Her growing career in Europe included debuts at the Vienna State Opera, London’s Royal Opera, the Salzburg Festival, and the Verona Arena. Her vocal qualities had drawn critical admiration, and in 1953 she was invited to sing “Summertime” for a radio broadcast Met fundraising event, held at the Ritz Theater.

She had been brought to the attention of General Manager Rudolf Bing as early as 1952 when the young Juilliard graduate starred in a touring company of Gershwin’s Porgy and Bess that also played on Broadway. Price was a known entity by the time of her Met debut. And the audiences wanted to kiss her too, for hearing Leontyne Price live was an experience not to be forgotten. At the age of 90, in a charming interview for the documentary film The Opera House, she commented on her own voice, remembering when she heard the reverberations for the first time in the new Met auditorium, saying, it was “so beautiful you just wanted to kiss yourself!” This was not a prima donna’s vanity, but a mere statement of fact. And the timbre of her voice was unique, personal, and immediately identifiable-she sounded like no one else. Her vocal production seemed effortless, free, and soaring, with plentiful volume and an amazing dynamic control. What they heard was a vibrant, glowing, yet never metallic tone that called forth adjectives like velvety, soft-grained, and elegant. But more than anything, it was the sheer beauty of her voice that excited her listeners. She was by then an internationally heralded singer and an experienced, refined musician and artist. Metropolitan Opera audiences began an extraordinary love affair with American soprano Leontyne Price immediately upon her debut on January 27, 1961.

Aida by Leontyne Price