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Not Just for Tonight: "La Splendissima" Leontyne Price in LI

Donizetti's Kid | NYC, NY United States | 07/12/2006

(4 out of 5 stars)

"Hailed as "One of America's Greatest Artists of All Time", "a Stradivarius of Singers, and "Diva tutte de Dive", soprano assoluta LEONTYNE PRICE is well represented on Studio Opera recordings. Indeed, she continues to hold the record for the most Grammy Awards ever given to a Classical vocalist, male or female (16,)bested in Classical Music itself only by the late Sir Georg Solti, one of her frequent collaborators in and out of the studio. The diva's live Operatic output unfortunately is more severely limited. Ms. Price sang most frequently at the MET and with the San Francisco Opera during the 70's and 80's until her televised operatic farewell -AIDA- in January, 1985, thus available recordings of those performances (at least in the USA) are harder to find than most. This compilation of excerpts, culled from complete extant (pirated) recordings showcase the prima donna's output from the earlier stages of her glorious career, with one exception, in Europe during the 60's.



Leontyne Price made her Salzburg Festival debut in Mozart's "DIE ZAUBERFLOTE" as Pamina (late 50's), conducted by her famous mentor Maestro Herbert Von Karajan. Two of their most celebrated collaborations there are included on this disc. Ms. Price's singing of Donna Anna in Mozart's DON GIOVANNI was an enormous success in Vienna, surprising to the Viennese because of her famous portrayals of Verdian heroines including Aida, Elvira (ERNANI), and Leonora (IL TROVATORE). The voice is sumptuous, vibrant, and lyrical, sung with requisite style and pulsating theatricality. The aria "Ernani involami" was a favorite of Ms. Price in concerts, and while she sings it with fervor and elan here, the style is overly-emphatic, and she's slightly under-powered at the top - a very rare occurrence indeed for the owner of one of Opera's most spectacular upper registers. Still, she's fluid in the cabaletta, and resonant throughout. The legendary Salzburg "TROVATORE"s of 1962 are represented here by Ms. Price's incandescent "D'Amor sull'ali rosee" (crowned by a splendid high D in alt), a thrilling Tacea la notte' that soars again to the top, and an exciting, fabulously-sung duet with the late gifted Italian baritone Ettore Bastianinni. (The complete performance has now been re-mastered & released on DGG with much-improved sound quality). Sharing the stage with Ms.Price (as the gypsy Azucena) in those performances was the inimitable Italian mezzo-soprano Giulietta Simionato, often a "partner" with the great Greek-American diva, Maria Callas. Here, the mezzo sings one of her most famous roles, the imperious Egyptian princess Amneris, rival to the Ethiopian princess (though no one knows of her royalty) Aida - both in love with the Egyptian Army leader Radames. Leontyne Price and AIDA are synonymous in the annals of Opera. Her magnificent vocalism was wedded to an unforgettable portrayal dramatically that remains one of the most indelible ever. The duet crackles with electricity and passion, and each artist seems to inspire the other. However, Ms. Price's singing of "O Patria Mia" here (sung in the late 60's in Vienna) should give the listener some idea of why her fame as the quintessential Verdi soprano of her generation was justified, The smoky quality of her lower voice moves into the creaminess of the middle voice with its vibrant throb, the ascends to the spun gold of the dreaded high C- dreaded by all but this diva, who always reveled in holding it with ease.



The only cavil with this disc is that the sound quality is inferior to any studio recording, and alas, to many other live ones as well. However, it is by no means unlistenable, and, at the low-end price it usually sells for, an enormous value. Enjoy "La Splendissima" Leontyne Price this evening - and whenever you want to hear vocal splendor in a Live setting."