Leontyne's Latest

Donna Anna in Mozart's Don Giovanni is a bit of a bore, and audiences can understand why the Don is trying to get away from her. She sings matchlessly beautiful music, but the range of her emotions is narrow: fury at her seducer, with some tenderness for her fiance. Singing the part for the first time at the Metropolitan Opera last week. Soprano Leontyne Price brought to Anna a vitality that she rarely had before, gave as fine a reading of the role as present-day operagoers are likely to hear and see. As in her previous appearances in this triumphant debut season--Leonora in Il Trovatore, Aida, Cio-Cio-San in Butterfly--Soprano Price was setting new standards by which to judge some of opera's classic roles.

Last week's production--four seasons old but still one of the handsomest spectacles the Met has to offer--was bolstered by a generally strong cast. But Soprano Price was the undisputed star. Throughout the long evening she demonstrated again her remarkable ability to compel an audience to belief through sheer beauty of tone; from the rage of Act I's Or sal chi I'onore to the tenderness of the second act's Non mi dir, she moved securely and with absolute conviction. Her two great arias stopped the opera cold in two of the most spontaneous ovations of the season.

Later in the week, completing the cycle of new roles for the season. Soprano Price gave a touching performance of the less demanding part of Liu in Turandot. If anybody was unhappy about her success, it was the Manhattan ticket brokers: obtaining Price tickets these days, they report, is about like wangling a reserved seat beside the first astronaut.

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