Leontyne Price Live MET Performances Get 2-CD Release

"Celebrate one of opera's greatest artists with Leontyne Price at the Met. This new release features excerpts from the beloved American soprano's Met performances of Aida, Tosca, Il Trovatore, Antony and Cleopatra, and much more." Pirate recordings of the American soprano have previously been available to the public, but now the Metropolitan Opera attempts to get the highlights of the most famous moments that Leontyne Price sang at the house in this new compilation. Pre-order your copy here.

Watch a video of Leontyne Price's farewell performance at the Metropolitan Opera in the title of Verdi's Aida.

Leading Ladies Of The Late Jon Vickers In Opera Performances

Jon Vickers (center) and Leontyne Price (right) are seen talking with producer Richard Mohr
during the recording of Verdi's Aida for RCA in 1961 at the Rome Opera.

With the most recent passing of the heroic tenor Jon Vickers, we look back at the outstanding roster of female partners he had on the opera stage and in the recording studio. During an era when operatic pairings like Callas & Di Stefano, Tebaldi & Del Monaco, and Nilsson & Corelli were commonplace, the Canadian powerhouse voice of Jon Vickers sang with voices as far-ranging as Teresa Stratas to Gré Brouwenstijn. Find more astounding clips featuring Katia Ricciarelli, Renata Scotto, Joan Sutherland, Montserrat Caballé, Maria Callas, Jessye Norman, and many more, after the jump.

Leontyne Price Boulevard Named In Mississippi To Honor Singer

"The City of Laurel has renamed one of their main roads after an opera singer. City council approved the change and Beacon Street is now Leontyne Price Boulevard. The street is named after a Laurel native who is known to be one of the first African-Americans to gain international acclaim as a professional opera singer. Mayor Johnny Magee said the street signs have not been changed yet, but will be in the next few months. He said residents who live on the road will have to change their street address name. 'Beacon Street is going to be a major thoroughfare in Laurel after the completion,' Magee said. 'We felt like it would be a great addition to put the name of Leontyne Price on Beacon Street because of all the notoriety that she brings to Laurel.' Mayor Magee said the unveiling of the renamed road will be held as soon as Price can make her way down to Laurel." [Source]

Watch The Entire Maestro James Levine "60 Minutes" Interview

Looking Back: Maestro James Levine conducts Marilyn
Horne (left) and Leontyne Price (center) as featured
 in the 60 Minutes interview with Bob Simon.

Hopefully with the reminder last week about Maestro James Levine's interview on 60 Minutes it was on everyone's calendar. But in case you missed it, you can watch the full interview below, as well as two web exclusive clips after the jump. Although not Bob Simon's final interview before his death, it was one of the last and the opera world can be happy that it was finished in its entirety. Read more about the interview by clicking here. There are also a few photos after the jump featuring highlights from the interview.

Opera Connection To TIME Magazine Covers From 1942-1970

Portrait of Renata Tebaldi by Boris Chaliapin

Started in 1923, Time went on to have the world's largest circulation for a weekly news magazine with a readership of 25 million. Covers of the magazine featured politicians, business executives, religious figures, as well as artists from various genres including ballet, film, art, and music. Within the music category, it was opera singers, composers, instrumentalists, and conductors that were proudly splashed on the cover of the successful magazine. This coverage leant itself to widening the audience of the arts outside of the concert hall and opera houses. It may be surprising to know that the artwork for many of those covers was created by painter Boris Chaliapin, son of the famed Russian bass Feodor Chaliapin and brother to hollywood actor Feodor Chaliapin Jr. (know to many for his role in the operatically-based film Moonstruck). "Boris Chaliapin was the portrait artist Time magazine’s editors turned to first when they needed a cover in a hurry. As Time’s most prolific artist, he created 413 covers for the publication during his 28-year career, between 1942 and 1970. He could execute excellent likenesses in as little as 12 hours. Week after week, millions of faithful readers recognized Chaliapin’s familiar signature on the cover, and his co-workers nicknamed him 'Mr. Time.'" The Smithsonian's National Portrait Gallery in Washington, D.C., ran an exhibition last year featuring 26 of the 300 works by Chaliapin. Browse the various works of art by clicking here. [Source, Source] Purchase past Time magazine covers here. After the jump: a curious comparison with one of Chaliapin's portraits; more biographical information about Boris Chaliapin; view all Time covers by various artists and photographers that were related to opera including such opera divas as Geraldine Farrar, Nellie Melba, Maria Jeritza, Lucrezia Bori, Mary Garden, Rosa Ponselle, Lily Pons, Kirsten Flagstad, Lotte Lehmann, Helen Traubel, Marian Anderson, Patrice Munsel, Maria Callas, Leontyne Price, and Beverly Sills. More music artist portraits by Boris Chaliapin:

