Kathleen Battle - Una Voce Poco Fa (part 2)

[golantrev1]

sempre grande !

[bjmiceli]

This is lovely. I know everyone hates her now, but I had two of my best evenings at the opera hearing Battle as Mozart's Susanna and Handel's Cleopatra. Just perfect in both cases. And I enjoy her recordings very much. Too bad she could not work out her issues and still be before the public. By the way, there is more than one way to sing something well!

[Tusson07]

Rosina is sung by a mezzo (doing low notes: Cecilia Bartoli, Elina Garanca) or a colorature (doing high notes: Kathleen Battle, Beverly Sills) Callas who could sing mezzo (Dalila/Carmen) and colorature (Lakmé) sang Rosina with low notes and high notes and is THE Rosina of XXth century

[guiradobrasil]

Thank you so much for uploading, hers is a truly special voice, in my humble opinion she's got the most distinctive high notes. Greetings from Brazil.

[GosfordAbercrombie]

she does so much masterful work with this aria!!!!!!

[winsome1235]

I've listened to Maria Callas and Beverly Sills perform this and I would rate Beverly Sills first, Battle a close second and Callas last. Sorry, but thats the way I hear it. Yes, Callas is expressive, but I don't think her voice is a lovely as Battle's and certainly not Sills at least not when performing this piece.

[SandrineSoprano]

Yes, cute; but no bottom notes, agree....

[Ellevius]

Miss at Ease, more than one way.

[Ellevius]

Adorable, easy singing, full of life.

[TheUgreenagreen]

Brava!

[dmpetrick]

Brava! I saw this at the met and was enchanted with her voice--the set slowly turns around to reveal her singing from the upper window. I was new to opera and Kathleen has something special--her voice is so clear and she controls it so it's not always full blast. I hardly think black women have dominated opera, although I think opera has provided opportunity for minorities. Blacks dominate popular music which is why all those white kids on american idol sound like R&B singers.

[bachdiva]

Just for the record, for the most part, Miss Battle is using Estelle Liebling's ornamentations, just as Beverly Sills and any number of other coloratura sopranos have done. She's not just riffin' on her own inspiration up there! So, if you have trouble finding the melody, it's probably because you haven't heard very many ornamented versions.

[Babs22h]

I AGREE with you stuey.... there are so few black female singers and even fewer black male opera singers in the big time today...more than 3/4 of the list of people gOLDEN THROAT NAMED DONT EVEN SING ANYMORE!:-)where are there female or male black newcomers!!!!???

[eva0907]

@Babs22h Look up Lawrence Brownlee, he just performed opposite Renee Fleming in Armida, very talented.

[goldenthroat86]

How many great American WHITE female opera singers can you name from the same period? Renee Fleming, Marilyn Horne, Anna Moffo, Beverly Sills...Oh...I guess that's it. Black American women have indeed done quite well in opera since the 60's

Marian Anderson sang at The Metropolitan Opera in NYC in the '50's. Please get your facts straight!

[Babs22h]

@ mbaggarly what a fan! you recorded this performance with a camcorder? thats awwesome and thank you very much!

[goldenthroat86]

Kathy Battle, Marian Anderson, Leontyne Price, Florence Quivar, Grace Bumbry, Martina Arroyo, Shirley Verrett, Jessye Norman, Denyce Graves, Barbara Hendricks, Leona Mitchell, Reri Grist, Roberta Alexander, Betty Allen. These are only the ones I can think of off the top of my head.

How many WHITE american female opera divas can you name from the same period?

[inthedesert2008]

I thought BArtoli was good,and she is, but you know I think I prefer Battle - silkier voice.

[goldenthroat86]

Please don't pull the race card people. Black woman have NOT had to go" through the back door" in the field of opera for some time. Indeed...black women have DOMINATED opera since the 1960's.

[sjyarbro]

Bravo Ms. Battle so lyrically correct ,,,BEAUTIFUL!

