By Entertainment Correspondent, John Frazier

In this day and age, as soon as a recording artist has a hit selling CD, has become a millionaire, the music industry and the media starts to call them, "Diva". It's not something that Beyonce, Rihanna, Mariah, Ms. Janet Jackson, Toni Braxton have labeled themselves, seriously anyway.



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Now the older, tested and found true, divas like Ms. Diana Ross, the Queen of Soul, Ms. Aretha, Ms. Dionne Warwick, Ms. Tina Turner, have earned that respect. However, there's another diva that many of our younger (and maybe some of the older) readers may not know about. The diva's name is Ms. Leontyne Price.

Born Mary Violet Leontyne Price was born in Laurel , Mississippi, on February 10, 1927.  Her parents were married for 13 years before the diva was born. Being an only child had it's benefits, since she was the apple of her parent's eye. Leontyne's mother had a beautiful singing voice, but it was when Leontyne, at the age of 10, was taken on a school outing, to hear another legend, the great Marian Anderson sing, Leontyne said it was an inspirational experience. The seed was planted. 

A white woman by the name of Mrs. Chisholm, who employed Leontyne's aunt as a laundress, encouraged her to play piano but heard her sing and immediately realized that Leontyne's blessing, gift was to sing. With the help of the Chisholm's and Paul Robeson, the black actor and bass singer, a benefit concert was had, to raise funds for Leontyne. She win a scholarship to attend Juillard School in NYC.

 
 
Her first real performance was the play called, "Falstaff" in 1952. Without, perhaps, boring the reader, Ms. Price was on her way. Another famous play was the all black -George Gershwin's "Porgy and Bess". Needless to say, Ms. Price was not the norm. Here was this black and extremely proud, lady traveling around the country and around the world, for that matter, putting a different face on a musical style of Opera. 

I can only imagine the stories that she could tell of live in the 1950's, the civil rights movement etc. Ms. Price was the first Black American to perform at "the Met", she proved that she, a black woman, could and would sing and carry the lead. What's interesting is that Marion Anderson was one of the five Black America's to sing lead at the Met and Ms. Price was included in this number according to its records.

 
 
 

I can remember watching an interview with Ms. Price and I totally enjoyed it as at one moment she was pure grand diva with the hand movements and demanding the respect and then within that same interview, suddenly she was this girl from Mississippi. I also read an interview where the diva was questioned , when listening to music, who does she listen to? Without slipping a beat, she answered, "Aretha Franklin". 

Well you could have knocked me over with a feather. The interviewer continued, who else do you listen to? She answered, "I listen to myself, of course". And she ended the answer with, "I listen to myself first and then Aretha second". You know, I screamed. And at the same time, I felt a joy, as Ms. Price was in connected to her own blackness in her mostly white world.

She retired in 1985 and has given few recitals in the years that followed. In 1965 Ms. Price received "The Presidential Medal of Freedom", in 1980', she received the "Kennedy Center Honor Award", in 1985 the National Medal of Arts. Honorary. During her career she's received 19 Grammy Awards which is more than any other classical singer. She's also received includes, in 1989, a special "Lifetime Achievement Award.

 
It's been said in later years, her voice has become darker, heavier, (whatever that means) but her upper register is still remarkable. 

I would love to hear her lower register, can you imagine the soul of her beautiful, rich voice.

  
 

Ms. Price has been quoted as saying, "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." Amen to that.

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