Customer Reviews

Grace

5 star:		(16)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I first listened to this as a demo album at a music store and bought it on the spot. It is one of my favorite albums. Most sacred music albums seem to focus on Ava Marias, but this one has a beautiful selection from protestant traditions. There's nothing like Battle singing Handel's "Rejoice Greatly" or "O Had I Jubal's Lyre" to get you to forget all the mundane things on your "to do" list for the day. I have never heard a more beautiful interpretation of Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" either. And if her acapella rendition of "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord" doesn't stir you, I am afraid you may not have soul.

This album has depth and meaning missing in most popular media today.

This is a wonderful collection of oratorio and sacred music. Kathleen Battle shines in this album. Normally, I have found her singing to be less than interpretive, but not this time. These pieced suit her voices ideally, containing significant amounts of coloratura lines without getting too heavy. A particularly stiking addition to this collection is the gospel piece sung a cappella. A brilliant album-I strongly recommend it!

Kathleen Battle is one of the people whose lovely voice first turned me on to opera, a rather unaccessible art to the common American. It is true that you can hear her breathe, and that she tempers her notes so they are sometimes gentle, sometimes strong, but that is not a weakness. The racks are rife with stereotypical fat ladies with fat voices, bellowing with nothing but technique, but there records languish while Kathleen's sell.

The songs are all fairly main stream and include a dramatic range from happy to sad. Nothing outlandish here.

Ms. Battle has been called the most beautiful soprano voice and I would heartily agree. The clarity, the roundness, the beauty of her sound is pure femininity and grace. I studied opera and no one in school or anywhere else, has ever been on her level. Some are close, but she is magnificent. I recommend this to anyone, opera snob or first timer. You will be moved!

One of the most perfect soprano voices ever recorded. This collection offers a mix of jubilant and sacred praise. Ms. Battle has never sounded better.

For anyone who loves Kathleen Battle's voice, this is a real treasure, she never sounded better and more radiant.
This is a selection of well known sacred songs but they sound fresh and lovely when sung by Kathleen. She performs two Ave Marias, one very famous, by Bach, and another which is rarely performed, written by Mascagni, and this one is really stunning. Mozart's Laudate Dominum and Pie Jesu from Faure's Requiem are also oustanding. The spiritual "Were you there when they crucified my Lord?" is another highlight. There are several movements from Bach cantatas, including the famous Bist du bei mir, and Handel's "O Had I Jubal's Lyre" and "Rejoice greatly", they will remind you of how incredible Battle is when she sings virtuosic Baroque music.
And isn't the cover just beautiful? But get this album for the music, and you will rejoice greatly.

This music is absolutely beautiful. The backing instrumentals alone are worth the price of the CD, and the clarity and expression Kathleen Battle's singing defy description. I'm not a student of opera, so I don't have the background or vocabulary to write a suitable review. I'll just say that, to my untrained ear, "she's got grace."

In her late forties when this CD was recorded, Kathleen Battle can't be expected to emit the meltingly beautiful sounds she made during her rise to international stardom in the 1980s. Yet, she still sometimes does. Her final ringing note in Mascagni's "Ave Maria" is nothing short of sublime, and her "Were You There..." is emotionally sung, particularly the repeat of the phrase, "Were you there when they laid him in the tomb?"

But several of the tracks on this CD have been recorded by Kathleen Battle before, and to much better effect. The opening track, "Rejoice Greatly," is impressive, but not compared to Battle's performance on her Handel album with John Nelson in which she sounds much fresher, or to her performance on the complete Messiah recording with Andrew Davis. On Grace, Battle uses the exact same ornamentation she's used on every other one of her renditions of "Rejoice," but without the accuracy and jubilation of past performances. I wonder what the point of recording a third version was, when it has nothing new to offer. The tempo feels rushed, yet the singer drags the ends of phrases ("O daughter of Zion." There's also an "h" in the first occurance of the word "Zion" - it comes out "Zi-huh-yon"). And there are some splat notes that could have been easily fixed with a bit of editing: the word "and" is dreadfully flat in the phrase, "And shout, shout!"

"Jubal's Lyre" was stunning on Kathleen's 1985 recording, "Saltzburg Recital." Grace's rendition again sounds too fast, too thin, and, dare I say, too cutesy (the ornamentation is a bit much). And the word "tuneful" is incomprehensible. Is she saying "Shhteeyoonful" or "tuneful?"

"Bist du bei mir" begins under pitch.

Battle races through Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" and annoyingly scoops many phrases. I wish you would linger, Kathleen! Let us hear you caress that ascending "Amen" instead of carelessly flitting up the scale.

