K. Battle's best

[aesthete8]

I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. The Amazon customer
reviews are also uniformly positive:

http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Salzburg-Recital/dp/B00000E31B/ref=sr_1_8?ie=UTF8&qid=1352874644&sr=8-8&keywords=battle+levine

Any other recommendations?

[aesthete8]

On Nov 13, 8:32 pm, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.  The Amazon customer
> reviews are also uniformly positive:
>

> http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Salzburg-Recital/dp/B00000E31B/...
>
> Any other recommendations?

More positive customer reviews:

http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Concert/product-reviews/B000001GNP/ref=cm_cr_dp_see_all_btm?ie=UTF8&showViewpoints=1&sortBy=bySubmissionDateDescending

[operafan]

On Nov 14, 1:34 am, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:
> On Nov 13, 8:32 pm, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.  The Amazon customer
> > reviews are also uniformly positive:
>
> >http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Salzburg-Recital/dp/B00000E31B/...
>
> > Any other recommendations?
>
> More positive customer reviews:
>

> http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Concert/product-reviews/B000001...

She made a lot of wonderful recordings (e.g., the Mahler 4th with
Maazel). Her personality did in her career.

[Mark S]

I never understood the fascination with this voice. I heard her early in her Met career as Blondchen in Abduction. It was fine, nothing spectacular. As the career progressed into larger roles I had the same feeling. Her scooping into notes from below always annoyed me. And let's face it, it was a pretty small voice by any standard, especially in the huge space that is The Met.

I don't take a singer's personality into account when it comes to their voice. If they can deliver the goods, they can be a jerk elsewhere. I just never found her satisfying as a lead singer. As a secondary cast member, fine. But as a lead, not so much.

Battle was no Reri Grist (I make that comparison on their vocal equipment, not on race).

[wagnerfan]

Her Semele is one of the great performances both recorded and in the
1985 New York performance. Wagner fan

[wade]

On Wednesday, November 14, 2012 11:29:32 AM UTC-8, wagnerfan wrote:
> On Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:37:44 -0800 (PST), operafan
>
> <peter....@gmail.com> wrote:
>
>
>

> >On Nov 14, 1:34�am, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >> On Nov 13, 8:32�pm, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> >>
>
> >> > I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this. �The Amazon customer

>
> >> > reviews are also uniformly positive:
>
> >>
>
> >> >http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Salzburg-Recital/dp/B00000E31B/...
>
> >>
>
> >> > Any other recommendations?
>
> >>
>
> >> More positive customer reviews:
>
> >>
>
> >> http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Concert/product-reviews/B000001...
>
> >
>
> >She made a lot of wonderful recordings (e.g., the Mahler 4th with
>
> >Maazel). Her personality did in her career.
>
> Her Semele is one of the great performances both recorded and in the
>
> 1985 New York performance. Wagner fan

Perfect casting in so many ways.

[Dana John Hill]

"aesthete8" <art...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:92207c04-55b9-47a7...@r10g2000pbd.googlegroups.com...

I am with you on this disc. I picked it up cheap a long time ago in a lot of
other CDs I bought on eBay, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The
engineers did a surprisingly good job editing the audience out of the tape.
You'd think it was a studio recording.

Dana John Hill
Gainesville, Florida

[Dontait...@aol.com]

On Nov 14, 2:04 pm, "Dana John Hill" <d...@danajohnhill.com> wrote:
> "aesthete8" <art...@gmail.com> wrote in message
>
> news:92207c04-55b9-47a7...@r10g2000pbd.googlegroups.com...
>
> >I was surprised at how much I enjoyed this.  The Amazon customer
> > reviews are also uniformly positive:
>

> >http://www.amazon.com/Kathleen-Battle-Salzburg-Recital/dp/B00000E31B/...

>
> > Any other recommendations?
>
> I am with you on this disc. I picked it up cheap a long time ago in a lot of
> other CDs I bought on eBay, and was surprised how much I enjoyed it. The
> engineers did a surprisingly good job editing the audience out of the tape.
> You'd think it was a studio recording.
>
> Dana John Hill
> Gainesville, Florida

I am trying to remember where I read this some years ago, and am
failing to do so. Sorry. It must have been in one of the books about
Herbert von Karajan, since it involves him. And Kathleen Battle.

I think it had to do with the time that Karajan conducted a Mozart
mass at the Vatican (the "Coronation," perhaps?). DG recorded and
issued it, I think. Anyway, what I read said that Battle was among the
soloists. Karajan was quoted as saying "she's a b--ch, but what a
voice!"

Don Tait

[M forever]

I had heard that she had a reputation for being difficult but I didn't
know that she was actually fired from the Met. In this interview clip
from a few years later, she actually just walks out on the
interviewer!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7VCpwNXHqoQ

[Mark S]

On Wednesday, November 14, 2012 4:11:13 PM UTC-8, M forever wrote:

> I had heard that she had a reputation for being difficult but I didn't
>
> know that she was actually fired from the Met. In this interview clip
>
> from a few years later, she actually just walks out on the
>
> interviewer!

She wasn't known as "La Battaglia" for nothing!

[aesthete8]

Was she less like a Grist and more like a Mattiwilda Dobbs?

[aesthete8]

Do you mean the following?:

http://www.amazon.com/Handel-Semele-Kathleen-Battle/dp/B000001GGP

[JohnGavin]

Watching her sing Johann Strauss under Karajan in Vienna here pretty much demonstrates her vocal assets and appeal, I think - she really was a great singer IMO, she had a knack of delivering one pristine performance after another.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4cUPt3qFtNw

[wade]

I am surprised that he didnt try to get her to record Salome.

[J]

I think her Christmas disc (with Slatkin?) is quite lovely.

[Mark S]

On Tuesday, December 4, 2012 4:09:20 PM UTC-8, JohnGavin wrote:
> Watching her sing Johann Strauss under Karajan in Vienna here pretty much demonstrates her vocal assets and appeal, I think - she really was a great singer IMO, she had a knack of delivering one pristine performance after another.<

I watch the DVD of that concert every Jan 1, and I always skip over Battle's song when she makes her appearance.

[jeffc]

On Nov 14, 1:32 am, aesthete8 <art...@gmail.com> wrote:

> Any other recommendations?

Zerbinetta

http://www.amazon.com/Richard-Strauss-Ariadne-Troyanos-Metropolitan/dp/B000068UXJ/ref=sr_1_1?s=movies-tv&ie=UTF8&qid=1354878606&sr=1-1&keywords=Ariadne+%2B+Battle

Adina

http://www.amazon.com/Donizetti-LElisir-dAmore-Luciano-Pavarotti/dp/B000787WZQ

[ivanm...@gmail.com]

On Tuesday, December 4, 2012 2:57:20 AM UTC-5, aesthete8 wrote:
> On Nov 14, 9:29 am, wagnerfan <ivanmax...@gmail.com> wrote:
>
> > On Wed, 14 Nov 2012 05:37:44 -0800 (PST), operafan
>
> >
>
> >
>
> >
>

> >Thats the commercial recording which
is also wonderful - I was referring to the live performance in New York in 1985 with a similar cast. Unforgettable evening!!!

[gggg...@gmail.com]

Can you believe this price?:

http://www.barnesandnoble.com/s/battle-schubert?store=music&keyword=battle+schubert

[O]

In article <f2d3ee0d-4237-4bb8...@googlegroups.com>,

She could use the money. It's not like she's giving a lot of
performances lately (from 2010):

<http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/culturemonster/2010/02/kathleen-battle-
is-back.html>

-Owen

[Terry]

Tiny, gnat-like voice. I hate it.