Customer Reviews

Leontyne Price: Arias from Verdi and Puccini

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This recording of Verdi and Puccini arias is absolutely thrilling. In 1960 Leontyne Price had newly arrived, more like had blown away the opera world, and during this period she made this recording. Every aria on this album is superb. She develops every phrase with a beautiful legato line and sings the words with meaning and feeling. Also she has the ability to crown the arias with some of the most spectacular high notes I have ever heard, both full-voiced and softly.

The arias are conducted with brilliance by either de Fabritiis or Basile. The sound is good for this early recording. The booklet does not have translations of the arias but it has biographical information on Leontyne.

This is the famous recital album of Leontyne Price. It captured her at the beginning of her career when her voice was so fresh, creamy and powerful. She may had a little trouble with coloratura in "Di tale amor" but listen to all arias from Verdi's operas and you will understand why she was dubbed as the greatest Verdian soprano of our time. Her " D'amor sull' ali rosee" will bring you to tears. She was also perfect for spinto roles of Puccini. Her "Tu, tu, piccolo iddio" was so dramatic and thrilling. But the best part is the aria from La Rondine. Her version is the best ever and will let your forget Te Kanawa's or even Flemming's. Buy this CD to appreciate the best of Leontyne Price!

The selection from La Rondine alone is worth the price of the CD. Her entrance raises the hair on the back of my arms every time. How can any voice have such beauty, power and control? This is perhaps her best album, and thus one of the greatest recordings ever made by a soprano.

This wonderful recital presents the majestic artistry and magnificent voice of one of the twentieth century's most beloved sopranos. Leontyne Price demonstrates on this disc why she dominated Verdi spinto singing during her prime and also demonstrates her excellence in Puccini roles. Ms. Price has a dark, rich voice with an amazing upper register. Her high notes are among the most secure and beautiful on records. Her version of "Ritorna vincitor!" is fabulous and ranks with the best out there. Her "O patria mia" is truly in a class by itself. The high notes at the end, including a gorgeous, sustained dolce high C, are spectacular and very beautiful. The first aria from "Il Trovatore" is done wonderfully and soprano Laura Londi contributes nicely. Price handles the coloratura of the cabaletta competently and ends it with a secure high note. The second aria, "D'amor sull'ali rosee", to my ears, sounds a bit strained, but Price does show off a respectable trill. I have heard the piano singing of the phrases done better by both Caballé and Eileen Farrell. This is just a minor complaint. "Un bel dì" is sung beautifully, but I feel that the orchestra really drowns Price out in some places. Butterfly's Death Scene is very dramatic and effective. The best-sung aria on this recital is "Chi il bel sogno di Doretta". Price gives a marvelous interpretation of it and her high notes are rock-solid and hauntingly beautiful. Her "Vissi d'arte, vissi d'amore" is well-sung, but I felt that the diminuendos at the end should have been re-recorded to better show off her singing skills. The two arias from "Turandot" are nicely done and quite moving. The two conductors provide Price with good support. The sound is not as optimal as it could have been. Price sounds distantly recorded, while the orchestra sounds like it was recorded very near the microphones. Because of this, Price often sounds drowned out by the bombastic-sounding orchestra.

This is certainly one of my favorite recording. Price had a very beautiful voice with an exciting fluttery vibrato that always thrills. She was the ideal Verdian and Puccinian soprano with a big voice and big high notes, which is important. To get down to business, she starts the recital on a high point with "Ritorna Vincitor", from top to bottom the voice was even at this time of her career. The "O Patria Mia" is probably the best one available on record, it has a gleaming high c, no effort on her part. But my favorite cut here is "D'amor sull' ali rose". There are nice trills, and the high notes are just too beautiful for words. "Un bel di vedremo" was the aria that introduce me to the wonderful world of Opera, and Price's RCA recording was the very first operatic record set I bought. I will never get tired of Price's poignant portrayal of Butterfly. The "Tu, tu, picolo iddio" is truely heart breaking also. "Vissi d'arte", the simple prayer to the Madonna that had made Callas the ruling prima donna of her day. But Price sings it better, if not as convincing as Callas. "Tu che di gel ser cinta" concludes the recital. I've always thought Price's Liu was one of the most moving and beautiful. All in all, one incredibly sung collection of arias that you must have.

