Kathleen Battle

Interesting short biography of her

For the gay gays, here you go:

Strauss' Voices of Spring, with Herbert von Karajan and the Wiener Philharmoniker

She was misunderstood.

Meaning she was much worse than anyone realized.

But what a voice, when she had it going on.

She never married either

It wasn't THAT long ago that we had a really long thread about her.

R6 It did not show up in my searches and it is all blurred out. Type to wipe the thread clean.

I still enjoy listening to her. French Opera Arias is one of her best albums, though her Mozart selections are lovely as well.

Back when only Al Jarreau was the only one who would give her a job

R5 well, just what is that supposed to mean???

I worked with Kathleen twice...after the show, a group of us went out for a drink and late-night bite to eat with her. She is lots of fun when she not rehearsing and performing.

Thanks, R11. It's always nice to hear from 1983.

Is Ms. Battle a dykewomon?

She had a very distinct voice, not the classic big voice bel canto soprano. Problem was she is impossible. Think Faye D.

Love her voice. She is definitely the most accessible operatic voice ever. My first CD ever was her Christmas album and I still listen to it. She was also very attractive. For those of us who never had to work with her, we didn't care about the insanity behind the scenes, only that glorious voice.

I like the spiritual duets concert she did with Jessye Norman, especially this song. Sublime, the both of them.

Loved her on the Acropolis with Vangelis. It was very ethereal

She has a strong voice, but not a particularly talented or memorable voice.

And however you may wish to rewrite history, Miss Battle had a serious cuntiness problem.

I won't bore you with the stories - like the time she called her manager and asked him to call the driver of the limousine she was riding in to tell the driver to turn down the A/C. Why? Because Miss Battle does not speak to the help, nor are they allowed to speak to her.

It's the million other stories that weren't publicized that caused all the major opera companies to refuse to continue to work with her.

I suspect she has serious mental health issues.

R18 Miss Battle could be difficult at times, but why is the idea of a difficult world class prima Donna surprising? Miss Battle did not have a strong voice but in fact a voice of unique beauty and tone.. She used her light instrument with incredible musicality and intelligence and those are the reasons she was the top female opera singer of her time.. I still listen to her recordings with great pleasure. She truly had the voice of an angel.

This is exhausting. She overstepped professional decorum, with an inflated ego that no one could work with, and when questioned, feigned innocence about it.

I blame her handlers!

When she finally got fired by the Met (by Joe Volpe, IIRC), the word around the theater was that "Joe lost the Battle and won the war."

She is the Faye Dunaway of the opera world.

R16 I was just going to post about 'The Spirituals In Concert'. I bought it years ago, and play it during Lent - right through Easter each year. Love the CD. I wish the concert was available on DVD (haven't checked in a while, but last time I checked, it wasn't).

R3 that was a flawless performance. Karajan adored her. Those Viennese musicians know their Strauss. You notice the violinist seating behind her occasionally bothers to look at the music.

Here she is 9 years later, singing at the 25th anniversary concert celebrating the opening of the new Metropolitan Opera House (1996). She’s wearing the same red dress. AND, she again sings a flawless performance. This time: O Luce di Quest’Anima from Donezetti’s Linda di Chamounix.

She truly had a sublime voice.

Sorry, I got the year wrong, that should have been 1991. 1966-1991=25. Mea culpa.

Let's see Jessye Norman or any other soprano diva get into that dress at R24.

Rouben Ter-Arutunian designed a lot of her fabulous gowns.

R21

Look at how the Met has fared since the “Volpe” era! Subscriptions to the Met box office are in the toilet. The number of performances per week are a fraction of the 7 shows they used to put on. No major stars known the average person have emerged and Volpe himself says in his autobiography, the major accomplishment of his tenure is firing Kathleen Battle - that’s just pathetic!

She has a Christmas album, it is beautiful

She turned into a high riding bitch and got canned.

Ha. I still remember going to the Tower Records in the Castro and finding all of her CDs turned upside down and facing backwards. Always wondered which one of you did that!

She’s the biggest cunt around.

Walking out of interview:

Fuck your, R32. Fuck you.

[quote] she became the leading soprano of the world

Oh ffs, stop the hysterics OP. This is what the Met and DGG’s marketing departments wanted you to believe.

While she had a beautiful, light, voice, and was probably the best soubrette of her time, she was very limited in the roles she could sing, and as such was not the leading soprano of her time. This would have been Kiri Te Kanawa or Jessie Norman. Both of whom have left a much more significant legacy in the history of opera singing than this Battle cunt.

I went to the University of Cincinnati College-Conservatory of Music where she had also gone. It was well known around campus that she would have nothing to do with the school. Would never visit or talk about it. I never knew why.

I know MANY who worked with her and all the terrible stories are one hundred percent true

[quote] she became the leading soprano of the world

MARY!

You must mean the leading soprano of THE UNIVERSE THROUGHOUT ALL OF HISTORY!!!!!

This is a hilariously wonderful duet with Kathleen Battle and Jessye Norman called: "Scandalize My Name"!

I loved the haunting operatic vocals she provided to Janet Jackson’s song “This Time” from the janet. album. The song is about spousal abuse.

R35 is correct. She was a light lyric soprano with a soubrette quality and a good upper extension - the best of the available bunch, maybe, but generally most of her roles were and are not hard to cast. No-one is worrying where the next Adina or Norina is going to come from. The opera houses are looking for their Aidas, Isoldes, Normas and Salomes.

R40

^You have weird fantasies.