Leontyne Price

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Lore & Background

Born in Laurel, Mississippi, Price studied at Wilberforce University and the Juilliard School with Florence Kimball. Her first significant professional engagement was in Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts, which she performed both on Broadway and in Paris. Later that same year she starred in the third revival of George Gershwin's Porgy and Bess, and married her co-star, bass-baritone William Warfield. She began a long association with composer Samuel Barber in 1953 when she performed the world premiere of his Hermit Songs with the composer as her accompanist at the Library of Congress. In 1955 Price became the first African American to star in a televised opera when she portrayed the title role in Puccini's Tosca with the NBC Opera Theatre. This event was widely viewed as a significant moment in breaking the color barrier for black opera singers who were historically barred from appearing on the opera stage. This televised performance, along with 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 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. After her retirement from opera, Price continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts until 1998. After that, she would come out of retirement to sing at special events, including a memorial concert at Carnegie Hall, in 2001 for victims of the 9/11 terrorist attacks. Among her many honors and awards are the Presidential Medal of Freedom in 1964, in addition to her 13 Grammy Awards.

Reader's Guide

Leontyne Price's significance lies in her role as a pioneering African-American soprano who broke racial barriers in opera. Her 1955 televised Tosca was a landmark moment in desegregating the opera stage, and her sustained 20-year career at the Metropolitan Opera established her as a leading performer of the century. In interviews, Price referred to her own voice as that of a lyric soprano, although scholars have variously described her as a dramatic or spinto soprano instead. 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 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. Her legacy includes not only her vocal artistry but also her role in expanding opportunities for Black singers in classical music.

Did You Know?

• Price changed the spelling of her name to Leontyne while studying at Wilberforce University.
• Her mother, Katherine Viola Price, was a licensed practical nurse and midwife who delivered hundreds of babies in Laurel and the surrounding region.
• Price's first significant professional engagement was in Virgil Thomson's Four Saints in Three Acts, performed on Broadway and in Paris.
• She was the first African American to star in a televised opera, portraying the title role in Puccini's Tosca with the NBC Opera Theatre in 1955.
• Price's brother, George, grew up to become a brigadier general in the United States Army and lived until 2024 at the age of 95.