Título: Leontyne Price
Seção: Antony and Cleopatra
Background: Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano. Born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was the first African American to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera. One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant", "soaring" and "a Price beyond pearls", as well as "genuinely buttery, carefully produced but firmly under control", with phrases that "took on a seductive sinuousness." Time magazine called her voice "Rich, supple and shining, it was in its prime capable of effortlessly soaring from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C." A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, she was considered especially well suited to the roles of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, as well as several in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart.

Conteúdo: Price's career climaxed on September 16, 1966, when she sang Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra by American composer Samuel Barber and conducted by Thomas Schippers, commissioned to open the Met's new house at Lincoln Center. The role of Cleopatra was written especially for Price. Since their early collaborations, Price and Barber had remained close friends and colleagues, and the composer tailored Cleopatra's music to Price's warm middle register and soaring top.  In the performances, although Price's singing was praised, especially in a powerful death scene, the opera as a whole was widely considered a failure. Director Franco Zeffirelli was blamed for burying the music under heavy costumes and huge scenery. Bing admitted he had underestimated the challenge of mounting nine new productions that season (three in the first week), and relying heavily on untested high-tech equipment. (In rehearsals, an expensive turntable broke down and, in the dress rehearsal, another mechanical failure left Price trapped briefly inside a giant pyramid.) The pressures and many of the glitches were chronicled by cameras for a Bell Telephone Hour special documentary, directed by Robert Drew.  Still others complained that Barber's score was difficult to grasp because of the dense Shakespearean verse, and lacked satisfying set pieces (apart from the death scene). The opera was never revived at the Met. However, with the help of Gian Carlo Menotti, Barber later reworked the score for successful prod

user: What is the significance of Antony and Cleopatra?

assistant: Price's career climaxed on September 16, 1966, when she sang Cleopatra in Antony and Cleopatra by American composer Samuel Barber and conducted by Thomas Schippers,

user: Did she work with other well known composers?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER

user: Are there any other interesting aspects about this article?

assistant: Price and Barber had remained close friends and colleagues, and the composer tailored Cleopatra's music to Price's warm middle register and soaring top.

user: HOw was the performance received?

assistant: In the performances, although Price's singing was praised, especially in a powerful death scene, the opera as a whole was widely considered a failure.

user: Why was it a failure?

assistant: Director Franco Zeffirelli was blamed for burying the music under heavy costumes and huge scenery.

user: Are there any other performances noted in the article?

assistant: CANNOTANSWER