Soprano Leontyne Price became one of the first internationally recognized African-American opera stars.
Leontyne Price was born on February 10, 1927, in Laurel, Mississippi. Renowned for her early stage and television work, Price made her opera stage debut at the San Francisco Opera in 1957, and her debut at New York City’s Metropolitan Opera House in 1961. One of the first African-American singers to earn international acclaim in the field, Price became known for her roles in Il Trovatore, Antony and Cleopatra and Aida, before retiring from the opera in 1985.Intro to Broadway and ‘Porgy and Bess’Not yet known for her operatic talents, Leontyne Price made her Broadway debut in 1952 as St. Cecilia in the revival of Virgil Thomson’s Four Saints in Three Acts.Immediately following the show’s three-week engagement, she was cast in a touring production of George Gershwin‘s Porgy and Bess. For the next two years, Price dazzled audiences with her stunning portrayal of Bess, gaining acclaim with her flawless vocal interpretations. During her tour with the show, she married co-star William Warfield, though their busy professional careers led to their divorce in the early 1970s.In 1955, Price starred in the NBC Opera Theatre’s television production of Giacomo Puccini‘s Tosca. This performance led to a string of TV operas featuring the budding starlet.In her opera stage debut at the San Francisco Opera House in 1957, Price took on the role of Madame Lidoine in Francis Poulenc’s Dialogues des carmélites. The moving performance marked the commencement of her rise to fame in the serious opera community.By 1958, Price was wowing European audiences at such famous venues as the Covent Garden in England and La Scala in Milan. She had reached stardom at home as well as on an international level.
