your comments
Jake from Berlin, Germany
I have been listening to opera now for about three years. I adore a lot of sopranos, but something was always missing in their voices. I found what was missing in Dame Margaret Price's voice! Her timbre is so fascinatingly beautiful and warm that tears come to my eyes when I hear her voice. I'm only 15 years old, so, of course, I never had the chance to listen to her live. I have her Tristan und Isolde recording and I often listen to her on the internet (YouTube, etc.) Her voice is just unforgettable and nobody will ever manage to touch the beauty in her voice.
Stefan Gärtner, Cologne, Germany
I have seen Margaret Price starting here in Cologne 1976 with the Ponelle Mozart-Cyclus and what a voice. It is like balm for the soul. Furthermore she sung Elisabetha in Don Carlos and several times Liederabend in the Opera and Philharmony. Several times I was able to talk to her behind the curtain. I am sorry that she suddenly left without any farewell concerts. She is very popular here.
Dom Lee in Sydney, Australia
To Peter Light, London. Thank you for that piece of news. I did hear that she sung it in Munich as well when she was there for quite a while. It would be great if there was a bootleg copy lying around. Sadly I have never seen her live but she is a magnificent Mozartian and Straussian soprano. I am not sure why she thinks she couldn't cope with singing Isolde on stage when she has such a rich and powerful voice. Equally fortunate that her compatriot Dame Kiri had a similar repertoire for they are both great exponents of beautiful singing with wonderful techniques despite quibbles about dramatic convictions. Brava Dame Margaret And Dame Kiri. I believe Dame Margaret is to be honoured in Koln in 2010 while Dame Kiri is singing her last Der Rosenkavalier there!!!!
Peter Light, London
For Dom Lee Syd. I believe I remeber reading reviews of Dame Margaret's Marshallin. It was either in Munich or Vienna (Swallich conducting). The reviews were superb (natch) however in an accompanying interview, DM claimed not to enjoy the role finding it rather silly and would not be adding it to her permanent repertoire. Personally I heard her many times in opera and recital. The voice was the richest, purest and most beautiful I have ever encountered. She is also one of the most musically (and otherwise) intelligent, (pace Dame Elizabeth). What also astonished me was the power. Quite one of the most powerful I have ever heard. And I have heard Dame Gwyneth, Ghena Dimitrova and the great Jessye Norman.
James Matheson, London
Dame Margaret is much missed from the concert platform, but I too hope she is enjoying her retirement. I play Cds of her very frequently and wish some 'pirate' recordings would appear. In relation to other comments, I did hear her speak at the Wigmore Hall a couple of years ago, and she said, in relation to Der Rosenkavalier, that Carlos Kleiber tried to persuade her to sing the Marschallin. Her studying of it left her to say' but there's nothing to sing!' - and she never did! But does anyone know of a pirate of the Four Last Songs? The three times I booked tickets to hear her work, she unfortunately had to cancel.
Angela Boyd from Westford, Somerset
I was involved with the administration of Dame Margaret's early LP recordings for RCA in London and remember her pure and beautiful voice singing Mozart arias for an album conducted by James Lockhart. I also heard her in Don Giovanni at ROH, Covent Garden. Her career and repertoire really took off after those days and I wish her a happy and busy retirement in her native Wales.
Robert Petersen from Durban, South Africa
I have followed Margaret Price's recordings for many years and my absolute favourites are her Countess (Le nozze di Figaro), Fiordiligi (Cosi fan tutte), Isolde, Amelia (Un Ballo) and Desdemona (Otello). She also made a great stab at Aida (DVD recording from San Francisco in 1981), but her Ariadne was recorded a bit too late in her career. She is such a stylish singer and I weep whenever I listen to her.
Richard Kaminski, Kent
I agree with Paul Parsons about Margaret Price's Isolde. She was so at home with the German language, in Schubert, Mozart and so on. And especially the Four Last Songs. Strauss would have been the proudest of these. Her two recordings are deleted now, and of the many versions by others that I have, and have heard, hers is unequalled for poise, control, phrasing and above all, discipline. True masterworks. Can anyone recall her smoking a cigarette during a TV interview? Yes, she even had a sense of humour!