[willthebest1]

a black woman with an attitude around all these racists --sounds great --maybe she did not want to come through the back door anymore--like Josephine Baker got tired---

[bruceagogox]

LOVE her so much, such a sweet beautiful voice. Anyone care to elaborate on her supposedly being "difficult" to work with? I keep hearing everywhere, but I don't have a clue what anyone's saying.

[TaylorComstock]

I have to say, her high notes are pretty much flawless, but I have never seen a soprano smile like she does when they hit high notes like that. Still, she's pretty much perfect...

[SunnyBoaz]

Oh, Man! Perfect pitch and silky velvetty voice, and flawless performance!

[thomastmwc]

no no mbaggarly, in my humble opinion, Gruberova might b the best Rosina

[skitzo429]

theyre both sopranos, singing alterated version of the role for soprano, Rossini wrote it as a Contralto/Mezzo role

[meseorszag]

bravissima!

[oprah22]

vocal perfection

[singcrossover]

She certainly is never boring.

[katumsings]

::sigh:: Battle is amazing. What fun to watch :D

[youkali22]

this is just wonderful - she made this aria her own, full of Cs, wonderful trills, superb bel canto improv. Many thanks for sharing this!

[Loismustdie26]

She's almost too perfect a voice, there's almost very little Timbre and i'm not sure I like it... I've no complaint other than that though, my god she can sing every note exact, and a great actress

[mightabeenking]

that's always been my complaint about her. it always sounds just a little too perfect. lol. always exceptional, but...just too. lol it sounds petty but it's true

[Babs22h]

having just checked what she is indeed singing about... since i dont know italian she seems much to happy..i dont know ... other opinions?

[743sfm]

Buena voz, buena interprtaciòn, pero ¡què tipa tan pesada!

[MisterSoprano]

Yes, she's good, but very heavy caracter...

[isabelbleuet]

Oh la la la la la la laaaaa! Quelle merveille! bravo!!

[stingabe]

Sing on sista.....hate on haters!!! lol

[LuisTavinho]

It was perfect*

[sevenevanheaven]

What an entertainer!!!!!!!

[Babs22h]

SHES the only person I have noticed to play the the role young... which I believe rosina is supposed to be a teen? brava

[Drelnis]

You don't really know much about opera do you? :)

Lucia is supposed to be under 18, so is Madama Butterfly, and also Manon, and I'd imagine Violetta, Elvira, Mimi, Tosca, Liu, Elisabetta, and many others not to be too old as well, certainly not over 30 in their original setting

Sopranos don't really have "the voice" until they're atleast 30, generally. This means it is general practice to sing any role at any age (unless of course you're a baritone). Freni sang Joan of Arc, who's 17, at age 68

[Babs22h]

as always a very endearing performance especiall the final cadenza!!!!!! I agree that I did almost lost the original melody of the tune because of many ornamentations.... but how lovely to be lost in it!

[oprah22]

flawless as always miss Battle

[dickdona]

I love her singing but you can't outdo Callas on this piece.

[tararep]

yeah, on the youtube video with her in concert and the part where she does an amazing diminuendo in the last part of a note she holds! perfection...

[laumedonte]

I like the voice and everything, but does she really need to do so much ornamentation? at some point it kind of mislaid the story and made me forget about the aria completely. Ive never heard it with so much addition and pretty sure none of it is on the partition.

[brigidbehave]

Actually, the partition does have most of that (she does only a few variations). Have you heard Cecilia Bartoli or Lily Pons do it? They employ as much, or more ornamentation.

That's part of what opera's about, you know! :)

[MossfloweRussa]

She's coming to sing in our city soon.

[chijchiy]

So tragic that she died.

[operamusicfan]

What are you talking about? She's not dead.

[Buckdance10]

That is hilarious how wrong chilchiy is. I just laughed a lot.

[brightboy86]

LOL!!!

[brightboy86]

She is not dead!!

