Soprano Leontyne Price receives a poetic tribute in new book

World Opera Day is Oct. 25, and it was created to remind everyone of the positive impact that opera has on the world. Many opera houses will relive the most famous works of Mozart, Puccini and Wagner, but for Black Americans there is not much representation to be celebrated. That changes somewhat this year with the release of a new book about opera legend Leontyne Price.

She was the first Black American soprano to receive international fame. She is featured poetically in Kevin Simmonds’ The Monster I Am Today: Leontyne Price and a Life in Verse. He portrays Price as the pioneering diva who broke down race barriers and positively changed the stage for Black Americans. 

Using prose and poetry, Simmonds shares his life experiences as a Black musician while also beautifully weaving the life of Price in a stunning narrative about race and opera in America. Without pulling punches, the book outlines the struggles that took place for Black musicians on the operatic stage.

While Black opera has become increasingly visible in the United States with the Metropolitan Opera recently performing its first opera by a Black American composer, Terence Blanchard, it is easy to forget that Black opera composers and singers have been working in the industry for a long time. This book reminds us that artists similar to Price worked hard, achieved fame and were still subjected to racism just for singing opera while Black. She truly had a positive impact on the world, and the opera stage is a better place because of her.

Resources

The Monster I Am Today: Leontyne Price and a Life in Verse, by Kevin Simmonds (Amazon)

The Monster I Am Today: Leontyne Price and a Life in Verse, by Kevin Simmonds (Northwestern University Press)