Product Code Database
Kathleen Deanna Battle (born August 13, 1948) is an American soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone.Donal Henahan, "Concert: Battle Sings with the Philharmonic" , The New York Times, January 24, 1987. Accessed August 31, 2008.Tim Page, "Kathleen Battle's Pure Sweet Sound", The Washington Post, January 20, 1997. Accessed via subscription, August 31, 2008. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s, until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. She later focused on recording and the concert stage. After a 22-year absence from the Met, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Metropolitan Opera House in November 2016, and again in May 2024.
Battle was awarded a scholarship to the University of Cincinnati – College-Conservatory of Music, where she studied voice with Franklin Bens and also worked with Italo Tajo. She majored in music education, and proceeded to a master's degree in Music Education. In 1971 she began a teaching career at an inner-city public school in Cincinnati, continuing to study voice privately while teaching 5th and 6th grade music. Later, she studied singing with Daniel Ferro in New York.Von Rhein, John (April 21, 1985). "Soprano Kathleen Battle: From Unknown To Operatic Star Of Two Continents" . Chicago Tribune. Retrieved October 14, 2011.
We would meet monthly, listen to up-and-coming concert artists and give money to deserving artists for further study. A very young Kathleen Battle sang for us. The other judges thought her voice was too small, but I thought she had an incredible ability to communicate through music. I talked the other judges into giving her a grant.Emily Van Cleve, Soprano to sing for early benefactor, Albuquerque Journal, October 3, 2004. Accessed via subscription September 1, 2008.
Thomas Schippers introduced Kathleen Battle to his fellow conductor James Levine who selected Battle to sing in Gustav Mahler's Symphony No. 8 at the Cincinnati Symphony Orchestra's May Festival in 1974. This was the beginning of a friendship and close professional association between Battle and LevinePhoebe Hoban, "Battle Mania", New York, July 12, 1993, p. 44, vol. 26, no. 27. , published by New York Media, LLC that would last for 20 years and resulted in several recordings and performances in recital and concert performances, including engagements in Salzburg, Ravinia Festival, and Carnegie Hall. Battle made her professional operatic debut in 1975 as Rosina in Rossini's The Barber of Seville with the Michigan Opera Theatre in Detroit. She made her New York City Opera debut the following year as Susanna in Mozart's The Marriage of Figaro, and in 1977 made both her San Francisco Opera debut as Oscar in Giuseppe Verdi's Un ballo in maschera and her Metropolitan Opera debut as the Shepherd in Richard Wagner's Tannhäuser. The latter performance was conducted by James Levine. Battle made her Glyndebourne Festival debut (and UK debut) singing Nerina in Joseph Haydn's La fedeltà premiata in 1979.Erik Smith, The Musical Times, vol. 120, no. 1637 (July 1979), pp. 567–570.
During this period, she received three Grammy Awards for her recordings: Kathleen Battle Sings Mozart (1986), Salzburg Recital (1987), and Ariadne auf Naxos (1987). Battle's 1986 collaboration with guitarist Christopher Parkening entitled Pleasures of Their Company was nominated for the Classical Album of the Year Grammy Award. She also received the Laurence Olivier Award (1985) for her stage performance as Zerbinetta in Ariadne auf Naxos at the Royal Opera House, London. Critical response to Battle's performances had rarely varied throughout the years following her debut. In 1985, Time Magazine pronounced her "the best lyric coloratura soprano in the world".
In 1990, Battle and Jessye Norman performed a program of spirituals at Carnegie Hall with James Levine conducting.PBS, Great Performances 30th Anniversary . Accessed July 23, 2008. In the same year, she returned to Covent Garden to sing Norina in Don Pasquale and performed in a series of solo recitals in California, as well as appearing at the Hollywood Bowl with the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Los Angeles Daily News, "Talent Aside, Piquing Singer's Interest is an Uphill Battle" , August 6, 1990. Accessed July 23, 2008. Battle's Carnegie Hall solo recital debut came on April 27, 1991 as part of the hall's Centennial Festival. Accompanied by pianist Margo Garrett, she sang arias and songs by Handel, Mozart, Franz Liszt, Rachmaninoff, George Gershwin and Richard Strauss, as well as several traditional spirituals. The contralto Marian Anderson, who had ended her farewell tour with a recital at Carnegie Hall in April 1965, was in the audience that night and Battle dedicated Rachmaninoff's "In the Silence of the Secret Night" to her. Chicago Sun-Times, "Battle's recital has a bonus", April 29, 1991. Accessed via subscription July 23, 2008. The recording of the recital earned Battle her fourth Grammy award. Another first came in January 1992 when Battle premiered André Previn's song cycle Honey and Rue with lyrics by Toni Morrison. The work was commissioned by Carnegie Hall and composed specifically for Battle.Bernard Holland, Classical Music in Review: Honey and Rue Orchestra of St. Luke's Carnegie Hall , The New York Times, January 7, 1992. Accessed July 23, 2008.