[mikathelittle]

Though the technique is overwhelming, I don't like when she shows she can hit higher notes than what is written in the partition. she's kinda showing off and it anoids me a bit...

[aadamy]

I'm breathless with tears in my eyes.

What I would give to see that in person!

[Brownmuscle2007]

Kathleen Battle is a lyric coloratura soprano. Frankly, I'd rather hear bring voice to operatic arias than most singing today. Enough said on the negative gossipy carping from others. Her music speaks for itself! There is truly no other voice like hers. It is silvery, smooth, expressive and gives us excitement in its runs,trills, and flirts!Brava Kathleen!

[geddafan1]

She must have done a lot of "pop" music. Those "pop"scoopings permeate everything that I hear do. By the way, she is not a coloratura soprano! E-flat is her limit and she only occasionally forays into the very top. I'd say a lyric w/ an E-flat and some facility.

[AmatureComposer]

Listen to the first of this aria by her and you may notice an interpolated short high e natural in one of the cadenzas.

[cdnguy2b]

She actually sang Blonde and one of the arias has 3 high Es...got it on CD and another version from a MET broadcast in the early 80's.

[raigekimaru]

I think she is more of a dramatic coloratura. Beautiful voice!

[TheAleph74]

Sorry to correct you but Kathleen's register (on stage) goes up to a high E natural, which means that off-stage (vocalizing), it probably goes to a high F sharp at least. And, to the best of my knowledge, she has never been a "pop" singer. The portamento (scooping) that you are talking about is used by so many operatic singers (Fleming, Georghiou, Caballe) plus 99% of the tenors when they go to the high notes.

[Babs22h]

scooping to highnotes regardless of the number of outstanding singers who in fact do it or how popular it may have become with modern singers is "cheating" to get to a high note. and typical of pop stars. PERIOD!:-)

[TheAleph74]

You are right. Portamento, scooping or whatever you want to call it is not right in the books, but like I said most singers do it. On the other hand, Kathy's use of partamentos here is not excessive like this youtube user mentioned. Now, if you want to hear what excessive use of scooping is about listen to Gruberova.

[Babs22h]

OKAY aleph since you are cute I wont argue with you anymore:-) but I love Grubernova though her voice is screamy at times... its funny I am willing to forgive her scooping because well she did have such a wonderful interpretation of coloratura roles like zERbinetta. have you seen it? outstanding. Battle's version is exquisite as well.

[TheAleph74]

Hehe, thanks for the cute part! Actually,though I am not a big fan of the color of her voice, I believe Gruberova has been one of the most amazing coloratura sopranos EVER. Her 1912 Zerbinetta is unmatched, in my opinion.

[JuillHope17]

it's not cheating, wtf.

[Babs22h]

dude it is... opera singers are supposed to hit notes straight on! not slide up to a note... okay not "cheating" it still amazes that they can even sing that high or whatever but the fact remains...

[ruffnation]

Every note in opera is supposed to be hit "straight on!"? You know nothing about opera, please stop typing. LOL!

[TrebleB4Mi]

I'm going to agree... has he never heard of a Portmamento?

[tritone212]

you're about half right. in the earlier styles, namely from the renaissance and baroque (i.e. monteverdi and purcell) to late classical (mozart and gluck), "sliding" is not all that common, and usually frowned upon. when the bel canto period (bellini, rossini, donizetti) came about it became stylistically appropriate to "slide" as you call it, and it continued through verdi and puccini where it is practically necessary. this counts as bel canto so kathleen is safe.

[Drelnis]

No, not really. Everybody scoops, though Battle might have been a little excessive. But again, Callas, during her early audition with Seraphim was commented to "use strange portamenti"; Sumi Jo, who has immaculate technique and was loved by both Karajan and Solti, did in fact use "scooping" during few of her notes, including Cs and above, for a characterisation effect. Still, people like Sutherland or Caballe I haven't seen scooping once in their lives.

[JoFrSc]

Vanity Fair published a brilliant but devastating and damning article about her about 15 years ago. The kind of article one never forgets.

