Kathleen Battle - Ach, ich fühl's (live)

[rlee1976]

It is astonishingly gorgeous...

This is one of the most difficult arias for a soprano because of the subtlety with which it must be presented to bear fruit to its most highest passages.

I love you, Kathy, and I always will.

Anyone else inspired to sing opera after hearing this the first time? Can I get an AMEN?

[musicfreak08bass]

She gave me the chills, the first couple of bars, tears welled up.....She is amazing, and as Pamina OMG

[aquarely]

BRAVISIMO!!!!!!!

[MusiCALIDADEduardoSi]

¡Què preciosa voz tiene al cantar esta linda señorita! Las actuaciones, tambièn, ¡geniales!

[susans1fan]

@dugbran may I suggest you just close your eyes and LISTEN. Her singing is exquisite! She can do whatever she likes with her mouth .. It really is unimportant. It's the sound that she produces that matters and in this instance it is sublime.

Well done Kathleen!

[pedrofribeiro]

Simply Divine. Such a heavenly sound. Arguably the best rendition of Ach Ich Fuhl's ever made. Such a gem.

[lucamaxco]

IMHO the best "Ach, ich fühl's" is performed by Krista Adams Santilli, take a look at her website and you will agree with me

[faithful02u]

Wonderful.....

[pedrofribeiro]

Kathleen Battle means perfection. By far the best rendition, Mozart would be sooo pleased to see this.

[Karl4242]

Sheer perfection...

How can some people not like it?

[TheDaisycler]

somptueux non?Je reste éblouie par la très belle interprétation de Katleen BATTLE.

[dugbran]

All those contortions and odd tongue positions ultimately didn't work for her. Her voice got smaller and smaller, and eventually nearly disappeared. I don't even know whether she's still singing. This does sound gorgeous, but it's hard to watch.

[Bahia82]

@dugbran LOL, what are u talking about, she still sings, no opera voices are "small" thats always been a myth. Kathleen battle has had issues with her "attitude" but never her "voice" that has always been in fine shape

[seanboylanpiano]

the coughing is so irritating! takes away from the music.

[susans1fan]

Wow this is such a beautiful and moving performance. I really like the way Kathleen's acting is subtle and understated so as not to overshadow the music which is so poignantly beautiful. I shall certainly try and buy this recording. Thankyou for sharing this recording. 

[susans1fan]

Wow this is such a beautiful and moving performance.

[dulCISSIMA1]

she is the only Pamina for me!!!!

[kinddude]

Wunderschöne und himmlische Stimme. Thank you for sharing...

[PAMELACRUZSOTO]

Maravilhosa!!!!!!!!!!!

[fossilkid4life]

.....is she mic'ed? =/

[pedrofribeiro]

@fossilkid4life of course not!

[pedrofribeiro]

@fossilkid4life Of couse not! But there's the mic(somewhere) that's recording the audio.

[fossilkid4life]

@pedrofribeiro Well they used to mic her back in the day and the sound just sounds so very present. So I was just wondering...i think she is..lol

[lizzilyz]

omg... i really liked this performance... she's amazing! made me cry!

[musicfreak08bass]

This makes me cry, This is why Mozart is my fav....Battle in her all her innocence brings real life to Pamina

[StoryMing]

Nice acting / responses on the part of Tamino

[batshiz]

She is just a great great singer with a rare quality of voice. method or no method of tongue or whatever, what she has in her voice, interpretation, musicality and feelings very few others can do if they can at all. i just listened over here to few other very celbrated singers to the same aria, nobody touched my heart as much as she does.

[Babs22h]

this tamino is such a bad actor

[StoryMing]

@Babs22h Okay, maybe I have seen better acting; but he's better than a lot of the other Tamino's I'm finding here on YouTube. At least you can tell that he's responding to what she's singing; some of them, he really doesn't seem to care.

[notes731]

Oh my gosh! Gorgeous!

[TheCandiva]

No matter what we think of her...just listen to the tones. I agree with elisarig on her being an enigma, weird tongue positions, but clear diction, wonderful tone...she is beyond definition.

[MrSkylark1]

@TheCandiva Perhaps, the odd mouth positions are due to an affectation. Oddly enough, her idol after whom she patterned herself, Reri Grist, did not do this. Note the last flat note Llistening to LOTTE SCHOENE sing this, is worthwhile

[urgrad03]

@MrSkylark1: You are nitpicking, sir. If you have nothing else but facial affectations and one flat note to talk about, then go find them in any other viodeo of any other singer... they all have that problem from time to time. Oh, and if we all had wanted to listen to Lotte Schoene, then we would have typed her name in the search box instead of Battles.