For those Opera-lovers who first encountered America's Diva assoluta, soprano LEONTYNE PRICE's magical vocalism from the recording studio, this collection comprises the entire legendary "Blue Album" which many operaphile consider to be one of the finest recordings ever. For Opera neophytes, there can be no more fitting introduction to vocal splendor than the singing on this disc. The selections gathered here vividly demonstrate the reason why Leontyne Price is regarded as the supreme VERDI soprano of her generation (30 years to date) a renowned PUCCINI specialist, and one of the greatest artists of all time. Recorded in the early 60's, Ms. Price's instrument was, in her own words "a juicy lyric". The intrinsic lyricism of her voice was aligned to warm, lustrous tone that pulsated in the middle voice, yielded a dark, uniquely sensuous sound in the lower regions, and gleamed with a distinctive, fast, liquid vibrato in the upper voice. That unique vibrato was elemental to this diva's ability to infuse Verdi and Puccini's most dramatic phrases with surging power (without pushing), and still produce lovely pianos in alt - soaring there with an ease that was singular to her, and that continued to her retirement in the 2002. All of those remarkable elements are on display in this seminal recording.


Leontyne Price recorded arias and scenas from every standard repertory VERDI opera with few exceptions (Nabucco/Luisa Miller/Vespri/Falstaff) in superlative fashion. Her onstage roles included the IL TROVATORE Leonora, the role of her sensational MET debut (that resulted in a record 42 minute ovation), thrice recorded by her (with Basile, Mehta, and Von Karajan respectively), and a signature role throughout her career. The first selections represented the sum of onstage VERDI roles that the soprano has sung at that time: Leonora from IL TROVATORE and the title-role of AIDA. Ms. Price soars effortlessly to the heights repeatedly in "Tacea la notte", aligned to sensuously throbbing tone, singing the inexplicably rushed cabaletta fluently. "D'amor sull ali rosee" (once the sole property of Ms. Price's Verdian predecessor Zinka Milanov) is enhanced by the soprano's expert trills, other musical nuances, and the glorious vibrato that carries her gossamer tones to a floated high C in alt. The leading newspaper of Italy said of Leontyne Price that "..our great Verdi would have her the ideal Aida", and that sentiment has been adopted the world over. The "Aida" selections here are the first ones recorded by the American diva, and remain a revelation. She recorded this opera twice, most famously with Sir Georg Solti and Jon Vickers, then triumphantly with Erich Leinsdorf and Placido Domingo. In "Ritorna vincitor" the soprano's lyric instrument is quite "juicy" indeed, declaiming Aida's fierce opposition to the Egyptian invaders of her Ethiopian homeland with energetic and powerful vocalism. She then masterfully delineates the young princess' dilemma with plaintive and youthful passion, ending with a prayerful "Numi pieta" suffused by warm, sable-colored tone. "O Patria mia" is another of Ms. Price's most revered performances, indeed the aria that garnered her a (5) five minute ovation on live television at her "farewell to Opera" (1985) performance in the same opera. The soprano injects Aida's farewell to her homeland with rich, smoky, plangent tones that rise effortlessly to a shining high C that bedeviled some of her most illustrous rivals, and would be bettered in the future only by the wonderful Spanish soprano Montserrat Caballe - and Ms. Price herself!!