George London	Gian Carlo Menotti
Alan Jay Lerner and Frederik Loewe	Fritz Reiner

Arturo Toscanini

Commemorate Leontyne Price And Black History Month With New Book

This Tuesday, February 10, will be the 88th birthday of soprano Leontyne Price. What better way to celebrate this legend than with a colorful new illustrated book honoring her life? Although distributed to a suggested age group of 5-9 years old, this book is a treasure for all ages: "A stunning picture-book biography of iconic African American opera star Leontyne Price. Born in a small town in Mississippi in 1927, the daughter of a midwife and a sawmill worker, Leontyne Price might have grown up singing the blues. But Leontyne had big dreams—and plenty to be thankful for—as she surrounded herself with church hymns and hallelujahs, soaked up opera arias on the radio, and watched the great Marian Anderson grace the stage. While racism made it unlikely that a poor black girl from the South would pursue an opera career, Leontyne’s wondrous voice and unconquerable spirit prevailed. Bursting through the door Marian had cracked open, Leontyne was soon recognized and celebrated for her leading roles at the Metropolitan Opera and around the world—most notably as the majestic Ethiopian princess in Aida, the part she felt she was born to sing. From award-winners Carole Boston Weatherford and Raul Colón comes the story of a little girl from Mississippi who became a beloved star—one whose song soared on the breath of her ancestors and paved the way for those who followed." [Source] It is also a wonderful way to commemorate Black History Month which takes place during February in the United States. Purchase the book by clicking here. Read a New York Times feature on the book, see more illustrations, and get information about Black History Month, after the jump.

Angela Gheorghiu Provides Live Vocals For Alvin Ailey Dance Troupe

Live From New York: Gheorghiu sings an aria to
accompany a dance depicting violence between a man
 and a woman in a relationship. (Photo: Facebook)

"The joyless 'Uprising' had contradicted this, and so did what followed: the depiction of a mutually abusive male-female relationship that is Mr. Battle’s 'Unfold.' The woman’s showily sustained backbends seem to invite her partner to manhandle her; he duly obliges, and occasionally she gets him back by tugging him down to the floor. If you understand the ecstatically erotic French words of the operatic aria that Mr. Battle takes as his accompaniment here — 'Depuis le jour,' from Gustave Charpentier’s Louise — then you see that Mr. Battle means his duet as an exercise in pointed theatrical irony. The soprano sings of the delicious tremblings arising from her charming memories of living with her lover; the dancing shows us a couple forever locked in grimly flamboyant and aggressive behavior that brings them no joy. Is this really part of the Ailey legacy? To me, it looks wholly anti-Ailey. Usually, 'Unfold' is accompanied by Leontyne Price’s slow, lush recording of the Louise aria. On this occasion, the aria was sung live onstage by Angela Gheorghiu, with Eugene Kohn’s piano accompaniment. Ms. Gheorghiu’s singing, often under the note, was into a microphone; though she makes more of the words than Ms. Price, her singing on this occasion was unusually tense and unsteady. (It’s worth listening to recordings from Charpentier’s day, all of which take a far less dilatory tempo.)" [Source] Ms. Gheorghiu had a similar personal situation back in 2013 regarding domestic abuse. Watch a brief clip of the Alvin Ailey dance after the jump.

Oscar De La Renta, Friend Of Opera And Sopranos, Is Dead At 82

 

Night at the Opera: de la Renta attending 
Anna Bolena at the MET in 2011.

