Kathleen Battle

[knight66]

That is the dress she wore at the concert I mentioned, the Semele dress.....BTW, I have that recording and would recommend it.

Mike

[mc ukrneal]

Just saw her Susanna in Marriage of Figaro and thought she absolutely owned the role.  I loved it and thought her voice was quite sweet.

Disappointed to see some comments on this thread that quite honestly smack of crypto-racism.  Hopefully I'm just misreading.

I think she's great in roles for that period. And she's done some wonderful things. There have been some duds too, but then, what singer doesn't have a few of those?!? 

[jochanaan]

I haven't heard Ms. Battle live or seen her on video, but the times I've heard her recordings have been thoroughly enjoyable.  My impression is that she does not have a big, dramatic voice (no Birgit Nilsson she), but does very well in Mozart and bel canto.  And I have nothing but mad respect for any singer of color who can make it to prominence in the lily-white opera world.  Yes, we've come a long way since Marian Anderson was almost denied a career among whites in the US, but there still seems to be some lingering expectation of opera performers to be Euro-American... (Leontyne Price remains one of my favorite singers, with her dark velvety mezzo-like voice that could suddenly explode into a ringing high C...)

[Moonfish]

I first encountered Kathleen Battle in this Mozart recording. It has become a somewhat nostalgic connection to a different time of my life, but I still adore it and the glorious music it conjures!   

[asin] B000002RO3[/asin]

[betterthanfine]

And I have nothing but mad respect for any singer of color who can make it to prominence in the lily-white opera world.

Hear, hear!

I first encountered Kathleen Battle in this Mozart recording. It has become a somewhat nostalgic connection to a different time of my life, but I still adore it and the glorious music it conjures!   

[asin] B000002RO3[/asin]

I have that one too (albeit with a different cover), highly enjoyable indeed.

[zamyrabyrd]

A short song, sparsely accompanied but exceptional:
https://www.youtube.com/v/3Fu9vXgX4xk

[betterthanfine]

Thanks for posting that, zamyrabyrd. I hadn't heard it before.

[zamyrabyrd]

Thanks for posting that, zamyrabyrd. I hadn't heard it before.

It's part of an album with other delightful pieces.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Battle blotted her copybook and effectively put an end to her career by getting a little too big for her rather small boots. There is no doubting, however, that she had a lovely voice and could be enchanting on stage. There is quite a bit of video evidence too (her Adina to Pavarotti's Elvino in L'Elisir d'Amore. her Despina in a Salzburg Cosi fan Tutte, her Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos and her Pamina, to name but four).

Here is some of her Zerbinetta http://uk.youtube.com/watch?v=WhBAQGUX68A

Battle 'is' a delightful one trick pony- and I love her in all of the soubrettish roles you mentioned.

But I also love her being outrageous as well: Like when she called her manager in New York from the back of a limo in La Jolla, California (a beach suburb of San Diego), to tell him to call her chauffeur and to tell him to turn down the air conditioning in the back of the car.



Is she 'really' a repository of exalted etiquette? Or just a straight-up 'Bee-otch'?

Ha.  Ha.  Ha.  Ha.

Anyway, I really love her Blonde on her Mozart recital cd.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Pavarotti might not be a great actor but he had a tremendous voice. Battle looks like and sings like a rat and her acting is even worse. How does someone like that get famous?

An ogre rated assessment to be sure.

[knight66]

Yes, that 'assessment' puzzled me extremely. I very recently found on Spotify her diisc of Bach Arias with violin obligato: delightful.

Mike

[Tsaraslondon]

Yes, that 'assessment' puzzled me extremely. I very recently found on Spotify her diisc of Bach Arias with violin obligato: delightful.

Mike

I've just bought Baroque duets with Winton Marsalis for 1p on Amazon Marketplace.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

Yes, that 'assessment' puzzled me extremely. I very recently found on Spotify her diisc of Bach Arias with violin obligato: delightful.

Mike

<Ping!>

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

I've just bought Baroque duets with Winton Marsalis for 1p on Amazon Marketplace.

You'll have to give me the Greg-breakdown on it when you get it.

I have that cd in storage. . . 'somewhere.' I can't even remember what it sounds like.

[zamyrabyrd]

But I also love her being outrageous as well: Like when she called her manager in New York from the back of a limo in La Jolla, California (a beach suburb of San Diego), to tell him to call her chauffeur and to tell him to turn down the air conditioning in the back of the car. Is she 'really' a repository of exalted etiquette? Or just a straight-up 'Bee-otch'?

I can't imagine a real Queen like Joan Sutherland behaving like that. Putting on airs shows insecurity and low breeding. Pushing the limits of what people will take is not so wise. She did get her desserts from the Met in the end.

[Marsch MacFiercesome]

I can't imagine a real Queen like Joan Sutherland behaving like that. Putting on airs shows insecurity and low breeding. Pushing the limits of what people will take is not so wise. She did get her desserts from the Met in the end.

Well. . . 'yes and no': If Battle was doing it for camp- which I love- then she gets high marks from me. But if her behavior was merely inferiority masquerading as superiority- then I would agree with you that it does indeed show a distinct lack of breeding.

I'm kind of agnostic on the motive of the anecdote, myself. 

I believe I read about it in Time magazine- which isn't exactly Switzerland when it comes to character assassinations.