In December 1993 she was joined by Martin Katz and Kenny Barron on piano and Grady Tate (drums), Grover Washington Jr. (saxophone) and David Williams (bass) at Carnegie Hall for a concert featuring the music of Handel, Joseph Haydn, and Duke Ellington as well as Christmas spirituals.Tim Page, "Kathleen Battle Turns on the Lite", Newsday. December 15, 1993 During this time she also collaborated with other musicians including trumpeter Wynton Marsalis in a recording of baroque arias entitled, Baroque Duet; violinist Itzhak Perlman on an album of Bach arias; and flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal for a recital at Alice Tully Hall (also released on CD). In May 1993 Battle added pop music to her repertoire with the release of Janet Jackson's album Janet, lending her vocals to the song "This Time". An album of Japanese melodies, First Love, followed in November 1993.
On the opera stage, she performed in a variety of Mozart, Rossini and Donizetti operas. San Francisco Opera Performance Archives . Accessed July 23, 2008. Between 1990 and 1993, she performed in several productions at the Metropolitan Opera: Rosina in The Barber of Seville (1990), Pamina in The Magic Flute (1991 and 1993), and Adina (with Luciano Pavarotti as Nemorino) in L'elisir d'amore (1991, 1992, and the Met's 1993 Japan Tour). She also won her fifth Grammy Award in 1993, singing the title role of Semele on the Deutsche Grammophon recording conducted by John Nelson.
Although Battle gave several critically praised performances at the Metropolitan Opera during the early 1990s, her relationship with the company's management showed increasing signs of strain during those years.Bernard Holland, "Kathleen Battle Pulls Out Of 'Rosenkavalier' at Met" , The New York Times. January 30, 1993. Accessed July 22, 2008. As Battle's status grew, so did her reputation for being difficult and demanding. In October 1992 when she opened the Boston Symphony Orchestra season, she reportedly banned an assistant conductor and other musicians from her rehearsals, changed hotels several times, and left behind what a report in The Boston Globe called "a froth of ill will".
In February 1994, during rehearsals for an upcoming production of La fille du régiment at the Metropolitan Opera, Battle was said to have subjected her fellow performers to "withering criticism" and made "almost paranoid demands that they not look at her."Michael Walsh, "Battle Fatigue", Time Magazine, February 21, 1994 General Manager Joseph Volpe responded by dismissing Battle from the production for "unprofessional actions" during rehearsals. Volpe called Battle's conduct "profoundly detrimental to the artistic collaboration among all the cast members" and indicated that he had "canceled all offers that have been made for the future."Allan Kozinn, The Met Drops Kathleen Battle, Citing 'Unprofessional Actions', The New York Times, February 8, 1994. Accessed July 22, 2008. Any input that Metropolitan Opera music director James Levine (Battle’s close friend and collaborator for 20 years) may have had is shrouded in mystery. Battle was replaced in Donizetti's La fille du régiment by Harolyn Blackwell.Edward Rothstein, "Opera Review: After the Hoopla, La fille du régiment , The New York Times, February 16, 1994. Accessed 23 July 2008. At the time of her termination from the Met, Michael Walsh of Time magazine reported that "the cast of The Daughter of the Regiment applauded when it was told during rehearsal that Battle had been fired." After she sang with the San Francisco Opera at this time, several backstage workers wore T-shirts that read: "I survived the Battle".
In a statement released by her management company, Columbia Artists, Battle said: "I was not told by anyone at the Met about any unprofessional actions. To my knowledge, we were working out all of the artistic problems in the rehearsals, and I don't know the reason behind this unexpected dismissal. All I can say is I am saddened by this decision." Since then, Battle has not performed in opera.
For the remainder of the decade, she worked extensively in the recording studio and on the concert stage. She was a featured guest artist on the May 1994 album Tenderness, singing a duet, "My Favorite Things", with Grammy-winning jazz vocalist Al Jarreau. In 1995 she presented a program of opera arias and popular songs at Lincoln Center with baritone Thomas Hampson, conductor John Nelson, and the Orchestra of St. Luke's.James R. Oestreich, Battle and Hampson: All Charm in a Parade of Hits , The New York Times, March 3, 1995. Accessed August 6, 2008. She also released two albums in 1995: So Many Stars, a collection of folk songs, lullabies, and spirituals (with accompanying live concert performances) with Christian McBride and Grover Washington Jr. (with whom she had performed in Carnegie Hall the previous year);Jon Pareles, Kathleen Battle: Jazz Headliner , The New York Times, September 14, 1995. Accessed August 4, 2008. and Angels' Glory, a Christmas album with guitarist Christopher Parkening, a frequent collaborator. Interview , Classical Guitar Alive Radio Broadcast, July 15, 1995.