"Óscar Arístides de la Renta Fiallo (July 22, 1932 – October 20, 2014) was a Dominican fashion designer. Born in Santo Domingo, Dominican Republic, De la Renta was trained by Cristóbal Balenciaga and Antonio del Castillo, he became internationally known in the 1960s as one of the couturiers to dress Jacqueline Kennedy. An award-winning designer, he worked for Lanvin and Balmain; his eponymous fashion house continues to dress leading figures, from film stars to royalty, into the 2010s. De la Renta is particularly known for his red carpet gowns and evening wear." [Source] The designer was always a fixture at the Metropolitan Opera as an audience member and supporter. Today's most established sopranos in the opera world are often photographed wearing the designer's creations. "'I’m a woman, and I love it so I enjoy dressing up,' says Netrebko, who attends fashion week in New York and Paris, when possible, and was excited about a recent encounter with designer Oscar de la Renta. 'I was very honored to meet him — I’m always shopping at his stores. To me, his clothing is art, which I can’t stop collecting.'" [Source] Other famous sopranos to wear his gowns include Renée Fleming, Ailyn Pérez, and Angela Gheorghiu. Some of these fashionable gowns, as well as some that just seem operatically inspired, can be seen after the jump.

NY Philharmonic Tribute To William Warfield Role In "Show Boat"

Can't Help Lovin' That Man: The 1962 cast recording of
Show Boat featuring John Raitt, Barbara Cook,  music director
 Franz Allers, and William Warfield. (Photo: Don Hunstein)

"In anticipation of the New York Philharmonic's production of Show Boat, Leonard Bernstein Scholar-in-Residence Carol J. Oja explores the African American baritone William Warfield, whose relationship with the philharmonic began at the summer Stadium Concerts at Lewisohn Stadium with his performance as Joe in a 1952 concert version of Show Boat. The lecture includes clips from the 1951 MGM film featuring Warfield as Joe and his 1976 performance with the Philharmonic in London narrating Aaron Copland's Lincoln Portrait, conducted by Leonard Bernstein." The event is free and takes place at the David Rubenstein Atrium on Wednesday, October 22, 2014, at 7:30 PM. [Source] For more information about the New York Philharmonic production of Show Boat featuring Vanessa William, NaTasha Yvette Williams, Lauren Worsham, and Norm Lewis, click here. "William Caesar Warfield (January 22, 1920 – August 26, 2002), was an American concert bass-baritone singer and actor. Warfield was born in West Helena, Arkansas and grew up in Rochester, New York, where his father was called to serve as pastor of Mt. Vernon Church. He gave his recital debut in New York's Town Hall on March 19, 1950. He was quickly invited by the Australian Broadcasting Corporation to tour Australia and give 35 concerts. In 1952, Warfield performed in Porgy and Bess during a tour of Europe sponsored by the U.S. State Department (he made six separate tours for the US Department of State, more than any other American solo artist.) In this production he played opposite the opera star Leontyne Price, whom he soon married, but the demands of two separate careers left them

Gershwin Partners: Leontyne Price and William Warfield
recorded highlights from Porgy and Bess for RCA.

little time together. They divorced in 1972, but were featured together in a 1963 studio recording of excerpts from Porgy and Bess." [Source] "Show Boat is a 1927 musical in two acts, with music by Jerome Kern and book and lyrics by Oscar Hammerstein II. Based on Edna Ferber's bestselling novel of the same name, the musical follows the lives of the performers, stagehands, and dock workers on the Cotton Blossom, a Mississippi River show boat, over forty years, from 1887 to 1927. Its themes include racial prejudice and tragic, enduring love. The musical contributed such classic songs as 'Ol' Man River,' 'Make Believe,' and 'Can't Help Lovin' Dat Man.'" Watch William Warfield sing "Ol' Man River" from Show Boat, after the jump.

How Facebook Versus Drag Queens Will Affect Opera Singers

UPDATE (10/02/14): Chris Cox of Facebook has responded to the controversy and says that drag queens will be allowed to use their stage names on their accounts. No word on sopranos. Read more about it here.