[MrSkylark1]

@urgrad03

That is because the average individual is not possessed of any knowledge to

the Golden Period of Singing, no longer existent.

[urgrad03]

@MrSkylark1: I fully respect the singers of yesteryear, and can appreciate how their efforts continue to provide a foundation upon which newer singers thrive. But there are new singers with incredible talent and mastery of the art, and this happens to be such a talent. I couldn't care less about her Met antics, as they were no worse than many, many, many other singers. But I do care about that lovely voice.

[brodsky96]

1.000 **************************** ...........

[Umbracaseus]

It's been said that her voice is 'like spinning diamonds in mid-air" I couldn't agree more. Her tone is just.... AH! I can't even put it into words. It pulls my heart!!! Wonderful wonderful. I hope one day my voice develops a similar colour to it.

[SopranoLeggero]

I loved!

[4piglite]

Pretty friggin awesome. A truly great American soprano.

[Babs22h]

she sounds heartbreaking here excellent job

[castodivo]

She just breaks my heart. And listen how she just lands right on top of those notes -- like a bowie on the water. It doesn't get any better than this.

[BachBachBachBachBach]

@castodivo Two words: Perfect pitch

[elisarig]

I am always in awe of how she created such heavenly sounds and relatively clear diction, given the odd contortions and odd tongue positions she makes. She is an enigma, and her technique is at odds with any singing methods that I've studied or read about. And yet....listen to her, she is fabulous! I am amazed.

[FoggyRoad81]

it's wierd right? I can't think of an explanation for it either. But here we are listening to a beautiful performance. I have wondered though if this way of singing (which she developed after she became a big star) hindered her coloratura. Check out vids of her from the mid 80s or before, no wierd mouth shapes.

[urgrad03]

You know, we always talk about how we wish we'd been there at some Wagner or Verdi opera for this or that grand performance. But I wish I had been there at the Met this day... because this singing is divine.

[VINCENZO3002]

dorothea rosmann!

[DoryViolet]

yes I like roschmann better.... this one is special too though. Very pleasant. 5.12 OMG OMG!!!!!! I loved her acting also before she started singing. So emotional!

[katyacomequickly]

this feels especially wonderful to listen to :)

[dellyree]

My god. That is the most beautiful rendition of Ach, Ich Fuhl's ever. No scooping---more of a flip at 5:12.

[Bahia82]

If you think this was beautiful you should have heard her in the early 80's perform this, just amazing

[SopranoLeggero]

Wonderful Pamina!

[leomulder]

Shoudn't he be playing the flute?

[romarius2005]

Wow! Good German, pretty sound, good performance.

[jm27gp]

compeld is right - one of the purest, clearest soprano voices i've ever heard - she's stunning - there's no scooping here - what you're probably hearing is, e.g., at 5:12, when she hits that incredible pianissimo jump, she's got an "r" that she rolls before she actually hits the note - that's not a scoop though

[mimsings]

If a director wants a balls out loud n' fierce Queen, then Pamina might be cast with a meatier spinto... if the queen is cast differently with a lazer-like fiercely lighter coloratura sound, then Pamina might be cast with a lyric soprano. It is up the director and whatever the twisted aural vision they have. I wouldn't over think this, it really in the grand scheme of things doesn't matter!

[mimsings]

What the hell, the one guarantee in live performances in large halls: coughing and lots of it. I swear, some people save all of their cough for when the ballad or aria is being sung... jesus. Being and audio engineer and having to listen to this shit, doesn't help either. Big deal.

[Aniretak205]

I'm not really hearing 'scooping' per se. Then again, I think of scooping being a really ugly, messy sound, which I'm not sure Ms. Battle is capable of.

Perhaps the director wanted more pathos, so it sounds kind of 'scoopy'/emotional?

Nevertheless, this is probably the most lovely rendition of this aria on record.

[compeld2sing]

What a beautiful voice with a special ring to it, that you don't hear in every voice.

[mrportobello]

haha. i'm singing a lot of mozart lately and my coaches kill me when i scoop at all.... i guess when you're a superstar you can do what you like!

[EvilKorbinDallas]

Yeah thanks alot its helping me with my German learing skills XD

[pearlmuth3]

thanks for this