Today (February 10) is the birthday of Leontyne Price. There will never be a voice like this again. It soared, it glittered and it dug itself into your heart. Here she is in her final opera performance of Giuseppe Verdi's Aida - one of the roles she owned - at the Metropolitan Opera, January 3, 1985. This clip of her singing "O patria mia" ends with three minutes of applause. I was there that night, way WAAAAAAY up in standing room (a $2 ticket!) and the applause went on a lot longer than that. It was a great night. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xGfP38nd-U0 Happy birthday! And thank you.
Christopher Purdy is Classical 101's early morning host, 7-10 a.m. weekdays. He is host and producer of Front Row Center – Classical 101’s weekly celebration of Opera and more – as well as Music in Mid-Ohio, Concerts at Ohio State, and the Columbus Symphony broadcast series. He is the regular pre-concert speaker for Columbus Symphony performances in the Ohio Theater.