Christmas With Leontyne Price

Read About This Recording

In 1955, Herbert von Karajan met Leontyne Price and declared her "an artist of the future." A native of Mississippi, her career started in the early 50s with a role on Broadway and in a touring company of Porgy & Bess. By the end of that decade Leontyne Price had arrived on the world's stage as one of the great opera singers of her generation. Her debut in 1961 at the Met was one of the most anticipated events in the company's history. A resounding success, it was topped off with a 42-minute standing ovation, one of the longest ever recorded at the Met.

Price's voice is noted for its brilliant upper register, "smoky" middle and lower registers, flowing phrasing and wide dynamic range. The same year as her Met debut, at the bequest of Karajan, Price entered the recording studio and created one of the most celebrated Christmas recital albums of all time. Christmas with Leontyne Price features classic Christmas tunes as well as works by Bach, Mozart and Schubert. She is joined by the Vienna Philharmonic Choir, Children's Choir and Orchestra all under the direction of Maestro von Karajan. The arrangements are classic "old school" versions, recorded and performed as well as can be done. With Price, Karajan and the forces of Vienna, this is a truly professional top-notch gathering.

Price is given every opportunity to show off her exquisite voice, particularly with "Angels We Have Heard on High" and an a capella version of "Sweet Lil' Jesus." Schubert's "Ave Maria" is a hymn of calm and repose and ample proof of what all the fuss was about regarding Leontyne Price's amazing talents. Adam's "O Holy Night" has always been a tour de force for singers, with a requisite vocal range of an octave and a fifth, and Price is splendid, singing with ease and full round tones from the bottom to the top.

This Christmas discover an American Legend — Leontyne Price.

—J. Maxwell Fletcher

Quotes

"I have always been one of her fans because in my opinion she is the greatest female singer ever, the greatest opera singer ever." —Miles Davis

Contents

Silent Night; Hark! The Herald Angels Sing; We Three Kings of Orient Are; Angels We Have Heard on High; O Tannenbaum; God Rest Ye Merry, Gentlemen; It Came Upon a Midnight Clear; Von Himmel hoch, da komm ich her; Sweet li'l Jesus Boy; Ave Maria; O Holy Night; Ave Maria; Alleluja.

Leontyne Price, Soprano; Singverein der Gesellschaft der Musikfreunde; Wiener Großstadtkinderchor; Mitglieder der Wiener Philharmoniker; Herbert von Karajan, Conductor.