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The Best of Kathleen Battle | 
 enlarge | Creators: Gustave Charpentier, Gaetano Donizetti, Gabriel Faure, George Gershwin, George Frederick Handel, Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart, Johann Ii Strauss, Ambroise Thomas, American Traditional, Spiritual Traditional, Andre Previn, Bruno Campanella, Carlo Maria Giulini, Herbert Von Karajan, James Levine, Myung-whun Chung, Bastille Opera Orchestra, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Metropolitan Opera Orchestra, Orchestra Of St. Luke's
Label: Deutsche Grammophon
Category: Music
List Price: $9.98
Buy New: $5.95
You Save: $4.03 (40%)
New (27) Used (5) from $5.95
Rating:  7 reviews
Sales Rank: 5068
Media: Audio CD
Discs: 1
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.2
Dimensions (in): 5.6 x 5 x 0.5
MPN: 000349502
UPC: 028947627654
EAN: 0028947627654
ASIN: B00068CVF8
Release Date: November 9, 2004
Availability: Usually ships in 1-2 business days
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Shipping: International shipping available
Condition: BRAND NEW, Factory Sealed items direct from the Studios. 30 Day Satisfaction Guarantee. Quick International Airmail!
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| Tracks:
| • | Summertime | | • | I loves you, Porgy | | • | Porgi amor | | • | Welche Wonne, welche Lust | | • | S'altro che lagrime | | • | Una donna a quindici anni | | • | Depuis le jour | | • | E pur cosi / Piangeri la sorte mia | | • | Oui! pour ce soir... Je suis Titania | | • | Ah! tardai troppo... O luce di quest'anima | | • | 4. Pie Jesu (Sopran) | | • | Voices of Spring, Op.410 (Frohlingsstimmen) - vocal version | | • | Swing Low, Sweet Chariot / Ride Up in the Chariot | | • | Witness "Oh, Lord, what manner of man is dis?" | | • | Talk About a Child | | • | He's got the whole world in His hands |
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| Customer Reviews:
Wow! July 3, 2008
Carol (Washington state)
K Battle is the 'Nat King Cole of opera!' So smooth, warm and beautiful yet surprisingly lyrical and a vocal range that is remarkable. The high notes are chrystal clear yet with that smoothness and warmth mentioned earlier. You won't be disappointed.
A great collection of works by one of the best voices of our time December 2, 2007
Cammy (Cincinnati)
Kathleen Battle is the owner of one of the best vocal instruments of our time. Her sweet tones radiate through these pieces. Two of my personal favorites are #5 S'altro che lagrime and #10 Ah! Tardai troppo... O luce di quest' anima. This is definitely a collection worth having and is an excellent addition to her stellar discography. Even my friend who's not really into a lot of opera and classical music wanted to borrow this from me. Say what you will about her, her recordings rock!!
The art of Kathleen Battle November 16, 2007
Steven A. Peterson (Hershey, PA (Born in Kewanee, IL))
2 out of 2 found this review helpful
This represents a good introduction to Kathleen Battle's talents. She has a rich lyric soprano voice--who can also sing the coloratura repertoire effectively. That is a pleasing combination. Some of the contemporary coloratura sopranos, such as Natalie Dessay, may essay the ornamentation better than Battle, but the richness of Battle's voice helps counterbalance that. Both are very effective, but their strengths are somewhat different.
Her version of "Porgi amor" from "Le Nozze di Figaro" is delightful. She sings this smoothly with her rich lyric voice. This is poignantly rendered. Very nice indeed.
"Je Suis Titania" is a wonderful coloratura piece. Battle sings this in animated fashion. The work calls for vocal agility, and Battle has that. She displays good ornamentation. There is a harsh high note toward the end. Her trilling is adequate, but not great. Overall, though, a very nice version indeed.
Then there is the delightful "O luce di quest'anima" from Donizetti's "Linda di Chamounix." One issue when anyone sings this is the standards set by sopranos such as Joan Sutherland, Beverly Sills, and Sumi Jo. And Battle does not compare badly at all! The cabaletta is well sung, with nice agility and good florid singing. After listening to Battle, I listened to Jo's version. While I think that Jo has better coloratura technique and has a preferable version, Battle, nonetheless, does not compare badly.
For fun. . . . Strauss' waltz, "The Voices of Spring." Another nice comparison, this time with Natalie Dessay. Battle's version is done well. She has the requisite agility to make this work. Her trills are okay; good staccato singing. Comparing with Dessay? Maybe apples and oranges. Dessay's final high note is stunning. Battle's is fine, but not much comparison here. Battle's voice is richer and more attractive, but Dessay has a more typical lighter voice for coloratura works. Dessay's version is more animated and more spirited. In the end, though, Battle fares well in such a comparison.
"Swing Low Sweet Chariot" is sung well. It is a ravishing version and wonderful to listen to.
