Leontyne Price: Voice of a Century

“Her song was as regal as it was rich and rare.” Weatherford’s luscious prose tells the story of how Leontyne Price rose to fame in the world of opera and musical theater. Colón’s gorgeous pastel illustrations fill this book with suitably majestic images. This story is an excellent one, showing how the working class Leontyne from Laurel, Mississippi excelled and took great joy in her life. It’s not a story of suffering and struggle as too many stories about Black
and working class folks are - it’s a story of excellence. I got shivers reading this!

From its very first page, the book sings with lyricism, well matched to the subject of this picture book biography about the great singer Leontyne Price: "The line between black and white was as wide as the Mississippi River was long. All a black girl from the Cotton Belt could expect was a heap of hard work - as a maid, mill worker, or sharecropper. Her song, most surely the blues." Brilliant. Weatherford sweeps into the text with the musical metaphor and sustains it throughout the book: "Yes, the Mississippi Delta cradled misery, but from day one Mary Violet Leontyne Price heard a different refrain..."

Any teacher wanting to emphasize craft and structure need only point out the author's clever use of musical terms throughout the text. show more Raul Colon's illustrations visually echo Weatherford's verbal metaphors. He uses swirls of color that emanate from Price each time she sings. show less

This lovely book tells the life story of the black opera singer who followed in Marian Anderson's footsteps, with the support and encouragement of her loving family. Leontyne broke through barriers right on the cusp of the Civil Rights movement with grace and confidence, starring in Broadway productions and performing at the Metropolitan. It is a great but simple story of bravery and perseverance.

This was lovely and the illustrations are first rate. A great biography and a nice way to dip a toe into opera.

I love that the title is The Voice of the Century because of how Leontyne Price changed so many lives through her voice.The book introduces kids to new vocabulary such as Aria, Opera, Blues and other terms in the music field. The book takes place in 1920's and 1930's and talks about how history and segregation in this decades. On each page, I love the ilustrations of this book and howhe swirls of colors represent the music that flows from her.

Wonderful connection to Marian Anderson, a singer from the generation before, who paved the way for Leontyne to have a successful opera career. This is a wonderful book to help readers make connections between the personal stories of two successful African American singers. It is also a great tool as an entry point for the theme of legacy and how the actions of one individual may help or hurt others that follow. This is a good introduction to the this subject that could invite readers to further explore these themes in other materials. Text highlights the power that fine arts has to transform other people's opinions - for better or worse.

Biography of Leontyne Price an women who became one of the first African American opera singers. show more She was born into poverty in Mississippi in 1927. Racism was prevalent and provided significant obstacles for Leontyne to pursue an opera career, however her voice and perseverance helped her overcome those obstacles. show less

Mary Violet Leontyne Price, born in 1927, is an American soprano, winner of 18 Grammy awards (including a special Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989), and winner of the Presidential Medal of Freedom.

Perhaps most importantly, she is a trail-blazer who helped pave the way for other black women in the arts.

Her talent was evident early on, and she wanted to have a career like that of Marian Anderson. She enrolled in the music education program at the all-black Wilberforce College in Wilberforce, Ohio and made such an impression there that the famous singer, actor, and intellectual Paul Robeson put on a benefit concert for her so she could enroll at the Juilliard School in New York City. Based on her appearances at Julliard, she was invited show more to Broadway.

In 1952 she debuted as Bess in a revival of Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess", and toured with the production all over the world for the next two years. This video shows only stills from the show, but features the very first recording of her voice, on September 21, 1952, in a beautiful duet with co-star William Warfield, who later became her husband. (In his memoir, My Music and My Life, Warfield wrote that their careers drove them apart. They were legally separated in 1967, and divorced in 1973. They had no children.)

In 1961, Ms. Price debuted at the Metropolitan Opera as Leonora in Verdi's Il Trovatore. This performance resulted in a 42-minute ovation, one of the longest in the Met's history. In 1964, she was awarded the Presidential Freedom Award, and the following year, she won the Italian Award of Merit. In 2007, she was named one of the “20 All-time Best Supranos” in BBC Music magazine's poll.

During her active years before retirement, she served as a role model for an entire generation of African-American youth. But she eschewed the designation of African-American, preferring to call herself an American. She said, moreover:

"If you are going to think black, think positive about it. Don't think down on it, or think it is something in your way. And this way, when you really do want to stretch out, and express how beautiful black is, everybody will hear you.”

This book for children features the highlights of Price’s career. It is the illustrations by Raúl Colón however that add music to the pages. Once described as having a voice that soared “from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C” (Time Magazine), Colón actually shows these qualities by his uses of color and design.

An author’s note gives additional background about Price. But if you really want to know what she was all about in her prime, I recommend checking out the videos available on youtube.

Evaluation: Colón’s stunning pictures make this book into a wonderful introduction for kids of a courageous trail-blazer and very talented lady. show less