There's also the issue of her gaspy, nearly shrieking breaths, which other reviewers have mentioned. Oddly, it sounds as though the microphone is pressed to her mouth when she breathes, yet that it is miles away when she sings: there is an oddly distant quality to the recording.

I love Kathleen Battle and own more than 50 of her recordings. This is a beautifully packaged disc (ignore the idiotic comment in the liner notes by the pastor at the Riverside Church: "When Kathleen Battle releases a grace note into the air, it lingers over your head..." Grace notes aren't released into air, they lead into other notes. The ridiculous assertion is printed in large type in a laughable attempt to highlight the "Grace" theme) and has some wonderful photos of the diva. As far as I'm concerned, anything Battle records is worth owning. This CD, though, does not do the singer justice. For a more satisfying (indeed, spellbinding) representation of her gorgeous voice, I recommend "Kathleen Battle Sings Mozart" with Previn, "Kathleen Battle in Concert" with Levine, or the stunning "Baroque Duet" with Wynton Marsalis.

I'm a big fan of Kathleen Battle, and I love her light, honeyed voice, which is perfectly suited to many of the songs featured on this CD (e.g., Faurè's "Pie Jesu", Mozart's "Laudate Dominum" and the sublime a capella rendition of "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?"). She also excells in the more florid, Baroque pieces of this album, such as the ones by Handel, which demand accuracy, rapidity, and a mastery of dynamics. The only fault I can find (besides occasions of slight slurring of her diction and pronunciation), is her unnerving habit of taking great ragged gasps of air in between phrases. Sometimes it's bearly audible, many times its downright distracting. I don't know if that is a technique that she was taught, or something that she never learned to correct. All in all, this is a wonderful CD, and I would unhesitatingly reccommend it to other admirers of Kathleen Battle or lovers of sacred music.

Speaking from the experience of singing along with Kathy on this album (I'm a lyric/coloratura/soubrette soprano currently under tutelage of a private teacher), I can say that these trills are incredibly fun to listen to, as well as use for my own sing-along performances. "Rejoice Greatly" is supremely gorgeous, and "O Had I Jubal's Lyre" is amazing. Not only is Kathleen's voice in top form, the intrumentation is fun and time-period appropriate. I've sung Wolf's "Schlafendes Jesuskind" and Mozart's "Laudate Dominum," and I often go back to listen to these versions because Kathleen is such "silk" and the choir on the Mozart are magnificent. The two "Ave Maria"s will be familiar, but the versions are fresh and lovely. Her "Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?" is breathtaking and the "Laudamus Te" is glorious. The "Pie Jesu" features note-bending techniqes which are fabulous. And "Flobt, Mein Heiland" has a really fun "doubling" and echoing of Kathy's voice. In short, this album causes me to stretch my usage of adjectives to the limit! Ranging from Classical to Romantic to Baroque, this disc is a treat for anyone, anytime.

My only minor complaint is with the recording process: singers need to breathe, obviously, but if you listen to this album on headphones, you will be able to hear Kathy taking deep breaths occasionally. They probably had her standing too close to a delicately tuned microphone, so you can hear quick intakes of breath every so often. I've gotten used to it, but at first it was off-putting. Just listen to it on speakers; it's better that way, anyway!

'BATTLE'S VOICE IS LIKE A DIAMOND-PURE,CLEAR,RADIANT, AND BEAUTIFUL'.
Critics often comment of Battle's ability to communicate directly with her audience, and that is certainly much in evidence in this recording. We all rejoice with her as we hear her sing 'Rejoice Greatly' and experience her sorrow as she renders the lovely 'Were You There When They Crucified My Lord?'

Versatility is a hallmark of Battle's artistic personality, a trait that is demonstrated by the range of period styles in this new recording of sacred music. Half of the program consists of selections by Bach and Handel, the greats of the Baroque Era. I am personally reminded of that wonderful performance of 'Semele' at Carnegie Hall; there is presently an award-winning recording of this opera that is still available on Amazon; features a star-studded cast that includes Battle-Horne-Chance and Ramey. Over the years she has included in her recitals arias from Bach's oratorios, and has performed on a recording with Wynton Marsalis:Baroque Duet.

The operas of Mozart have been a staple in her career; her roles include: Pamina in 'The Magic Flute' etc. I loved her in that one, as well as her performance with von Karajan in Mozart's 'Coronation mass'.

Echoes of Italian 'bel canto' and 'verismo' enhance this program with selections by Rossini and Mascagni, and further variety is added with songs by Wolf and Faure.

This recording has it all: an incredibly lovely voice, a variety of music by the 'greats' under the capable direction of Robert Sadin.