Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano. Born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera. One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant", "soaring" and "a Price beyond pearls", as well as "genuinely buttery, carefully produced but firmly under control", with phrases that "took on a seductive sinuousness."[5] Time magazine called her voice "Rich, supple and shining, it was in its prime capable of effortlessly soaring from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C." A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, she was considered especially well suited to the roles of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, as well as several in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After her retirement from the opera stage in 1985, she continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts for another 12 years. Among her many honors are the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Spingarn Medal (1965), the Kennedy Center Honors (1980), the National Medal of Arts (1985), numerous honorary degrees, and nineteen Grammy Awards, 13 for operatic or song recitals, five for full operas, and a special Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989, more than any other classical singer. In October 2008, she was one of the recipients of the first Opera Honors given by the National Endowment for the Arts.


Lyrics & English Translation

Return a conqueror!... And from my lips
came the impious word! Conqueror
of my father... of him who takes up arms
for me... to give me back
a country, a kingdom, and the illustrious name
which here I am forced to hide. Conqueror
of my brothers... whence I might see him, stained
with cherished blood, triumph in the acclamation
of the Egyptian cohorts! And behind his chariot,
a king... my father... bound in chains!

Oh Heavens, wipe out
the insane word!
To a father's breast
restore his daughter;
destroy the squadrons
of our oppressor! Ah! -
Wretched one! What did I say... And my love?
Can I then forget
this ardent love which, like a shaft of sunlight,
made my lot here happy although I am captive and a slave?
Shall I call down death
upon Radamès ... upon him whom I love so much!
Ah! never on earth did
anguish more cruel rend a heart!

The sacred names of father, of lover,
I cannot utter, nor yet recall.
For the one... for the other... confused, trembling,
I would weep, I would pray.
But my prayer changes to a curse...
For me tears are a crime, sighs a fault...
In dark night my soul is lost,
and in this cruel anguish I would die.

Oh Heavens, have pity on my suffering!
There is no hope for my sorrow.
Fatal love, terrible love,
break my heart, make me die!
Oh Heavens, have pity on my suffering!



A link to this wonderful artist's personal website: http://www.allmusic.com/artist/leontyne-price-mn0000591857/discography



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