[Contratenor18mlg]

Maravilloso...!! Bravo!!

[littlechollo]

A stunning example of a coloratura soprano. I just don't like the rasping noise she makes when she breathes.

[Babs22h]

adorable!

[Valkyrie91a]

Do not care for her interpretation of this aria at all. For me, it is notable only for hurting my ears.

[Valkyrie91a]

Do not care for this interpretation at all.

[HappyHounde]

She makes too many weird faces for me. I prefer Bubbles.

[nebraskabear31]

I agree with jdeslauriers - I worked with KB twice - she is COMPLETLY out of control, she has let everything go to her head, and she doesn't respect anyone elses talent or abilities. She truly is exceptional, but I can't stand her.

[brianmdusa]

exceptional? a lot of mezzos are a lot better than she is. and she has the most repulsive behavior. a lot of mezzos' interpretations of this arias are a lot better than what she did here. she is good for a "soubrette!"

[rad9ballmt]

Her voice is beautiful and her high notes are clear and true, but she is unable to hit the lower notes in this aria -- at 1:05 she goes up an octave to compensate (see Maria Callas's version for comparison).

[mbaggarly]

If you listen to her Barbiere CD with Domingo, she hits the low notes very clearly (not with the resonating power of Callas, but she is able and capable of hitting the lower notes). Besides, Battle is not known for her lower register so she shows off her higher range here in this live performance.

[rad9ballmt]

That certainly makes sense. Perhaps you are right. I did really enjoy this performance -- thanks so much for sharing it!

[jmahlon]

@rad9ballmt That's unimportant. Its Bel Canto. Its traditional to modify line to suit your voice. Especially in roles such as these that both Sopranos and Mezzos perform.

[Prissie27]

How sweet!!

[roycey32]

she's looks like a beatiful, opera singing, halle berry. just gorgeous!

[jdeslauriers]

but she was just a witch to work with!

[willthebest1]

jdeslauriers---why do speak that way? really was she a witch to work with --- tell me how?

[jdeslauriers]

would show up late to rehearsals. Would not allow her understudies to watch rehearsals. Would storm off the stage when something technical went wrong. Would not take direction. Minde you, this was all in the last 1/2 of her career... I remember her as pretty cool. AFter that, she got incredibly insecure.

[NART65]

Try reading molto agitato by johanna fiedler who is daughter of leader of the boston pops. If what is written about her is true then she was a big bitch but I do not care she had/has a great voice. A pity about her behaviour because the other opera houses will not touch her now. A real pity.

[Syllicat]

She has such a beautifle voice!

[bruceagogox]

you haven't heard a true rosina acted through song until you've hear beverly sill's rosina.

[justjoey79]

I do have to agree. While Battle is by far my favorite singer, Sills portrayed Rosina more believably. I absolutely adore Sills as Rosina.She has a "tender roughness" about her that just makes my heart melt.

[nkliewer]

Brava! I had never seen her perform -- what a great opera performer.

[royalbattle]

I happen to own the entire opera and have seen it at least a million times. She is great, Rockwell is great, Dara, Nucci and everyone else is just great. Her characterization is perfect as she has the voice, figure and acting intelligence to carry it off.

[jondavwal]

She had some trouble carrying at the Met as Zerbinetta. Her Susanna was simply the best ever sung ever. Her Cleopatra was actually perfectly sung and she unleashed more power than I'd ever heard her in any other role at the Met. All in all, despite the psycho she was, I miss her singing very much.

[loloi]

Nice high notes, I just find her runs not as crisp as others who have taken the role as well, especially considering that this is a Rossini opera.

[drdre333]

Perhaps you're more used to the aspirate coloratura of Bartoli, etc. That machine gun coloratura is not to everyone's taste. I'd much rather hear the smoother coloratura of Battle, or even better the perfect coloratura of Sutherland - any day.