One of the fun things to do, with the ready accessibility of CDs, is to compare singers with one another. Here, comparing Battle's art with that of Dessay, Sutherland, Sills, and Jo is useful. In the final analysis, Battle compares pretty well.
A wide presentation of the work of an amazing artist December 22, 2005
David P. Williams
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This CD provides a sampling of Kathleen Battle's voice and interpretive abilities from coloratura virtuousity (Voices of Spring) to the simple, heartfelt spiritual (Talk about a child).
First of all, there's THAT voice. You hear a voice that is uniquely angelic and capable of expressing a wide range of moods. You hear a voice that glitters like a diamond, skips happily and effortlessly (and in impeccable tune) from note to note like it's nobody's business, one that that reminds you of moonbeams and early morning dew on pink rose petals. You've simply got to her it to believe it.
On this CD, the listener is provided with the the works/composers for which she's well known: Handel Opera (E pur cosi / piangero la sorte mia), Mozart Opera (S'altro che lagrime), Bel Canto Opera (Ah, tardai troppo...), French Opera (Depuis le jour), spirituals, and a few popular songs for sopranos such as Gershwin's Summertime and Faure's Pie Jesu
If you're just popping the CD in, try: (1) Ah, tardai troppo, (2) Voices of Spring, (3) Talk about a child, (4) I loves you, Porgy, and (5) Pie Jesu.
I suppose if you are a fan of heavy, dramatic voices, Kathleen Battle may not be to your liking. But I suspect that if you listen to her, you still might be amazed...
A Great Coloratura Soprano April 3, 2005
15 out of 19 found this review helpful
Coloratura sopranos are a dying breed today. The era of Lily Pons and Beverly Sills is long gone and opera audiences favor a more "heavy" coloratura sound- or at least a full lyric one, such as the voice types of Kiri Te Kenawa, Carol Vanness and Renee Fleming. Kathleen Battle was in many ways an artist who payed homage to the coloratura queens of olden days. Only Natalie Dessay, of late, represents that kind of singer. much This album showcases her best work, and she is in fine voice, bringing a luminous and sunny quality to her interpretations, while keeping the dramatic appeal of the text. She was at best a Handel/Mozart/Strauss/Gounod singer, and never fared well in the more dramatic reperotoire of Verdi or Puccini heroines. She never sang Madame Butterfly, which if she had gone through training, she could have nailed, especially because her dramatic aspirations coupled with her soft, vulnerable sound would have suited her as Ciao Ciao San, in the way that Ying Huang interpreted the role. Verdi opera must have frightened her and she could never dream of taking on the roles that Leontyne Price performed, surely an influence in her student days made all the more credible because Leontyne Price was a "sister" African-American. So Leonora, Aida and Suor Angelica were out of her reach. While she sang with Jessie Norman in concert and recitals (like the Spirituals Concert), she must have been secretly or overtly ? jealous of the fact that Jessye Norman had a voice that could swallow the world!! A big, beautiful voice such as Ms. Norman's is closer to the true goddesses of operas in the tradition of Maria Callas, while Battle is more of the "tiny, bright, canary" voice. She ranks among the best of the lighter sopranos- Beverly Sills, and like Sumi Jo today. Her fellow co-artists used to call her the "Singing Mosquito". But she is marvelous in singing Handel oratorio(the only times I've heard her sing live), Mozart- Sussannah, Zerlina, the Countess in Figaro, Gounod- Juliette, Bizet- Micaela, but could never truly master the more difficult Mozart heroines- Dona Ana in Don Giovanni or Fiordiligi in Cosi Fan Tutte or even Konstanza in Die Entfurung, though try she did. In Strauss operas, she made a fine Zerbinetta, though she always oozed a confidence that made it seem as if these difficult pieces were a piece of cake for her. Some arias in this collection appear that way too.
Kathleen Battle has long since disappeared from the opera world, singing off and on. Her last singing engagement was for the soundtrack to the Japanese action saga "House of Flying Daggers" in which she sings in a very Japanese/poetic style. Before that she sang in Mythodea opposite Jessie Norman in a massive choral work by Vangelis, and also in Disney's Fantasia 2000. Her constant bitchiness, diva antics and disrespect to conductors and singers became too much and finally Joseph Volpe fired her from the Met. She had stayed there for so long because James Levine took a shine to her. As a singer, she was a perfectionist and in her body of work it shows. But she displayed a nasty diva temperament that does not sit well today. In the 80's, she would come to rehearsals late, would criticize everyone from conductor to costuma makers and even once disrespected the much older and experienced Rosalind Elias, a beloved mezzo at the Met. While I think that Volpe did the right thin in firing Battle, I think that Battle's voice is glorious and would buy her albums, even if she mostly poses as if she were in Vogue cover shots.
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