Margaret Price: Difference between revisions
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{{Infobox musical artist |
{{Infobox musical artist |
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| Name = Dame Margaret Price |
| Name = Dame Margaret Price |
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==Early years== |
==Early years== |
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Price was born in [[Blackwood, Wales]]. Born with deformed legs, she was operated on age four, and suffered with pain in her legs throughout the rest of her life. Her younger brother, born with a mental handicap, was often looked after by Margaret.<ref name=TelgObit/> |
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Price was born in [[Blackwood, Wales]]. At the age of 15, her school music teacher organised an audition with [[Charles Kennedy Scott]] who convinced her to study with him at [[Trinity College of Music]] in London and obtained a scholarship for her. Over the next few years, Price was trained as a [[mezzo soprano]].<ref name=BBCObit/> After graduation, she joined the [[Ambrosian Singers]], but was reluctant to enter singing competitions. Price's father was largely responsible for her discovery as he made representations on her behalf to various opera companies. {{Citation needed|date=September 2009}} |
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Her father, a talented amateur [[pianist]], was opposed to a musical career, and hence she never attended a young [[Eistedffod]], and was aiming for a career as a biology teacher. Educated at [[Pontllanfraith Secondary School]], near [[Caerphilly]], aged 15, her school music teacher organised an audition with [[Charles Kennedy Scott]], who convinced her to study with him at [[Trinity College of Music]] in London and obtained a scholarship for her. Over the next few years, Price was trained as a [[mezzo soprano]].<ref name=TelgObit/><ref name=BBCObit/> |
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==Career== |
==Career== |
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After graduation, she joined the [[Ambrosian Singers]], performing with them on the soundtrack of the 1961 [[Charlton Heston]] film ''[[El Cid]].''<ref name=TelgObit/> |
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Price made her operatic debut in 1962, singing Cherubino in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' at the [[Welsh National Opera]]. That same year, Price joined the [[Royal Opera House]] in [[London]]'s [[Covent Garden]], where she sang minor roles as a [[mezzo]]. Her breakthrough came when [[Teresa Berganza]] cancelled a performance, and Price got the chance to take over as her [[understudy]] - again in the role of Cherubino, a performance that made her famous overnight.<ref name=BBCObit/> |
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Unrecognised through the normal channel of competitions, instead her now converted father became her champion, writing to opera houses to arrange auditions. Resultantly, Price made her operatic debut in 1962, singing Cherubino in [[Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart|Mozart]]'s ''[[The Marriage of Figaro]]'' at the [[Welsh National Opera]].<ref name=TelgObit/> |
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After her father wrote to the [[Royal Opera House]] in [[Covent Garden]], in 1962 she auditioned and was turned down twice by musical director [[Georg Solti]] who said that she “lacked charm.”<ref name=TelgObit/> However, she was accepted as an understudy thanks to casting director Joan Ingpen, and the forming of a close personal and professional relationship with composer [[James Lockhart]].<ref name=TelgObit/> Solti added a rider to her contract, stating that she should never expect to sing lead in the main house, so resultantly she sang minor roles as a [[mezzo]].<ref name=TelgObit/> But on [[Whit Monday]] 1963, her breakthrough came when [[Teresa Berganza]] cancelled a performance, and Price got the chance to take over as her nominated [[understudy]] - again in the role of Cherubino, a performance that made her famous overnight.<ref name=BBCObit/> |
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In the years that followed, Price appeared as a guest at important opera houses. Her [[Metropolitan Opera]] debut came in 1985 as Desdemona in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Otello]]''. As Price did not enjoy travelling, she always kept a "home" stage, where she stayed and performed for the majority of each year - first Covent Garden, then [[Cologne]], and since 1971 the [[Bavarian State Opera]] in [[Munich]], where she lived until retirement in 1999.<ref name=BBCObit/> |
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After this, Lockhart convinced Price to take further singing lessons to improve her technique and develop the luminous high scale that made her one of the most popular lyric [[soprano]]s of the 1970s and 1980s. |