Per Haaber Gylling - Copenhagen
I bought Mozart's Requiem second hand at a visit in London around 1990. The CD has Peter Schreier as conductor and then take notice; Margaret Price, Trudeliese Schmidt, Theo Adam and Franzisko Araiza together with the chorus and orchestra. The funny thing was that somebody had enclosed a review from a magazine where it was set to be the best Requiem ever performed. I agree fully as I have heard several during the years. Margaret Price's singing is like pearls.
Steve Jennings from St Helens, UK
The purest voice I have ever heard. To my dismay I gave away her recording of Un Ballo in Maschera to a dear friend of mine because he loved it so much and unfortunately didn't replace it. And even though I bought versions with Caballe, Leontyne Price, Callas and others, none of them come close. Now deleted, I fear I won't ever get it again. I hoped Decca would re-release it but instead they opted for Sir Georg Solti's first version with Birgit Nilsson in the role of Amelia. A great singer certainly but Ms Price had the vocal warmth Nilsson never had. And I prefer Dame Margaret's Isolde to any other singer. I don't think Desdemona in Verdi's Othello has ever been better sung. Margaret Price has to be the most flawless soprano I have ever heard.
Dom Lee in Sydney, Australia
Does anyone know whether she ever sung the role of the Marshallin in Der Rosenkavalier??
Chris Benedetto, Portsmouth, NH, USA
I have a Philips recording of Die Zauberflote with Margaret as Pamina, and she is absolutely brilliant. The richness and power of her voice is really amazing. I only wish Mozart himself could have heard Margaret sing...I'm sure he would have a new aria just for her!
Andrew Lockhart
My life (ok, musically) would not be the same without Margaret. Wonderful, natural, authentic, emotional, perfectly balanced. The encores - Welsh songs from home - I will never forget. Never.
Donald Mackinnon, Yardley Gobion
Of the dozen greatest musical performances I have heard in my life, probably half a dozen would involve Margaret Price. One of these was of Bach's St Matthew Passion at the Edinburgh Festival in the early 1980s.
The cast was the stuff of dreams: as well as Dame Margaret, we had Jessye Norman, Peter Schreier, Hermann Prey and Gwynne Howell. The conductor was Claudio Abbado. It was broadcast by BBC Radio 3, and a recording surely exists somewhere. (Can I beg whoever at the BBC needs to be begged to issue it on CD?) The performance of Verdi's Requiem from Edinburgh the following year (with Margaret Price, Jessye Norman and Claudio Abbado again) was equally splendid. How many other singers could sing both Bach and Verdi to perfection?) It has been available on video then DVD for many years, and I live in hope that the Matthew Passion will follow some day.
Oliver Master from Graz, Austria
She is the best female singer of the world for me. Nobody had more power than she to build phrases beeing free from technical difficulties. Many CD recordings of her are pure beauty.
Lukasz Kaczmarek from Warsaw
Excellent voice! It is not only very beautiful and perfect but also really sexy!
Pedro Balliache, England
Dame Margaret Price has an amazing voice!
Geoffrey Capner, Paris
Paris music-lovers feel privileged to have had her among them for many years. She even lived in Montmartre for nine years. During the great Liebermann epoch at the Opéra she was one of his favourite sopranos. After a triumphal Countess in Nozze di Figaro, he gave her the opportunity of singing Desdemona in Otello, 1976-1978. An unforgettable experience. (There is a disc with Solti - Decca).
Mary Payne from Sullivan, Missouri, USA
I sang 'O Thou That Tellest Good Tidings to Zion' for the messiah ... and my long-time professor Jim Shollenberger compared me to a young Margaret Price. I was so elated that i thought i would post it on here :). It's an honor to be compared to such a wonderous voice in the opera scene :)
Susan Hudson, Hinton, Alberta Canada
I remember Margaret Price from my time at Grammar School in Pontllanfraith. She sang in the school Eisteddfod and it was the first time I had heard a contralto. She sang Euridice (?) and I was totally overwhelmed by the beauty and power of her voice. She was a few years ahead of me in school and I have never forgotten her. I was delighted to see her on television several years ago in a performance in the United States and could appreciate even more the amazing strength and beauty of her voice. I feel privileged to have been able to hear her before her fame - and totally awed by the artist she became. All the best in your retirement Margaret - I will have to settle for your CDs now!!