==============================================================

If this Facebook debate were happening 40 years ago, this
 opera singer wouldn't even be able to go by Bubbles on
 her personal page, but rather Belle Silverman.

"Years ago, Lil Miss Hot Mess created a Facebook profile. 'The way that I move through the world as a drag queen is different than how I move through the world every day,' she says. With her stage name, she has a different social circle, a different way of being online. Her page was shut down early last week, and she wasn't the only one whose account was deactivated. Facebook also closed the pages of other queens after they were reported for not using their 'real' names on Facebook. Now, drag queens around the U.S. are gaining allies in a fight against Facebook's real name policy. Activists argue that 'real' is a complicated term, and that for some, using birth names on profiles can actually put them at risk instead of keep them safe. But Facebook contends this protocol prevents anonymous bullying. In an emailed statement, a Facebook spokesperson said: 'Having people use their real names on Facebook makes them more accountable, and also helps us root out accounts created for malicious purposes, like harassment, fraud, impersonation and hate speech. While real names help keep Facebook safe, we also recognize that a person's real identity is not necessarily the

Bianca Del Rio is one of the drag queens in danger of
 having to change her profile name to Roy Haylock.
(Photo: Santiago Felipe)

name that appears on their legal documentation, and that is why we accept other forms of identification that verifies the name a person uses in everyday life.' The policy isn't new, so why is it getting attention now? Within the last couple weeks, dozens of drag queens' Facebook profiles were reported as not having 'real' names (Facebook says it does not seek out fake profiles). Those flagged accounts were deactivated. Drag queens started organizing and, along with San Francisco City Supervisor David Campos, met with Facebook on Sept. 17. Facebook said it would reactivate approximately 200 accounts and that at the end of two weeks, queens would have to either change their names or lose their profiles. Next week, there's another meeting scheduled at Facebook — and a protest planned in San Francisco. In the midst of the back-and-forth, a number of questions about identity and safety online have come up. Here are a few of them. Facebook has said that drag queens can use their stage names if they switch over to pages in place of profiles. The way people engage is similar — except we're talking about 'fans' rather than 'friends.' Facebook also says it offered to help anyone who was interested in turning a friend list into fans. Here comes the issue: Pages are intended for 'businesses, brands and organizations.' As Lil Miss Hot Mess puts it, 'We're not Lady Gaga; we're not Coca-Cola.' For her, inviting people to a show is 'much closer to inviting people to a dinner party.' She adds, 'These names are not just marketing tools.' She says her name is another part of her identity — not a separate persona." [Source] What does this mean in terms of the opera world? If you log onto Facebook and try searching for one of your favorite singers, chances are you will get a fan page or Wikipedia produced page. Many opera singers don't want to deal with people they are not truly connected with in the offstage world sending friend requests to their private accounts. The solution? Make a variation on your name or truncate it so that no one searching actually could find it. But once they become friends with another singer,

Citizen Leah Joanne may have to become
 public figure Leah Crocetto if Facebook
 has their way. (Photo: Facebook)

for example, their identity becomes pretty obvious. For example, mezzo-soprano Jamie Barton goes by the moniker Jam Barto; soprano Sondra Radvanovsky goes by her married name Sondra Lear; soprano Alyson Cambridge goes by Aly Cam (which might soon change, since she is recently engaged); soprano Leah Crocetto has taken the name Leah Joanne for her personal page (possibly her middle name as the surname?); and Deborah Voigt created two pages using her casual nickname Debbie Voigt. Will Facebook take these singers to task, along with the drag queens, and force them to either change their personal pages to the names reported on government issued IDs? Luckily Facebook wasn't around for the entire last century or we would have to search Facebook for the real names of famous singers like Alice Pons, Roberta Peterman, Mary Price, Belle Silverman, Helen Porter Mitchell, and Sophia Kalos.

Notorious Ruth Bader Ginsburg Would Love To Be A Great Diva

Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg marries Michael Kaiser, former
president of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing
 Arts, and his partner John Roberts in August 2013.

