Monday, August 28, 2006
So I’ve been trying to start on opera club of sorts here in New York. I’m posting on Craig’s list and found some takers. So far the group is about four strong and I’m planning on getting everyone together in September to meet each other.
I had my meeting with a new member. We talked and talked about a number of things, but mostly opera, and had a great time. He has seen pretty much all of the greats sing here at the Met: Sutherland, Pavarotti, Price, you name it. And one of the great things about meeting older opera buffs is the stories they have to tell.
One was about the opera in the parks where Caballe hits an unwritten F-natural at the end of the triumphal march scene that nearly stopped traffic on Central Park West. Another, and perhaps most interesting, was Price at the Met as Aida.
Marianne Anderson, it is said, opened the door for black singers on the opera staged: the Daughters of the Revolution in D.C. refused to allow her to sing on their stage. In protest it was arranged for her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial and broadcast to the nation, where she sang the legendary “My Country tis of Thee” in 1939, 24 years before the famed “I have a dream” King speech.
In 1963 King “had a dream” and in 1964 Leontine Price blew the door off the hinges Anderson opened for her and debuted at the Met: She was the first black to appear on an opera stage in the US. Being afraid to take a curtain call alone, she took them with others, fearing what would happen. Finally her colleague -- more confident of Price’s greatness than Price – pushed her back on stage alone. The house came down – a loving public gave her a 45 minute ovation.
So this is the operatic folklore, however embellished it may be.
Regardless, Price rose to become the Verdian soprano of her era and went on to great international fame. In 1966, Lincoln Center was completed and opened with Antony and Cleopatra, an opera written especially for her. Price would be at the top of her glory for nearly twenty more years.
From Mississippi, she could not afford lessons. The locals there scraped up the money to send her to Julliard. Her hometown got radio access to the Met broadcasts to hear her sing Cleopatra – it was reported that 70% of this Mississippi town listened to an opera for the first time.
I had my meeting with a new member. We talked and talked about a number of things, but mostly opera, and had a great time. He has seen pretty much all of the greats sing here at the Met: Sutherland, Pavarotti, Price, you name it. And one of the great things about meeting older opera buffs is the stories they have to tell.
One was about the opera in the parks where Caballe hits an unwritten F-natural at the end of the triumphal march scene that nearly stopped traffic on Central Park West. Another, and perhaps most interesting, was Price at the Met as Aida.
Marianne Anderson, it is said, opened the door for black singers on the opera staged: the Daughters of the Revolution in D.C. refused to allow her to sing on their stage. In protest it was arranged for her to sing at the Lincoln Memorial and broadcast to the nation, where she sang the legendary “My Country tis of Thee” in 1939, 24 years before the famed “I have a dream” King speech.
In 1963 King “had a dream” and in 1964 Leontine Price blew the door off the hinges Anderson opened for her and debuted at the Met: She was the first black to appear on an opera stage in the US. Being afraid to take a curtain call alone, she took them with others, fearing what would happen. Finally her colleague -- more confident of Price’s greatness than Price – pushed her back on stage alone. The house came down – a loving public gave her a 45 minute ovation.
So this is the operatic folklore, however embellished it may be.
Regardless, Price rose to become the Verdian soprano of her era and went on to great international fame. In 1966, Lincoln Center was completed and opened with Antony and Cleopatra, an opera written especially for her. Price would be at the top of her glory for nearly twenty more years.
From Mississippi, she could not afford lessons. The locals there scraped up the money to send her to Julliard. Her hometown got radio access to the Met broadcasts to hear her sing Cleopatra – it was reported that 70% of this Mississippi town listened to an opera for the first time.
# posted by otas : 8:06 PM
