Leontyne Price (1927-present) broke barriers by singing in a long-segregated style–opera. She became one of the most beloved voices of her generation and opened the door for even more Black opera stars.
Leontyne Price (1927-present) broke barriers by singing in a long-segregated style–opera. She became one of the most beloved voices of her generation and opened the door for even more Black opera stars.
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Today, we’re talking about a woman who broke barriers by singing in a long-segregated style – opera. She became one of the most beloved voices of her generation and opened the door for even more Black opera stars.
Let’s talk about Leontyne Price.
Leontyne was born in the small town of Laurel, Mississippi, on February 10, 1927. Her father, James, was a carpenter who played the tuba in the local Methodist church’s band. Leontyne’s mother, Kate, was a midwife who sang in the church choir. Her first musical memory, she’d later say, was hearing her mother sing in the backyard.
Leontyne showed a keen interest in music at an early age. Her mother took notice, and by the age of three, Leontyne had started piano lessons. By elementary school, Leontyne was playing at church services and events, and singing in the choir. The whole town knew her.
Whenever Kate was assisting with a birth, Leontyne and her brother would stay with their aunt. She worked as a maid for a wealthy, white family. They loved Leontyne’s voice, and invited her to sing at social events in their home. By seven years old, Leontyne was performing all over town – and even making some money!
Though Leontyne’s musical future already looked bright, she didn’t truly decide to pursue it as a career until she was nine years old. She and her mother traveled to Jackson, Mississippi to hear Marian Anderson perform. Marian is celebrated as one of the best contraltos of her time, and in 1955 she’d become the first Black soloist at the New York Metropolitan Opera.
Seeing that performance changed Leontyne’s life. She later said, “I woke up! I was excited! I was thrilled with this woman's manners, her carriage, her pride, her voice."
Leontyne attended a high school well-known for its music program. During her senior year in 1943, she performed her first solo recital. She graduated cum laude. Wilberforce College in Ohio, the best musical school for Black students in the midwest, granted her a full scholarship.
Despite her clear singing talent, Leontyne initially set her sights on a music teaching degree. “At that time, no black would aspire to be an opera singer,” she recounted later. However, it seemed anyone who heard Leontyne’s voice tried to encourage her otherwise – including her music teacher and the president of the College!
Leontyne eventually changed her major and became lead soloist of the exclusive Wilberforce Singers.
Her work paid off. Her senior year of college, Leontyne auditioned for New York’s Juilliard School of Music and earned a full scholarship.
Leontyne arrived at Juilliard in 1948. New York City was a lot different from small town Mississippi. She had her first love affair, went to movies and Broadway shows when she could, and saw her first operas. She fell in love with the dramatic, emotional performances she saw onstage and soon auditioned for Juilliard’s Opera Workshop. Her velvety, effortless voice blew the director away.
Performing at Juilliard connected Leontyne with the composer who cast her in her first professional opera, a revival of George Gershwin's folk opera Porgy and Bess. Leontyne took the part of Bess. The show traveled to Chicago, Pittsburgh, and Washington, with ecstatic reviews following it all the way.
There was such chemistry between Leontyne and Porgy’s actor, William Warfield, that the two started dating. In August of 1952, they got married – however, the stress of their musical careers caused them to mutually break up by 1959.
Though the Porgy and Bess revival was well received, the all-Black cast still experienced immense racism. They weren’t allowed at major hotels, forcing them to frequently stay in motels or private homes.
Leontyne performed as Bess for two years and gained significant attention from famous reviewers and composers in the music scene. In 1955, Leontyne sang the opera Tosca in an NBC television production for a national audience. Viewers were so excited about Leontyne’s voice that she performed in three other NBC productions.
The lead of the San Francisco Opera saw these programs and invited Leontyne to join their company. She agreed, and made her debut performance in September of 1957. It was the beginning of what would become a decade-long tenure.
During that time, Leontyne took the role that would define her career: the titular character in Aida, a tragic opera about an enslaved Ethiopian princess and an Egyptian general who fall in love. Leontyne was only the second Black woman to play Aida. Despite taking the role at extremely short notice, Leontyne earned a standing ovation for her performance.
Leontyne’s career just kept advancing from there. She played a wide variety of roles, from Cio-Cio-San in Madame Butterfly, to Doña Elvira in Ernani. She went on to perform roles throughout Europe, gaining even more glowing praise. One reviewer called her “the ideal Aida.”
La Scala, one of the world’s most famous opera houses, agreed to put in Leontyne’s contract that no role would be denied her based on her race. When she played Cio-Cio-San on the La Scala stage, an opera official said, “The public will have to get used to it.”
However, every performance of Madame Butterfly that season played to a packed house.
In 1961, Leontyne made her first appearance at the New York Metropolitan Opera – making her only the fifth Black artist to sing a leading role there. When the curtain closed, the audience leapt to their feet for a 42-minute standing ovation.
She would perform four other lead roles with the Met that season.
As the 1970’s rolled around, Leontyne wanted to slow down her career and preserve her voice as much as possible. She performed more intimate concerts, including new genres like spirituals and folk ballads. However, she could still sing opera with incredible skill. Her 1977 appearance in Ariadne auf Naxos was hailed as a masterpiece.
Leontyne said farewell to opera with her final stage performance as Aida at the Met in 1985. Later that year, she sang as Aida for the last time on television.
Over the course of her career, Leontyne won 19 Grammys, three Emmys, the Kennedy Center award, and the Presidential Medal of Freedom.
A living legend, Leontyne is currently 94 years old.