Kathleen Battle - Ah! non giunge

[dukadimantova]

not for me. lacks fire

[Dianaemanuel]

What an exquisite voice! Such a gorgeous smooth tone - no hardness or edge.  Delightful!

[lginpdx]

True. One of the sweetest lyric voices ever. However, you can hear that the upper range does not come easy. It should all "sound" effortless.

[opera46]

imagine to pay good money to listen to THAT...

[Drelnis]

I don't understand why conductors choose to utilize the traditional cuts. I think those are the best parts of a coloratura aria. and @DottoreJojo, what was wrong with the coda?

[glpb24]

glorious singing , one of the most beautifull voice of the century.

[pheelme]

I love the soprano voice. I love them all. I don't know if you would consider her a soubrette, or a light lyric soprano, but she is amazing. I enjoy her so much.

[DottoreJojo]

It sounds pathetic and annoying, this kind coda gives coloratura singing a bad name. Great new language she invented too. If this live... then I'm impressed nonetheless. What? No Chorus at end?

[TerrancePogue]

she did that

[bcom11]

this is phenomenal. i'm so impressed!!!!! the best!

[rossinianodoc]

Magnifico...

[TheUgreenagreen]

RIGHT-ON! WILLTHEBEST1!!! why do 'those' who criticize Ms. Kathleen Battles are probably jealous any way. are those critiicize her, flawless? have they ever done anything wrong and regret it later?

[Tosca3211]

I like it... Another coloratura soprano (there are hundreds) But I think that every singer has his assets. Anyway, I just heard in youtube Adelaida Negri´s version, live, and it´s like night and day (a real and huge voice in comparation with this one)

[tneprescintr]

what a stunning voice! really superb.

[bkmustang07]

not bad considering she is a soubrette

[acitipo]

Muy buena version del a Battle, propio de una ligera de coloratura, en el tiempo rapido, que solo lo hace la Sutherland y la Sumi Jo, Bravo!!!!!

[pnyc1969]

What's wrong with discussing her persona and behavior? She's a public figure and we are the listening--not to mention the buying--public. An out of control diva is fine in my book. It kind of makes me like her more. Besides, has she ever done anything that Barbra Streisand or Diana Ross hasn't? Even Joni Mitchell is pretty snippy. Risking sounding sexist, it seems to be pretty common behavior among lady artists.

[willthebest1]

whether Kathleen was rude or what ever--I am pretty sure she is not the first to get rude and will not be the last to get rude--you CRITICS are sick--trying to run down a woman based on her conduct--after you point your finger see how many are pointed back at you--you critics are soooooooo childish when it comes to the art--she is fabulous and you are upset because you can not take that away---that my friend is the BOTTOM LINE

[GoldenAgeSunshine]

What is this? Operetta?

[rrgallo]

It's the very end of Bellini's La Sonnambula.

[tCrOMez1990]

no Bellini La Sonnambula, a n opera lol

[santaclaus99ro]

i didn't like her interpretation....

[marioegorga]

The rudest singer ever !!!

[loui0008]

Beautiful voice, supple and fresh.

[gramana]

Love her voice! Its so light ant bright,cool :)

[jazzflutist]

Me too.

[sincrotto]

Splendida interpretazione per sentimento, colore ed accenti. Un'Amina moderna e passionale.

[ejrouge]

My God, she really needs help with her italian.

[Bahia82]

Let me guess your a kathleen battle hater, and let me guess again you perfer ms "off key, always cracking, overrated" Maria callas?

[nicevidbro]

theres no need to attack other singers to express your disagreement. That's just tacky.

[romarius2005]

actually she was working on this role for future performances before being fired from the MET. Roles she was working on was Konstanze, Melisande, Amina, Marie (she sung Marie at SFO) just to name a few.

[BeauTenor]

Konstanze? That would have been a joke. You'd need a bigger voice than this to make it through and sound believable. Konstanze is heavier than people think it is. Even a singer as great as Sutherland turned it down.

[romarius2005]

Yeah, I know. When she got to the long High C6, she cut it short, and continued the note. I have the private recording somewhere in my collection of Battle singing Konstanze's Big Aria. It sounded ok considering the size of her voice. I don't think that she would have sung this at the MET....She would have sung it in a smaller Opera house of course.

[meltzerboy]

Sutherland turned it down at the Met because at that stage of her career she felt the tessitura would have been too high. If she had been offered the role earlier, she probably would have accepted it.

[kgarmaker123]

@meltzerboy The role is also for a younger girl than Sutherland was by that time.

[meltzerboy]

Maybe, however many of Sutherland's roles were for younger girls, and she sang them later in her career, for example, Lucia, Amina, and Elvira.

[moghedien13]

konstanze?

[blackmaestro]

wright& jrouge have either of you clowns have a contract with the MET. I mean principal even though you probably could make chorus either? I didn't think so before you criticize greatness. Sure you studied with a teacher who read about singing @ La Scala instead of living like people like Ms. Battle. Think about how much work it takes to sing the repertoire each night like its new and fresh-think before you CRITICIZE GREATNESS. CHOW!

[16thCenturyArt]

Very good. Much Better than Dessay's rendition of the same aria

[luigipava]

pronuncia penosa ( ai miei sessicredo appena?) xD da ridere

[FoggyRoad81]

I really didn't know she had this in her, amazing! I don't know if she could've ever done it live, but this is great nonetheless.

[DoinItClassy]

I'm not usually a fan of Kathleen, but she sounds really good here.

[beanwuzhere]

I love her light tone. It's incredibly dextrous.

[yesblanche]

This is really fabulous...I love Kathleen battle...but I'm actually extremely impressed and even a bit surprised by her tremendous work on this aria.

[yodavidnavarro]

Great cadenza!

[mysteryman2580]

i love her embellishments, and @ 1:23, was not expecting that! i get goosebumps everytime i listen to this.

[lalagonegaga]

Exactly. Nobody does this like Battle. The entire aria is fantastic. And now you tell me - how can I accept anyone alse in this role? This is too good for its own good. :)

[guiradobrasil]

@mysteryman2580 I agree, i just love that part, no matter what people say about her, she's among the best! I find her light voice and high notes just unique, few singer give me goosepumps. she is one of them! Greetings from Brazil!

[agnellodei]

Lovely, is there a "ah non credea"?

[toberhouse]

Response to agnellodei re "An non credea"

It's on her CD, Kathleen Battle: Bel Canto

Arias

Don't know if its still in stock, might try e-Bay

(She does a very good job on it btw)

[sour7lemon]

Wow that wasn't bad! I don't like her embellishments, but it was really good!

[DieguitodeCastru]

perfect

[skitzo429]

i LOVE KB, shes my favourite lyric ever

[FABRIZIO82]

Superbe,merci.

[Brownmuscle2007]

outstanding!

[mbaggarly]

PERFECTION! MY FAVORITE AMINA