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In 1967, she performed with [[Benjamin Britten]]’s [[English Opera Group]] in ''The Impresario,'' and as Titania in ''[[A Midsummer Night’s Dream]].'' In 1968 critic Desmond Shaw-Taylor called her singing “brilliant, flexible and large scale” as Constanze in ''[[Die Entführung]]'' at [[Glyndebourne]].<ref name=TelgObit/> |
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| ⚫ | As Price did not enjoy travelling, she always kept a "home" stage, where she stayed and performed for the majority of each year. Initialy this was Covent Garden, but from 1971 she made [[Germany]] her base, initially at [[Cologne Opera]] where she made her debut in ''[[Don Giovanni]],'' and latterly the [[Bavarian State Opera]] in [[Munich]], where she lived until retirement in 1999.<ref name=BBCObit/> Price hence formed a professional relationship with [[Otto Klemperer]], who conducted her first recording of a major role in a complete opera - Fiordiligi in Mozart's ''[[Così fan tutte]]''. The 1972 recording established Price as a Mozart specialist.<ref>[http://www.classicaltv.com/v943/dame-margaret-price-in-conversation Classical TV: Dame Margaret Price in conversation]</ref> |
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In the years that followed, Price appeared as a guest at important opera houses. Her [[Metropolitan Opera]] debut came in 1985 as Desdemona in [[Giuseppe Verdi|Verdi]]'s ''[[Otello]]''. |
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==Repertoire== |
==Repertoire== |
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Price was also very active as a [[lieder]] singer, equally at home in the romantic idiom of [[Franz Schubert]], [[Robert Schumann]] or Richard Strauss, and that of the [[Second Viennese School]]. |
Price was also very active as a [[lieder]] singer, equally at home in the romantic idiom of [[Franz Schubert]], [[Robert Schumann]] or Richard Strauss, and that of the [[Second Viennese School]]. |
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During her career, Price made many recordings of operas and of lieder. One of her most famous recordings is the Isolde in [[Carlos Kleiber]]'s complete recording of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'', a role she never sang on stage. She was a Kammersängerin of the [[Bavarian State Opera]] and the [[Vienna State Opera]]. |
During her career, Price made many recordings of operas and of lieder. One of her most famous recordings is the Isolde in [[Carlos Kleiber]]'s complete recording of [[Richard Wagner]]'s ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'', a role she never sang on stage. She was a Kammersängerin of the [[Bavarian State Opera]] and the [[Vienna State Opera]]. |
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==Later years== |
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Price retired to a 160-year-old farmhouse on [[Ceibwr Bay]], near [[Cardigan, Ceredigion]], overlooking the [[Irish Sea]]. From here she successfully bred and showed [[Golden Retriever]]s, having the front passenger seat of her [[Chrysler]] removed to create what she termed a “dogmobile.”<ref name=TelgObit/> She came out of retirement once to perform at a [[Poppy day]] concert at her local church, something she later commented on: “It was the most nerve-racking occasion of my life. Never again will I sing in public.”<ref name=TelgObit/> |
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Price was made [[Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire]] (DBE) for her services to music in 1993.<ref>[http://www.london-gazette.co.uk/issues/53153/supplements/7 ''London Gazette'' notice of damehood]</ref> |
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| ⚫ | Price died on 28 January 2011 from heart failure at her home, aged 69.<ref name=BBCObit>{{cite web|url=http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-wales-12315183|title=Welsh soprano Dame Margaret Price dies, aged 69|publisher=BBC Wales|date=29 January 2011|accessdate=2011-01-31}}</ref><ref name=TelgObit>{{cite web|url=http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/obituaries/culture-obituaries/music-obituaries/8291584/Dame-Margaret-Price.html|title=Dame Margaret Price|publisher=Daily Telegraph|date=29 January 2011|accessdate=2011-01-31}}</ref> |
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==Death== |
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==Honours== |
==Honours== |
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Revision as of 03:00, 31 January 2011
Margaret Price | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Margaret Berenice Price |
| Born | 13 April 1941 Blackwood, Wales |
| Died | 28 January 2011 (aged 69) Cardigan, Ceredigion, Wales |
Dame Margaret Berenice Price, DBE (13 April 1941–28 January 2011)[1] was a Welsh soprano.
