Leontyne Price, Opera Legend, Soprano, African American Entertainer, African American Opera Singer, African American History, Black History, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN

Leontyne Price, Legendary Diva, Is a Movie Star at 90 | The New York Times

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Leontyne Price, Legendary Diva, Is a Movie Star at 90 | The New York Times



[dropcap]She[/dropcap] may not quite be in line for a spot on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. But again and again, Ms. Price steals Susan Froemke’s new documentary, “The Opera House,” which tells the complex, tense saga of the building and inauguration, in 1966, of the Metropolitan Opera House at Lincoln Center.

The “New Met” opened with the lavish premiere of Samuel Barber’s “Antony and Cleopatra,” tailored to Ms. Price’s radiant voice and prima donna grandeur. And she dominates the documentary, both in footage from the ’60s and in interview segments filmed just before her 90th birthday, in which Ms. Price recounts the opening night with impressive detail and droll humor, along with charming (and amply justified) self-regard. [mc4wp_form id=”6042″]

“I really sang like an angel,” she recalls at one point. “You just want to kiss yourself, you sound so great.”

These delightful sequences make the movie: In an interview earlier this year about her documentary, Ms. Froemke said that when her interview with Ms. Price ended, she was so elated that she texted her colleagues: “We have a film now.”

Leontyne Price, Opera Legend, Soprano, African American Entertainer, African American Opera Singer, African American History, Black History, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN

Leontyne Price, Opera Legend, Soprano, African American Entertainer, African American Opera Singer, African American History, Black History, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMNSusanne Faulkner Stevens | Photo Credit

Leontyne Price, Opera Legend, Soprano, African American Entertainer, African American Opera Singer, African American History, Black History, KOLUMN Magazine, KOLUMN


NATIONAL MUSEUM OF AFRICAN AMERICAN HISTORY & CULTURE | WASHINGTON, DC

The National Museum of African American History and Culture is the only national museum devoted exclusively to the documentation of African American life, history, and culture. It was established by Act of Congress in 2003, following decades of efforts to promote and highlight the contributions of African Americans. To date, the Museum has collected more than 36,000 artifacts and nearly 100,000 individuals have become charter members. The Museum opened to the public on September 24, 2016, as the 19th and newest museum of the Smithsonian Institution. (Website).