Classic Kathleen Battle: A Portrait
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Composer: Johann Sebastian BachComposer: Antonin Dvorak
Composer: Edward "Duke" Ellington
Composer: Gabriel Faure
Composer: George Frideric Handel
Composer: Gustav Mahler
Performer: Kathleen Battle
Performer: Christian McBride
Performer: James Carter
Performer: Ira Coleman
Edition: Music CD
CD Release Date: 2002-04-02
Music Label: Sony
Soundtracks:
- Puccini: O Mio babbino caro (new recording)
- Handel: Let the Bright Seraphim
- Traditional Chilean: Dormi, Jesu
- Traditional: Cancion de Cuna
- Vangelis: Mythodea-Movement IX
- Mozart: Laudate Dominum
- Handel: Rejoice Greatly
- Traditional Fix Me Jesus (new recording)
- Faure: Pie Jesu
- Traditional Catalan: El Noi de la Mare
- Traditional Catalan: El Desembre Congelat
- Ellington:L Prelude to a Kiss (new recording)
- Handel: Eternal Source of Light Divine
- Mozart: Alleluja
- Traditional: Angels Watching Over Me (new recording)
- Mahler: Sehr Behaglich (from Symphony No. 4
- J.S. Bach: Jauchzet Gott in allen Landen
- Dvorak: Going Home ("Largo" from New World Symphony)
Music reviews of Classic Kathleen Battle: A Portrait
Music Review: Inaccurately Titled Compilation Release
Rating: 4 Stars
This album, despite the misleading title, is not at all representative of Kathleen Battle. Allow me to clarify: it is representative of her voice (as it is culled from a number of, mostly, studio releases) but not of her performance personality. Yes, Spanish folk songs and spirituals figured prominently in her recital literature but Sony has turned a blind eye on what many of us remember her for: the roles she assumed in the theater. She created unforgettable 'portraits' of Susanna, Zerbinetta, Sophie, Zdenka, Blondchen, several -inas (Pamina, Rosina, Zerlina, Adina) and other miscellany (Semele, the 'Celestial Voice', Oscar, etc.) that is not even hinted at on this release. Therein lies my problem. We all know that her voice is a wonderfully used sunlit instrument but this album, since it is so limited in scope, does not even begin to demonstrate how imaginatively she used her voice in the service of operatic composers. I am thinking particularly of her dazzling way with Baroque and bel canto embellishments: always tastefully deployed and proof of a great artist making these arias new again and very much her own. However, her voice is so beautiful in what they have selected that I've only detracted a single star from the overall rating. In truth, words cannot even begin to do justice to a voice that has to be roundly considered one of the most beautiful of the recorded era. Her immaculately wrought silvery tone does not seem out of place in any repertoire, even the one 'popular' tune ("Prelude to a Kiss") is delivered winningly. (To give you an idea of the song's nature, the Ellington standard is associated with vocal greats like Sarah Vaughan.) I was surprised to discover that this number was not overly inflected or fussy (a common complaint lobbed at opera singers who try to sing in the popular style) but I should not have been since her one legitimate crossover album (So Many Stars) was so wonderfully done. Also of note is her new recording of "O Mio Babbino Caro." Ms. Battle's voice has retained a freshness and security throughout but particularly in her upper range that is surprsing for an artist that has been on the world's stages for 30+ years (she had her professional debut with conductor Thomas Schippers in 1972). In fact, these two songs are worth the price of the disc, the other superb tracks notwithstanding. If you are wondering whether you should buy this album, my answer is a resounding yes!
Description of Classic Kathleen Battle: A Portrait
All products are BRAND NEW and factory sealed. Fast shipping and 100% Satisfaction Guaranteed.This compilation of previous releases is clearly intended to include something for everybody and to offer an overview of Kathleen Battle's wide, varied repertoire. The result is a motley assortment of music sacred and profane, Baroque, classical and romantic, Spanish and American folksongs, and jazz. It is Battle's radiant, impeccably produced voice, which sheds a glow over every note she sings, and her effortless coloratura and serene expressiveness that provide the unifying, and most rewarding, element.
Four new recordings sound just as glorious as those she made years ago. One is the famous aria from Puccini's Gianni Schicchi performed with piano--a strange misfit among all the arias with orchestra. Wynton Marsalis plays Bach and Handel brilliantly, but sounds too loud and prominent. And despite some baroque ornamentation, he plays in a style so different from hers that the two hardly seem to be performing the same piece. The Orchestra of St. Luke's plays beautifully; an anonymous orchestra under Robert Sadin is competent but too matter-of-fact. A mournful, repetitive duet with Jessye Norman against a background of unearthly noises from Vangelis's Mythodea sounds like an angelic plea for mercy.
In the finale of Mahler's Fourth Symphony with the Vienna Philharmonic under Lorin Maazel, Battle captures just the right blend of childlike wonder and heavenly bliss. Of the jazz numbers, one by Duke Ellington is lovely, but Dvorák would have been quite surprised by the arrangement of the Largo from his "New World" Symphony. However, the tonality is right, and Battle sings the melody so beautifully that she almost redeems it. --Edith Eisler
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