In 1997 came the release of the albums Mozart Opera Arias and Grace, a collection of sacred songs. In October 1998, she joined jazz pianist Herbie Hancock on his album Gershwin's World in an arrangement of Gershwin's Prelude in C minor. December 1999 saw the release of Fantasia 2000, on which she is the featured soprano in Edward Elgar's Pomp and Circumstance Marches performed by the Chicago Symphony Orchestra and Chicago Symphony Chorus and conducted by long-time collaborator James Levine. In solo recitals she performed in cities including Los Angeles, New York, Cincinnati, and Chicago in programs that featured art songs from a variety of eras and regions, opera arias, and spirituals.
In August 2000, she performed an all-Schubert program at Ravinia.Dan Tucker, Classical review, Kathleen Battle at Ravinia , Chicago Tribune, August 18, 2000. In June 2001, she and frequent collaborator soprano Jessye Norman performed Vangelis' Mythodea at the Temple of Olympian Zeus in Athens, Greece. In July 2003 she performed at the Ravinia Chicago Symphony Orchestra Gala with Bobby McFerrin and Denyce Graves. In 2006 she and James Ingram sang the song They Won't Go When I Go in a Tribute to Stevie Wonder and she began including Wonder's music in her recitals. Kathleen Battle lives up to her top billing , The Royal Gazette (Bermuda), October 4, 2006. Accessed July 24, 2008. In July 2007 she debuted at the Aspen Music Festival performing an all-George Gershwin program as part of a season benefit.Kyle MacMillan, Aspen books a soprano with a past , Denver Post, July 16, 2007. Accessed July 24, 2008. In October 2007, at a fundraiser for the Keep a Child Alive Charity, Kathleen Battle and Alicia Keys performed the song Miss Sarajevo written by U2's Bono.Roger Freedman, Keys woos celebrities , Fox News, October 26, 2007. Accessed August 8, 2008. On April 16, 2008, she sang an arrangement of the Lord's Prayer for Pope Benedict XVI on the occasion of his papal visit to the White House. This marks the second time she sang for a pope. (She first sang for Pope John Paul II in 1985 as soprano soloist in Mozart's Coronation Mass.) Sony Masterworks: High Mass Celebrated by Pope John Paul II – Mozart: Coronation Mass, K. 317 Later that year, she performed "Superwoman" on the American Music Awards with Alicia Keys and Queen Latifah. Since that time she has appeared in the occasional piano-voice recital, including a recital of works by Schubert, Liszt, and Rachmaninoff in Costa Mesa, California accompanied by Olga Kern (February 2010) and a recital in Carmel, Indiana, accompanied by Joel A. Martin (April 2013).Swed, Mark (February 17, 2010). "Review: Battle is Back" . Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 28, 2013.The Palladium at the Center for Performing Arts. The Center presents an Evening with Kathleen Battle . Retrieved April 28, 2013.
After a 22-year absence from the Metropolitan Opera House, Battle performed a concert of spirituals at the Met in November 2016. Battle later performed at the Metropolitan Opera again on May 12, 2024 where she received a standing ovation at the beginning of the concert upon entering the stage.
Major oratorio, choir, and Symphony works in which Battle has performed as a soloist:
Opera
Battle has portrayed the following roles on stage:
Concert and recital
Battle's concert and recital repertoire encompasses a wide array of music including classical, jazz, and crossover works. Her jazz and crossover repertoire includes the compositions of Duke Ellington, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, André Previn, Rodgers and Hammerstein, and Stevie Wonder among others. She is known for her performances of African-American spirituals.
In recital, she has been accompanied on the piano by various accompanists including Margo Garrett, Martin Katz, Warren Jones, James Levine, Joel Martin, Ken Noda, Sandra Rivers, Howard Watkins, Dennis Helmrich, JJ Penna, and Ted Taylor. Collaborations with other classical artists include flautist Jean-Pierre Rampal, soprano Jessye Norman, mezzo-sopranos Frederica von Stade and Florence Quivar, violinist Itzhak Perlman, baritone Thomas Hampson, tenors Luciano Pavarotti and Plácido Domingo, trumpeter Wynton Marsalis and guitarist Christopher Parkening.
Away from the classical side, she has worked with vocalists Al Jarreau, Bobby McFerrin, Alicia Keys, and James Ingram, jazz saxophonist Grover Washington Jr., jazz pianists Cyrus Chestnut and Herbie Hancock. Battle also lent voice to the song "This Time" on Janet Jackson's album Janet and sang the title song, "Lovers", for the 2004 China action movie, House of Flying Daggers. She also performs the music of Stevie Wonder.
|
|
