Madre pietosa Vergine

Mary Violet Leontyne Price (born February 10, 1927) is an American soprano. Born and raised in Laurel, Mississippi, she rose to international acclaim in the 1950s and 1960s, and was one of the first African Americans to become a leading artist at the Metropolitan Opera. One critic characterized Price's voice as "vibrant", "soaring" and "a Price beyond pearls", as well as "genuinely buttery, carefully produced but firmly under control", with phrases that "took on a seductive sinuousness."[5] Time magazine called her voice "Rich, supple and shining, it was in its prime capable of effortlessly soaring from a smoky mezzo to the pure soprano gold of a perfectly spun high C." A lirico spinto (Italian for "pushed lyric") soprano, she was considered especially well suited to the roles of Giuseppe Verdi and Giacomo Puccini, as well as several in operas by Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart. After her retirement from the opera stage in 1985, she continued to appear in recitals and orchestral concerts for another 12 years. Among her many honors are the Presidential Medal of Freedom (1964), the Spingarn Medal (1965), the Kennedy Center Honors (1980), the National Medal of Arts (1985), numerous honorary degrees, and nineteen Grammy Awards, 13 for operatic or song recitals, five for full operas, and a special Lifetime Achievement Award in 1989, more than any other classical singer. In October 2008, she was one of the recipients of the first Opera Honors given by the National Endowment for the Arts.


Lyrics & English Translation


LEONORA
I'm here at last! Thanks be to Thee, O God!
This is my last refuge! I am here!
I am trembling! My dreadful story is known
at the inn - my own brother was telling it!
If he had discovered me! Heavens! He said
that Don Alvaro was sailing to the West!
He did not fall dead that night
when I, soaked in my father's blood,
followed him, but lost him! And now he leaves me,
he flees from me! Ah, I cannot bear such anguish!
She falls to her knees.
Mother, merciful Virgin,
forgive my sin.
Help me to erase that ingrate
from my heart.
In this seclusion
I will expiate my guilt.
Have mercy on me, Lord;
do not forsake me.

[The organ accompanying the monks' morning prayers is heard.]

CHORUS OF MONKS
[within]
Venite, adoremus et procedamus ante Deum.
Ploremus coram Domino, qui fecit nos.

LEONORA
[rising]
Ah, those sublime hymns
and organ harmonies
rising like incense
to God in Heaven
inspire my soul
with faith, comfort and peace!
Let me hasten to the holy refuge.
She moves forward.
Dare I at this hour?
[halting]
Someone might surprise me.
Oh wretched Leonora,
do you tremble? The pious monk
will not refuse to shelter you.
Do not forsake me, help me,
have mercy, Lord!
Do not abandon me, O Lord;
have mercy on me!

CHORUS OF MONKS
Ploremus coram Domino, qui fecit nos.




A link to this wonderful artist's personal website:


Please Enjoy!

I send my kind and warm regards,