By StephanieLee Elliott
FROM WIKIPEDIA COMMONS
Mary Violet Leontyne Price (/liˈɒntiːn, ˈliːəntiːn/ lee-ON-teen, LEE-ən-teen; born February 10, 1927) is an American spinto soprano who was the first African American soprano to receive international acclaim. From 1961 she began a long association with the Metropolitan Opera, where she was the first African American to be a leading performer. She regularly appeared at the world’s major opera houses, including the Royal Opera House, San Francisco Opera, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and La Scala; at La Scala, she was also the first African American to sing a leading role. She was particularly renowned for her performances of the title role in Verdi’s Aida.
Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Price attended Central State University and then Juilliard (graduating cum laude), where she had her operatic debut as Mistress Ford in Verdi’s Falstaff. Having heard the performance, Virgil Thomson engaged her in Four Saints in Three Acts, prior to embarking on her debut tour; she also starred (alongside her husband William Warfield) in a successful revival of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess. Numerous concert performances followed, including a recital at the Library of Congress with composer Samuel Barber, on piano. Her 1955 televised performance of Puccini’s Tosca, plus appearances at the San Francisco Opera as Poulenc’s Dialogues des Carmélites and Aida, brought her to international attention. She went on to sing at many of the world’s major opera houses with Aida, before her successful debut at the Metropolitan Opera (Met) in 1961, as Leonora in Verdi’s Il trovatore. Continuing her career there, she starred in a multitude of operas for 20 years, securing her place among the leading performers of the century. One of these works was Barber’s Antony and Cleopatra, which she starred in for its world premiere. She made her farewell opera performance at the Met in 1985 in Aida.
A lirico spinto (Italian for “pushed lyric”) soprano, her musical interpretations were subtle but often overshadowed her acting. She was noted for her roles in operas by Mozart and Puccini, as well as playing Cleopatra in Handel’s Giulio Cesare and Poppea in Monteverdi’s L’incoronazione di Poppea. However, the “middle period” operas of Giuseppe Verdi remain her greatest triumph; Aida, the Leonoras of Il trovatore and La forza del destino, as well as Amelia in Un ballo in maschera. Her performances in these works, as well as Mozart and Puccini’s operas, survive in her many recordings.
After her retirement from opera, Price continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts until 1997. After that, she would come out of retirement to sing at special events, including a memorial concert for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks at Carnegie Hall, in 2001. Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, in addition to her 13 Grammy Awards.
TODAY’S ALMANAC
Question of the Day
Advice of the Day
Home Hint of the Day
Word of the Day
Puzzle of the Day
Born
- Lucretia Mott (social reformer) –
- Larkin Goldsmith Mead (sculptor) –
- J.R.R. Tolkien (author) –
- Marion Davies (actress) –
- Victor Borge (pianist & comedian) –
- Joan Walsh Anglund (illustrator) –
- Dabney Coleman (actor) –
- Stephen Stills (musician) –
- John Paul Jones (musician) –
- Mel Gibson (actor) –
- Eli Manning (football player) –
- Greta Thunberg (Swedish environmental activist ) –
Died
- Jack Ruby (convicted killer of Lee Harvey Oswald) –
- Conrad Hilton (hotelier) –
- Alfred Henry “Freddy” Heineken (Dutchman who helped make his namesake beer one of the world’s most popular) –
Events
- Martin Luther was formally excomunicated from the Roman Catholic church by Pope Leo X–
- General George Washington defeated the British under Lord Cornwallis at the Battle of Princeton–
- First covered skating rink in Canada opened, in Halifax, Nova Scotia–
- Construction began on the Brooklyn Bridge in N.Y.C.–
- First free kindergarten opened, Florence, Massachusetts–
- Boston Red Sox owner Harry Frazee sold Babe Ruth to the New York Yankees for $125,000 and a $350,000 loan. The loan was to finance Frazee’s Broadway production of the musical No, No, Nanette–
- Benito Mussolini proclaimed a Fascist dictatorship in Italy–
- British broadcaster of propaganda from Nazi Germany during WW II, William Joyce (nicknamed Lord Haw-Haw), was hanged in Great Britain for treason–
- Dragnet made its television debut–
- Members of the newly created U.S. Civil Rights Commision took office–
- President Eisenhower signed proclamation making Alaska the 49th state–
- Moscow State Symphony first Soviet orchestra to play in the United States (in N.Y.C.).–
- The U.S. broke diplomatic relations with Cuba–
- The Vatican excommunicated Cuban premier, Fidel Castro, from the Roman Catholic church–
- Times Beach, Missouri, declared a federal disaster area after fall floods spread dangerous amounts of the toxic chemical dioxin–
- Soprano Leontyne Price made her farewell appearance at New York’s Metropolitan Opera–
- Aretha Franklin became the first woman inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame–
- Miss Canada pageant canceled due to costs and changing times–
- Spirit rover landed on Mars–
Weather
- Greatest accumulation of ice ever in U.S. history after 3 day period, 8 inches in Idaho–
- Fifty degrees below zero F at Canton, New York–
- Areas of northern Fairfield County in Connecticut received up to an inch of ice.–
COURTESY www.almanac.com