James Hill Kettering Northants.
I have listened to many performances and recordings of Mahler's 4th Symphony but the only one I can listen to and enjoy the whole performance of is that hy Margaret Price and Horenstein/LPO. I was pleased to get it on CD to replace my (worn out) LP.
Fernando Balliache, Venezuela
I still treasure my two old Margaret Price LPs from the seventies (with James Lockhart, not a particularly distinguished conductor. She sings Mozart gloriously!! Sorry I never had the chance to hear her live. I agree with Mr Parsons regarding her Isolde - not even Flagstad matches that recorded performance!!
John Powell in Hong Kong
One of the greatest voices of the century by any standards. I remember, as a student, hearing the young Margaret Price in Schubert recitals, and of course in Mozart at the Opera House. But what a wonderful Norma, Adrianna Lecouvreur, Desdemona and Aida. Thank goodness, also, for a recording career which gave us her Isolde, but I would nominate her "The Sun goeth down" from Elgar's The Kingdom as one of the most sublime performances ever captured for posterity.
How lucky we are to have lived when she was singing at her best. An outstanding musician and singer. I wish her much happiness in her retirement.
Kim Page - Surrey
If any one asks my thoughts about Margaret Price and what I think of her singing. Voice first and then musicianship, unlike today so often it is musicianship then voice. One of the last few all great voices. What makes a great singer - voice first and foremost and the sound and quolity of her voice reminded us of class - how she will be missed.
John Quigley, Bucks Co. PA, USA
I have been involved with & have loved opera for the past 27 yrs. & never has the
human voice moved me more than that of M.
Price. Marilyn Horne equals her depth and
passion in much of her work, especially in
lieder recitals. Years ago I had a double
album set of MP singing Mozart arias,which
blew me away. Now I have that in CD, along
w/various others. I am happy to say that I
have never heard MP's Isolde,happy because
I have such a wonderful thing to look for-
ward to. MP please come to America ! -JQ.
Wolfram Mergard Munich
To E Fieseler from the US:
The said CD is called "Viva Verdi - Lieder"
DG (Deutsche Grammophon) No.: DG 419621-2
Her accompanist is Geoffrey Parsons.
Regards W Mergard
E Fieseler from the US
I am searching for the the Verdi CD that Wolfram Mergard from Munich mentions in his message below! Could you please tell me the name and an identifying number? Thanks!
James Mcdonald in Ilford, Essex
I knew Margaret very well many years ago when she lived in Marylebone High Street W1 and kept in contact when she moved to Munich - always receiving a card at Christmas for many years. Then I changed my address and lost touch with her.
Wolfram Mergard from Munich, Germany
I am just listening to the CD with songs by G. Verdi (a Deutsche Grammophone recording - accompanied by Geoffrey Parsons on piano). What a wonderful voice Dame Margaret Price has!! Living in Munich I had the opportunity to see her on stage at the Bayerische Staatsoper many times and hear her in different roles. It has always been a great delight. Lucky you over there in Wales to have the opportunity to hear Dame Margaret in recitals or so... and as to Mr. Paul Parsons' comment on this page about her singing the 'Liebestod' - I will go and listen to this recording as soon as I posssibly can.
Paul Parsons in Padstow, Cornwall
Margaret sang the part of Isolde in a Deutsche Grammophon recording conducted by the fastidious genius Carlos Kleiber. This is one of the few masterpieces of opera that we can all share on CD and so evocative for a Cornishman that I dare not listen to it without a box of Kleenex close to hand. I have not yet heard or seen anything to match the power and passion of this recording.Margaret IS Isolde: I have been to Bayreuth and I am sorry but as far as I am concerned she has never been bested in this role even by a natural German speaker. But then for goodness sake if you wanted to find someone to sing the part of a Celtic princess, where else would you go but Wales?
I hope that Margaret is enjoying her retirement but not too much that she wouldn't consider at least a few recitals now and again? What I'd give to hear her sing the Liebestod....
Opera star with a luminous voice
