Americans on the opera stage.
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
Archives
May 2024
Categories |