"People seeking clues about how soon the Supreme Court might weigh in on states' gay marriage bans should pay close attention to the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals, Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg told a Minnesota audience Tuesday. Ginsburg said cases pending before the circuit covering Kentucky, Michigan, Ohio and Tennessee would probably play a role in the high court's timing. She said 'there will be some urgency' if that appeals court allows same-sex marriage bans to stand. Such a decision would run contrary to a legal trend favoring gay marriage and force the Supreme Court to step in sooner, she predicted. She said if the appeals panel falls in line with other rulings there is 'no need for us to rush.'....Ginsburg spent 90 minutes before an audience of hundreds discussing her two decades on the Supreme Court as well as her days as an American Civil Liberties Union lawyer. In a question-and-answer period, she predicted that cases dealing with the environment and technology would make for watershed decisions in years to come. Privacy of information carried on smartphones in the context of criminal searches could be particularly big, Ginsburg said. 'You can have on that cellphone more than you can pack in a file cabinet,' she said. The liberal justice said the court is the most collegial place she has worked as she fondly described her close relationship with conservative Justice Antonin Scalia. She made sure to plug a comic opera about the two of them — Scalia/Ginsburg — that will debut next year in Virginia. And the 81-year-old Ginsburg elicited plenty of laughter by highlighting a Tumblr account about her called the 'Notorious R.B.G.' and a never-realized dream job. 'If I had any talent God could give me, I would be a great diva,' she said." [Source] See pictures of Justice Ginsburg with the many opera divas (and a few divos) she has befriended over the years, including Renée Fleming, Leontyne Price, Plácido Domingo, and Marilyn Horne, after the jump.

Leontyne Price Part Of Historical Campaign Honoring African Americans

"On October 28, 2008, just days before the election of Barack Obama, the first African American President of the United States, my first son Chase was born. On July 9, 2012, a few months before President Obama's historic re-election, my second son Amari was born. Six months later, a few days before February 2013, I began to reflect on my sons and their promising future – specifically the opportunities they could pursue as a result of the progress and achievements made by individuals past and present. I also thought about the responsibility and at times the fear, I carry as a mother raising Black boys. I thought about how just one-year prior, Trayvon Martin was murdered. The murder and circumstances surrounding Trayvon's death awakened my consciousness and moved me to create the 'I Am Trayvon Martin' photo campaign. It was through this painful time for the Martin family and America that I came to realize that my lens could truly serve as a microphone that could amplify the feelings, fears, dreams and even the pain of a community. The Because of Them, We Can campaign was birthed out of my desire to share our rich history and promising future through images that would refute stereotypes and build the esteem of our children. While I originally intended to publish the campaign photos, via social media, during Black History Month, I quickly realized how necessary it was to go further. With so many achievers to highlight, and thousands of children to engage and inspire, 28 days wasn't enough. On the last day of February, with just 28 photographs in my collection, I decided to resign from my job in order to continue the campaign. On March 1, 2013, after most national and local conversations about Black History and Achievement ended, I released a photo of a mini-inspired Phyllis Wheatley and began the journey to continue the project for a full year. A year later I have come to the conclusion that even 365 days aren't enough. What began as a mother's passion project quickly evolved into a movement. Today we are committed as ever before to encourage and empower people of all ages and hues to dream out loud and reimagine themselves as greater than they are, simply by connecting the dots between the past, the present and the future." [Source] Watch a video for the campaign and see the original Leontyne Price photo that inspired the above poster image, after the jump.

Celebrate Leontyne Price 365 Days Of The Year

Yesterday marked the 87th birthday of soprano Mary Violet Leontyne Price and the United States deems February as "Black History Month," so we have double reason to celebrate this fine artist. Click here for a listening party in her honor and continue to celebrate the living legend every single day of the year, regardless of holiday.