[loloi]

I'm not really fon dof Bartoli's aspirate coloratura. What I'm used to, though, are the impeccable fioriture of great coloratura singers like Sutherland and Gruberova, who have very precise instruments. Cheers!!!

[Babs22h]

UMM i would hardly think sutherland and grubernova were the only precise singers. bartoli's "aspirate" coloraura is remarkably agile and precise...just my two cents

[boipussi]

Hmmm I think she went overboard with the ornamentation and improvisation.

[drdre333]

Not that bad really. She wasn't far off from the original, just did a couple scales, interpolated notes and such. Singers like Gruberova are the ones that do way too much (overindulgent), and consistently so.

[steainsy]

Later in her career she sang half voice, maybe that was it.

[primobasso]

Kathleen Battle was a favorite at Covent Garden. As a matter of fact, she won the prestigious Laurence Olivier Award for her portrayal of Zerbinetta at Covent Garden. Yes, her voice was light, but it carried quite well.

[boipussi]

Her Zerbinetta sounds like sliding violin.

[primobasso]

Sliding violin? What does that mean?

[boipussi]

Hmm I suppose you've never heard student violinists. They move their left hand up and down after the coup d'archet... it's very unpleasant. I mean her Zerbinetta doesn't sound like anything here.

[sexybcl21]

Wow I never knew she was a coloratura! She's just so amazing, GOD truely did bless her with a gift. She can act really well too!

[tjonesmusicman]

well I don't think she's too cutesy. I think she's just into the role and scene. I mean it's the most I've seen any opera singer being expressive during an aria. In fact in my opinion I think her interpurtation of the aria and scene is better than Cecilia Bartoli. But it's just a different approach to it.

[D9l3tt]

Who wouldn't be in love with yourself if you had a voice like that!

[nectenorboi09]

Ick... the singing is pretty enough in some place, but really, could she be any more cutesy? It's sweet enough to give me a stomach ache. Plus she's so obviously in love with the sound of her own voice that it totally destroys any attempt at interpretation.

[TheAleph74]

Do you blame her? If you could sound like her, I am sure you would also fall in love with the sound of your own voice.

[deetle83]

I know you posted this comment ages ago but I just found this clip and you said EXACTLY everything I was thinking. It's way too cutesy and I hate it when a singer is so in love with the sound of her own voice that she doesn't give the listener the chance to fall in love with it.

[bobsopera]

KB is one my favorites, but this is not her best performance, though the smashing voice comes out clear. Try the Fruhlingsstimmen Voices of Spring, Ave Maria, or Rosenkavalier ones poseted here. Perfect, they are.

[Babs22h]

battle is always cutesyregardless of song! the women is cute and tiny whatelse is she on stage for but to look cute and sing amazingly? i agree her acting style is a bit overly sweet at times but...she is none other than herself..and how can youfault confdidence like that!? Brava!

[mrrk]

Could her voice be heard in the Met, because when she sang at Covent Garden it didnt carry at all.

[SingerVideos]

Her voice carried gorgeously. She didn't get to be a superstar by being inaudible. I don't know anything about Covent Garden, but the Met acoustics are superb.

[crybabyland]

Covent Garden is a place where if you don't have a bigger voice, you won't be heard. I can imagine she didn't get much sound out there but the Met is pretty easy to get sound in. Kathleen still has a magnificent instrument!

[jdeslauriers]

wow, really? I have never sung at the met, but from what everyone I know that has sung there says, it sucks. They feel like they're pushing all the time to fill the size of the house. Hope I get to figure it out one day! I heard KB there, she was a little hard to be heard. heard her in Vienna, was divine.

[ChagoWilson]

Absolute perfection in soprano voice. The ease with which Kathleen Battle executes the highest notes is joy to the ears. Just magnificent!!

[D9l3tt]

This has always been one of my favorite videos from the Live from the Met collection. She sounds so gorgeous here... what a truly ravishing voice! The conductor is an idiot.... shows that "even just" Rossini needs a musician in the pit.