Customer Reviews

Spirituals in Concert

5 star:		(15)
4 star:		(2)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(1)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

I love every piece on this CD! In addition to the incomparable Battle and Norman as dueling sopranos, I also enjoyed the very American arrangement of "Great Day," which was reminiscent of Aaron Copland. I have to say that Battle seems to edge Norman (who clearly felt the spirit in "You Can Tell the World") in their respective solo pieces. Battle's renditions of "Over my Head," "Oh Glory," and "Talk about a Child" were luminous.

I am always moved by the weight of history when I consider the strength and determination of the people who created and believed in the central message of salvation in this beautiful Christian music. It's no wonder that African slaves adopted Christianity so readily. They had to believe that what came after their earthly suffering would be paradise compared to their oppressive lives in the New World.

This is a fabulous CD. The ensemble pieces are wonderful, especially the opening jubilee spiritual "In that Great Gettin' Up Mornin'." This is an excellent beginning for what is an outstanding concert, and the divas are at their best. Particularly moving are renditions of "Over My Head/L'il David" and "Ride on King Jesus." Miss Sylvia Lee's arrangement of "Scandalize My Name" is engaging, soulful, and entertaining, especially in view of the way that Miss Battle and Miss Norman interpret it. The late, great Thomas Kerr's arrangement of "Great Day" allows both sopranos to show their voices off to high advantage. All in all, an enjoyable compilation and expression of the American spiritual.

Each selection is filled with vocal perfection and brilliant orchestration. This shows the marriage of classical symphonic music with deeply soulful spirituals.

This concert represents two of our nation's best sopranos in absolute top form. Each woman knew that the other woman could have stolen the show and put forth their best effort in this performance. Battle, in just about each song, used her upper register to the fullest with plenty of high c's and d's to please any Battle fan. Norman used the sheer power of her voice and soared above the chorus and orchestra with little effort. These women harmonized beautifully and sparked each other; Battle answered Norman's high notes with even higher notes (listen to the end of "Great Day" for example), and Norman's answer for Battle's high notes were again, power and strength. This cd demonstrates that both of these ladies had an obvious love for this music, for it is well showcased here. Some of the highlights include "Oh What A Beautiful City", "Gospel Train" , "Scandalize My Name" and the standout to me is the finale, "He's Got the Whole World in His Hands". I strongly recommend this cd.

It is hard to complain about any recording featuring the incomparable Jessye Norman and the beautiful voice of Kathleen Battle, who can reach unbelievably high notes. The numbers they do together, including Great Day and Gospel Train, are rousing. My only reservation about the disc is that the sound quality isn't the greatest (it seems to be recorded at a very low volume and is a little muddled in parts particularly in the ensemble numbers). For people willing to buy several CDs of spirituals I strongly recommend it, if you want just one I would recommend Ms. Norman's solo recital or Marian Anderson's.

A friend of mine insisted that I listen to this recording of the meeting between two opera greats. Having long been a fan of Norman, I was anxious to hear her. To my surprise, the vey gifted Miss Battle complimented and COMPLEMENTED the divine Miss Norman to make a superlative listening experience. All the selections are worthy of inclusion in the set with the humorous "Scandalize My Name" allowing both talents to have fun with each other and the most appreciative audience.

I was standing in a department store in Paris in 1991 when I saw this cd cued up as a demo. I slipped the headphones on and 45 minutes later I was awed by the beauty and pace of this CD as I stood there. I'm not a big fan of opera voices especially female voices...but the way these two ladies brought these sprituals to life was heavenly. As I listened I tried to imagined what it must have been liked to sit there at Carnegie and witness this event. This is one of those significant musical events that is simply unforgettable. That feeling is captured on this cd. I loved it so much that I purchased the VHS video of it (I don't think it is available anymore) I'm now waiting for the DVD to come out. You can not go wrong with owning this cd!

Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle are the spearheads in this ensemble presenting gospels in symphonic arrangement. The music and the arrangements for the two singers, chorus, and symphonic orchestra are well done, electrifying, and inspiring. Choir and orchestra are well trained, and there is no need to mention in detail the great bandwidth in the voices of the two soloists. Additionally, the CD is made from a live recording with an enthusiastic audience, cheering probably the performing ensemble to even better results.

Nonetheless, there are some minor points which keep me from granting the full-score 5-stare rating: One might be the symphonic arrangement itself. It is hard to tell in how far these pieces are still original gospel music, or is it another case of Rock/Pop/... goes classic? In some pieces, especially during loud and enthusiastic parts, the clarity of the sound begins to suffer, and some kind of "noise stew" buries anything besides the leading voices. I am not sure whether the recording is to blame for that or the conductor James Levine. But all in all, it is a refreshing and motivating collection of music.

You know, after owning both the CD and VHS of this performance, and having been coached by Sylvia Olden Lee herself, it is no wonder why spiritual mean so much to me. And these two ladies bare their souls and bring these masterpieces to life! WOW!!!

... takes it on and puts it on the canvas by the end of the first round.

I'm going to be the dissenting voice here: thank goodness I signed this disk out of the public library 'cause I'm sure not going to listen to it twice.

There is nothing wrong with the performances. Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle sing beautifully, and there's no problem with the pick-up orchestra under James Levine.

The problem, and it's huge, is the conception of the show and the musical arrangements. To make the video marketable, I suppose, the producers decided that the concert had to be big: big names, big arrangements, big effects. So we have eighteen spirituals given the musical theatre treatment, with a philharmonic chorus providing chain-gang sound effects, big brass, and big percussion -- including a chinese gong. A chinese gong in a spiritual??? Spare me! Almost every track turns out sounding like either a curtain-raiser or a big, end-of-act production number with cute and predictable modulations between some of the stanzas and the sort of curly-cue orchestral ornamentation typical of Broadway shows.

And you know what? It all kills the spirituals stone dead. The spiritual is one of those musical forms where less is more and very little is best of all. That's how they started, after all. That's how and why they worked for their original audiences, and that's why they were powerful enough to make the transition from folk song to art song. If you want to hear Battle sing spirituals that are irresistible, listen to the set on her Salzburg recital CD, also with Levine (ASIN B00000E31B). There, the music speaks for itself and speaks with a strength and a beauty that the tracks on this disk never approach.