Sony Classical Digs Deep For Rarities on Verdi Bicentennial

Sony Classical has taken the opportunity to mine the treasure trove of their back catalog (featuring recordings from inherited labels of RCA Victor Red Seal, Columbia, and CBS Masterworks) to celebrate the 200th anniversary of Giuseppe Verdi's birth. Some rarities are unearthed for the first time on this occasion, while others have had previous incarnations on compact disc in the past. Of particular interest is the album "A Verdi Collaboration" featuring soprano Anna Moffo with conductor Franco Ferrara. Making its appearance for the first time on CD, it is a welcome tribute from the discography* of Ms. Moffo who passed away in 2006. Track listing from this 1962 recording includes:
1. Vespri Siciliani, Act V: "Mercè, dilette amiche"
2. Ernani, Act I: "Ernani involami"
3. Aida:, Act III: "O patria mia"
4. Il trovatore, Act IV: "D'amor sull'ali rosee"
5. Giovanna d'Arco, Prologue: "O ben s'addice questo torbido cielo"
6. Otello, Act IV: "Salce, Salce - Ave Maria"
7. Un ballo in maschera, Act III: "Morrò ma prima in grazia"
8. Simon Boccanegra, Act I: "Come in quest'ora bruna"

*Sony Classical would do well to look at the soprano's other recordings in the vault that could be released in a box-set tribute: "Anna Moffo Sings Berlin," "French Opera Arias," "Dream Duet" with Sergio Franchi, "Songs of Debussy," "Anna Moffo Sings Gershwin," "Bist du's, lachendes Glück" and "True Love" duet albums with Rudolf Schock, "Film music of Ennio Morricone," and the complete recording of Massenet's "Thais." In the meantime, there is a 10-CD collection that will satisfy some needs!

After the jump are several more of the original cover art releases of Verdi works by Sony Classical that will be showing up mid-summer in the international markets.

Whoopi Goldberg "GLEE" Role Mixes Master Class and Leontyne Price

Whoopi Goldberg joined the cast of Fox's Glee for three episodes in May. The Academy Award-winning actress plays the character of Carmen Tibideaux, a theater veteran and professor at The New York Academy of the Dramatic Arts that Rachel (Lea Michele) and Kurt (Chris Colfer) have applied to and must audition for entrance. "Carmen is the Dean of

The original turban diva: Ms. Price

Vocal Performance and Song Interpretation at NYADA and is an extremely accomplished performer and singer. She is generally considered to be admonishing and strict, but kind enough and very open to new students and ideas. Carmen makes her appearance being escorted into the hall by Will Schuester to oversee the auditions of Kurt and Rachel. Backstage, both Rachel and Kurt show extreme anxiety over the knowledge of their NYADA educator as she is revealed to be one of NYADA's most infamous alumni, a profound Broadway and opera performed and the recently appointed Dean of Vocal Performance and Song Interpretation travelling around the country to handpick the students for her own inaugural class." It is obvious from her name (a strange

Leontyne Price with Oscar de la Renta

cross between Bizet's opera Carmen and an real life opera-loving pianist Jean Yves-Thibaudet) to her signature turbans (made popular by soprano Leontyne Price), that her character is meant to invoke memories of Terrance McNally's play Master Class which re-tells the story of Maria Callas at Juilliard in the early 1970s. Although not quite on that level of grandiosity (the role was played by the likes of Zoe Caldwell, Faye Dunaway, Patti Lupone, and most recently, Tyne Daly), Ms. Goldberg does a fine job of portraying a diva with an elevated sense of importance bestowing her wisdom of the human voice and its production. Continue watching for more of her fine character through the end of May. [Source, Source] A few more images of Leontyne Price in turban, after the jump.