Early years
Price was born in Blackwood, Wales. Born with deformed legs, she was operated on age four, and suffered with pain in her legs throughout the rest of her life. Her younger brother, born with a mental handicap, was often looked after by Margaret.[2]
Her father, a talented amateur pianist, was opposed to a musical career, and hence she never attended a young Eistedffod, and was aiming for a career as a biology teacher. Educated at Pontllanfraith Secondary School, near Caerphilly, aged 15, her school music teacher organised an audition with Charles Kennedy Scott, who convinced her to study with him at Trinity College of Music in London and obtained a scholarship for her. Over the next few years, Price was trained as a mezzo soprano.[2][3]
Career
After graduation, she joined the Ambrosian Singers, performing with them on the soundtrack of the 1961 Charlton Heston film El Cid.[2]
Unrecognised through the normal channel of competitions, instead her now converted father became her champion, writing to opera houses to arrange auditions. Resultantly, Price made her operatic debut in 1962, singing Cherubino in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro at the Welsh National Opera.[2]
After her father wrote to the Royal Opera House in Covent Garden, in 1962 she auditioned and was turned down twice by musical director Georg Solti who said that she “lacked charm.”[2] However, she was accepted as an understudy thanks to casting director Joan Ingpen, and the forming of a close personal and professional relationship with composer James Lockhart.[2] Solti added a rider to her contract, stating that she should never expect to sing lead in the main house, so resultantly she sang minor roles as a mezzo.[2] But on Whit Monday 1963, her breakthrough came when Teresa Berganza cancelled a performance, and Price got the chance to take over as her nominated understudy - again in the role of Cherubino, a performance that made her famous overnight.[3]
After this, Lockhart convinced Price to take further singing lessons to improve her technique and develop the luminous high scale that made her one of the most popular lyric sopranos of the 1970s and 1980s.
In 1967, she performed with Benjamin Britten’s English Opera Group in The Impresario, and as Titania in A Midsummer Night’s Dream. In 1968 critic Desmond Shaw-Taylor called her singing “brilliant, flexible and large scale” as Constanze in Die Entführung at Glyndebourne.[2]
As Price did not enjoy travelling, she always kept a "home" stage, where she stayed and performed for the majority of each year. Initialy this was Covent Garden, but from 1971 she made Germany her base, initially at Cologne Opera where she made her debut in Don Giovanni, and latterly the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, where she lived until retirement in 1999.[3] Price hence formed a professional relationship with Otto Klemperer, who conducted her first recording of a major role in a complete opera - Fiordiligi in Mozart's Così fan tutte. The 1972 recording established Price as a Mozart specialist.[4]
In the years that followed, Price appeared as a guest at important opera houses. Her Metropolitan Opera debut came in 1985 as Desdemona in Verdi's Otello.
Repertoire
Price was most famous for her Mozart portraits, especially Fiordiligi, Donna Anna in Don Giovanni, Contessa in The Marriage of Figaro (after having sung Cherubino and Barbarina at the beginning of her career), and Pamina in The Magic Flute. Additionally, she sang Verdi roles, such as Amelia (Un ballo in maschera, a role she also performed on record with Luciano Pavarotti), Elisabetta (Don Carlos) and Desdemona (Otello), her debut role at the Met, Richard Strauss's Ariadne (Ariadne auf Naxos) and Adriana Lecouvreur by Cilea.
Price was also very active as a lieder singer, equally at home in the romantic idiom of Franz Schubert, Robert Schumann or Richard Strauss, and that of the Second Viennese School.
During her career, Price made many recordings of operas and of lieder. One of her most famous recordings is the Isolde in Carlos Kleiber's complete recording of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, a role she never sang on stage. She was a Kammersängerin of the Bavarian State Opera and the Vienna State Opera.
Later years
Price retired to a 160-year-old farmhouse on Ceibwr Bay, near Cardigan, Ceredigion, overlooking the Irish Sea. From here she successfully bred and showed Golden Retrievers, having the front passenger seat of her Chrysler removed to create what she termed a “dogmobile.”[2] She came out of retirement once to perform at a Poppy day concert at her local church, something she later commented on: “It was the most nerve-racking occasion of my life. Never again will I sing in public.”[2]
Price was made Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) for her services to music in 1993.[5]
Price died on 28 January 2011 from heart failure at her home, aged 69.[3][2]
Honours
- Bayerische Kammersängerin[3]
- Commander of the Order of the British Empire (CBE), 1982
- Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE), 1993
References
- ^ Midgette, Anne (28 January 2011). "Margaret Price RIP". The Washington Post. Retrieved 29 January 2011.
- ^ a b c d e f g h i j k "Dame Margaret Price". Daily Telegraph. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ a b c d e "Welsh soprano Dame Margaret Price dies, aged 69". BBC Wales. 29 January 2011. Retrieved 2011-01-31.
- ^ Classical TV: Dame Margaret Price in conversation
- ^ London Gazette notice of damehood
External links
