Leontyne Price Rediscovered: 1965 Carnegie Hall Recital Debut. Works by Handel, Brahms, Giordano, Poulenc, Barber, Hoiby, Puccini, Gershwin, Cilea; and spirituals. Leontyne Price, soprano; David Garvey, piano. (RCA 63908)

LEONTYNE PRICE, one of America's greatest and most beloved singers, made her Carnegie Hall recital debut 38 years ago this month (February 28, 1965) at the age of 38. Already a mature artist, she had debuted at the Met Opera four years earlier, in 1961. Although the Carnegie concert was recorded, it was never issued, languishing forgotten in the vaults until its current release in RCA's "Rediscovered" series.

Price attended Juilliard for four years (1948-52) as a scholarship student of Florence Page Kimball. She has frequently returned to the School to give master classes (most recently in October 1999), was commencement speaker in 1973 and 1989, and was awarded the honorary degree of Doctor of Music in 1987.

Price's Carnegie debut finds the soprano in prime form. Her voice is light, with a rapid vibrato and a free and easy top, as well as a plangent lower register. Particularly notable are her magisterial Handel arias, the playful Brahms Zigeunerlieder, a gripping and passionate "La mamma morta" from Andrea Chénier, an authoritative group of songs by Barber and Hoiby, and an idiomatic set of spirituals. The recital is capped by four electrifying operatic encores, concluding with a dramatic "Vissi d'arte" from Tosca that brings the house down.

Additional early Leontyne Price CDs that should not be overlooked include A Program of Song, taped at Town Hall in 1959 (RCA 61499); a 1961 Rome Opera disc of Verdi and Puccini arias (RCA 68883); Porgy and Bess highlights from 1963 with the late baritone William Warfield—to whom she was married at the time (RCA 63312); and Price Sings Barber, which documents the world premiere of the Hermit Songs, with the composer at the piano, at the Library of Congress in 1953 (RCA 61983).

Price's 1982 concert appearance with the Montreal Symphony under Dutoit can be viewed on video cassette (VAI 69433). She also heads a "dream cast" vocal quartet (with Cossotto, Pavarotti, and Ghiaurov) in a new DVD of Karajan's inspired 1967 La Scala Verdi Requiem (DG 073022-9).

Other CDs in RCA's distinguished "Rediscovered" series comprise unpublished recordings by Jorge Bolet (63748), Sviatoslav Richter (63844), and Jascha Heifetz (63907).

Ilya Gringolts Plays Two Violin Concertos

Tchaikovsky Concerto for Violin and Orchestra, Op. 35; Shostakovich Concerto for Violin and Orchestra No. 1, Op. 99. Ilya Gringolts, violin; Israel Philharmonic Orchestra, Itzhak Perlman, conductor. (DG 471616)

ILYA GRINGOLTS, a 20-year-old Russian-born violinist, studied at Juilliard with Itzhak Perlman for three years (1999-2002). First-prize winner of the 1998 Paganini Competition, Gringolts had already recorded four acclaimed CDs for the Swedish BIS label, including a Paganini concerto (BIS 1051) and solo sonatas by Hindemith, Schnittke, and Ysaÿe (BIS 999).

Before graduating from Juilliard, Gringolts was signed to a recording contract by DG, and in December 2001, his teacher, Itzhak Perlman, paid him the tribute of conducting the Israel Philharmonic for Gringolts's recording sessions of concertos by Tchaikovsky and Shostakovich, both of which Perlman had recorded as soloist with the very same orchestra.

Gringolts's Tchaikovsky is rhapsodic and improvisatory; contemplative and intimate rather than heaven-storming. His Shostakovich First is also highly personal and amply virtuosic. Perlman conducts with the insight that only a soloist who knows these works from the inside-out could bring to them; he has recorded the Tchaikovsky concerto no fewer than four times! Perlman's first recording as conductor of the Berlin Philharmonic—an all-Mozart program including the "Jupiter" Symphony—will be issued this month (EMI 57418).

Mention this column at the Juilliard Bookstore to receive a 5-percent discount on this month's featured recordings. (In-store purchases only.)