Noah Stewart Setting Records in the United Kingdom With Decca

"Just a few years ago Noah Stewart was working as a receptionist in a concert call, humming loudly as he worked in the hope that a passing impresario might recognise the power of his voice. Born to a single mother in Harlem, New York, the tenor was struggling to realise his dream of becoming a professional opera singer in a notorious competitive industry. But yesterday Stewart was relishing the honour becoming the first black musician to top the British classical music charts, with his debut album Noah. With a stint at the Royal Opera House already his belt and a UK tour to follow, international stardom beckons. 'I can’t really believe it,' he said yesterday. It was only three years ago that I remember hearing talk like ‘did you hear about Noah? Is he still singing?’ People gave up on me entirely. So it’s hard to believe that I’m sitting here with all this going on.' Stewart's is a classic rags to riches story, with a couple of jumps between the two in between. Raised, along with his sister, by his mother, Patricia, in Harlem, New York, Stewart always knew he could sing. As his mother worked tirelessly to put food on the table and support him, he won his first competition aged 12, and enrolled in LaGuardia High School of Performing Arts in New York. His love of opera began when he began watching a recording every day before classes of Verdi’s Requiem. Inspired by the black soprano Leontyne Price, he recognised how far he might go." [Source] Read more about Noah Stewart at Decca Records by clicking here and purchase the album by clicking here. A music video performance is after the jump.

Sony Classics Releases Live MET Operas, 5.0

If you missed round one ,  two, three or four of the Metropolitan Opera archive performances being released on Sony Classical, time to catch up with the new releases! The latest round might as well be a dedication to Thomas Schippers who is conducting three of the latest editions. At budget prices, these should not be passed up.

Leontyne Price Anniversary Reissue Covers Revealed

If you were guessing back in October which covers would be included in the Leontyne Price 50th anniversary box-sets being issued by Sony Classical, the wait is over. See the contents of the boxes below:

Sony Celebrates 50th Anniversary of Leontyne Price's MET Debut

If you missed the chance in 1996 to purchase The Essential Leontyne Price, an 11 CD box set celebrating the diva's 70th birthday, you're in luck! To commemorate her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1961, Sony Classical is releasing two limited edition box sets called Leontyne Price: The Complete Collection. All the content comes from her catalog originally recorded for RCA, now owned by Sony. The first box contains 12 CDs full of French and German art songs, as well as orchestral works for soloist (Barber, R. Strauss, Berlioz). This box also contains two discs of arias in recital with David Garvey on piano, two discs dedicated to her recordings of sacred works (Spirituals with Leonard de Paur, Hymns with the Men and Boys Choir of St. Thomas Episcopal Church) and the crossover album Right as the Rain with André Previn. The second box is loaded

with opera arias and duets from the recording studio years of 1959 -1979, including her first solo album affectionately referred to by fans as the "blue album" because of the color on the jacket sleeve, the five Prima Donna albums of roles she never performed on stage, a Richard Strauss disc of opera arias, scenes from Antony and Cleopatra, a duets album with tenor Plácido Domingo and a 1982 gala concert at the Metropolitan Opera with Marilyn Horne and James Levine. Release date is set for November 29, 2011.

But what will make these two sets especially memorable for fans who may have purchased this music in previous incarnations? Each CD will be have its own sleeve featuring the artwork from the original LPs. Special standouts could potentially be:

*Editor's note: The Leontyne Price Sings Richard Strauss album was released with its original cover in this box set from 2009.

Composer Lee Hoiby Dies at 85

Hoiby was born February 17, 1926 in Wisconsin. He began playing the piano as a child and became a child prodigy, studying with notable pianists Gunnar Johansen and Egon Petri. He became influenced by a variety of composers, particularly personalities in the twentieth century avant garde, including the Pro Art quartet led by Rudolf Kolisch, son-in-law of Arnold Schoenberg. During his youth, Hoiby played with Harry Partch’s Dadaist ensembles and studied at Mills College with Darius Milhaud. He then studied at the Curtis Institute of Music with Gian Carlo Menotti, who introduced Hoiby to opera, and involved him in the Broadway productions of The Consul and The Saint of Bleecker Street. Though at first he intended to pursue a career as a concert pianist, he eventually became more interested in composing. Lee Hoiby died March 28, 2011, in New York City. [Source] Read more about the composer in the New York Times obituary.

Soprano Leontyne Price was a great champion of his music and often sang his songs in recital. In 1985 Hoiby wrote Songs for Leontyne, a collection of six works for the soprano. The set includes 1. The Doe (John Fandel) 2. Evening (Wallace Stevens) 3. Autumn (Rainier Maria Rilke) 4. Winter Song (Wilfred Owen) 5. In the Wand of the Wind (John Fandel) 6. The Serpent (Theodore Roethke).