Leontyne Price performed the veristic music of PUCCINI onstage in a number of his operas that included "MANON LESCAUT/TOSCA/MADAMA BUTTERFLY/LA FANICULLA DEL WEST/IL TABARRO/and TURANDOT, albeit with less frequency than with Verdi. She brought a luminous, womanly quality to all of the composer's music. Here, she sings with particular intensity and emotion as the geisha girl Cio-Cio San, her favorite Puccini role onstage, and superbly recorded complete on RCA with tenor Richard Tucker. "Un bel di" is sung fervently with glowing tone, while "Tu, tu piccolo Iddio" moves the listener to tears at the pain-laden urgency and commanding vocalism Ms. Price summons in this poignant scena. In "Vissi d'arte" the jealous and fiery Roman prima donna Floria Tosca is reduced to lamentation, which in Ms. Price's hands translates into limpid, melting tone, complete with a stunning high C followed by her trademark diminuendo on Aflat. While the complete opera is twice-recorded by the soprano (with Von Karajan and Mehta respectively),both highly-acclaimed, this aria became one of Ms. Price's most requested and performed encores. Puccini's music for the doomed Chinese slave-girl Liu is exquisitely sung. "Signore ascolta" is imbued with sweet lyricism and dulcet tones that spin on the top. "Tu che di gel sei cinta" once again displays the great soprano's ability to illuminate a scene and therein touch the heart -with sublime vocalism.The most outstanding qualities of this diva in Puccini's music were a warm femininity and profound humanity, inherent in all of her singing, but most pronounced with this composer. She also fearlessly sang his highest phrases with a vocal splendor and freedom unrivalled by anyone, nowhere more than as the tragic Butterfly. However, until she retired from public singing, one aria remained a 'sine qua non' for this diva and her public: "Chi bel sogno di Doretta" from Puccini's rarely performed operetta LA RONDINE. The performance here was her first recording of it, and is a classic in its own right. Ms. Price's voice shimmers throughout, singing the high C with astonishing purity, and caressing, velvety tone elsewhere.


For years, this "album" was unbelievably out-of-print. RCA has done a wonderful job in re-mastering this masterpiece, complete with the original Blue artwork This "Blue Album" will leave you felling anything but!!

Savor the marvellous youthful artistry of "La Splendissima" LEONTYNE PRICE.

Note:This review was written for the initial re-release of the digitally re-mastered disc. I'm sure those reviewers who've experienced the SACD version are quite accurate in their estimation of any improvements yielded by this relatively new technology. I hope to experience it soon myself.

I was raised on opera. Now I live opera. This album would be my nomination as the greatest recording ever made by a soprano of an aria collection. As Paul Hume put it when he wrote about La Price: "They come no greater. Few are near as great."

I would imagine that when Leontyne Price looks back on her career, this recording holds a special place in her affections, as it does in the hearts of hundreds and thousands of opera aficionados. Made over fifty years ago now, when she was in her early thirties, it enshrines her instantly recognisable lirico spinto soprano in the repertoire to which it was most suited. Its smoky allure, shining vibrancy and soaring amplitude place her firmly both as America's greatest post-war soprano and in the top rank of sopranos of all time. She was a Karajan favourite; he helped curb her tendency to "swoop" and was very instrumental in facilitating her virtual ownership of Leonora in "Il trovatore" - although some would rate her Aida even higher. Arias from both roles are sung here with extraordinary beauty and commitment: you judge, if you have to.

An incipient "cloudiness" - perhaps the corollary of that famous "smokiness" of tone - which marred her lower register just occasionally creeps in here but her floated pianissimi and gleaming top C more than compensate. She could on occasion be a lazy artist, reluctant to engage with her co-singers during performance and saving herself for her big numbers but this recital provides a feast of them sung better than any soprano since. My favourite item here is still the little aria from "La rondine"; no-one can make her voice soar on a top A and arch up to the C like Price with such ease, although for sheer drama and grandeur "O patria mia" takes some beating, too.

The 20-bit resolution re-mastered sound here is stunning; this will be a collector's item as long as people still listen to Grand Opera.

The sound on this recording is actually very good . It has been re-recorded using digital technology from the original analog tapes.
There can be no doubt as to the beauty of Ms. Price's voice, diction and power. She is heard here at the top of her form, and for the lover of Price, Verdi and/or Puccini, this is a superb collection to own.

These are older recordings form Leontyne, but like the recordings of her recital in Carnegie Hall - the voice is of a beautiful young spirit who feels what she is singing. An absolute great album which I can recommend to anyone who loves opera. By the way; her Vissi d'arte is uncomparable
Leo Blok - Holland