Kathleen Battle at Carnegie Hall

Anonymous (Composer), Gustave Charpentier (Composer), George Gershwin (Composer), George Frederick Handel (Composer), Franz Liszt (Composer), Wolfgang Amadeus Mozart (Composer), Sergey Rachmaninov (Composer), Johann II Strauss (Composer), Richard [1] Strauss (Composer), American Traditional (Composer), Spiritual Traditional (Composer), Margo Garrett (Performer), Kathleen Battle (Performer)

Product Details

• Performer: Margo Garrett, Kathleen Battle
• Composer: Anonymous, Gustave Charpentier, George Gershwin, George Frederick Handel, Franz Liszt, et al.
• Audio CD (August 11, 1992)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Deutsche Grammophon
• ASIN: B000001GG5
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.6 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (18 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #77,227 in Music (See Bestsellers in Music)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

9 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars E X C E L L E N T ! ! !, September 1, 2002

By	"adelefalk" (Overland Park, Kansas United States) - See all my reviews

Kathleen Battle, a woman with the voice today being known as that of an angel's. This CD includes some of the most famous lieder, melodies, italian art songs, arias, broadway, and spiritual pieces of all time. Some highlights would be Handel's "Ombra mai fu", one of his most beautiful and famous arias. Kathleen's recitative in "Ombra mai fu" is not boring at all, it is actually quite enjoyable to listen to, unlike most singers where you just hate their recitatives with a living passion.

Kathleen then moved onto Mozart, and instead of singing his lighter lyric arias that we are used to hearing from Kathleen, we hear two of his art songs. Perhaps one of his most famous art songs, "Ridente la calma" is a soft, pure, and gentle song about love, much like his "Deh Vieni" that Susanna sings in "Le Nozze di Figaro." Kathleen sings this with a soft purity that will just melt your heart. Her high notes are always right in the head, and her placement of notes is superb. Something you will want to play over and over again.

Liszt. A composer that most people know best for his piano music and not his vocal music. He did write some very pretty french melodies, such as "Oh! Quand je dors." It is very pretty, and haunting, and of course, only Kathleen could make it that way.

After the Liszt french set, we move on to a set of R. Strauss lieder, very pretty, and cute music. I still prefer the music of french, but Kathleen did do an amazing job on both lieder, her tone properly placed, her vowels in the correct place, just an amazing job.

Then comes in a set of Rachmaninov, including his "Vocalise", which is sung with excellent technique, breath control, vocal legato line, pure tone, every thing just excellent. Very haunting, making you get goose bumps up and down your spine. A great pleasure to hear.

Then we pull over on Broadway to hear one of Kathleen's broadway tunes, "Summertime" from 'Porgy and Bess.' The tone placed a bit differently then the placement on the classical, but that is still good, because "Summertime" is more jazz like then opera like.

My favorite on the CD is "Adele's Laughing Song" (Mein Herr Marquis) from 'Die Fledermaus,' with the great belly laughs sounding like Kathleen is really laughing. The expression in this aria is superb. The trills, the high Ds, the long run at the end are all very amazing showing off the very best of Kathleen's beautiful voice.

How ever, I did take off one star because of all the spirituals on this disc. I don't care for spirituals in the least, no matter who is singing them. It is not any thing that Kathleen did wrong, I just don't like them, and I think she could have saved the audience and her voice by cutting those pieces out, and if she really had to put one in she could have put in "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

Overall, this is a very enjoyable CD. Buy it and enjoy for a lifetime. A true treasure.

8 of 9 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Gorgeous Singing, October 6, 1999

By A Customer

Miss Battle presents absolutely fantastic program and divine inspired singing. Of particular interest, there are five songs by Rachmaninov and Kathleen does full justice to them through wonderful Russian diction (which I can appreciate as a native speaker) and thorough understanding of difficult texts and scores. The great contralto Marian Anderson was in the audience and I have to thank DG for not excluding Kathleen's dedication of "In the silence of the night" to her. It makes the album very personal and endearing. Say what you will about her ways off-stage, but there should be no doubt that Miss Battle is one of the most talanted, versatile and dedicated artists of our time and an absolute delight to hear.

5 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars I'd give this CD 20 stars if I could! Sheer perfection!, December 7, 2003

By A Customer

God made the nightingale, and somewhere down the line, he touched a little girl named Kathleen Battle with what he originally gave to that bird from the beginning of creation. I cannot, for the life of me, believe that a voice could be so beautiful. I hear it, I marvel, but sometimes the sheer incredible beauty of this woman's vocal artistry is mind altering and surreal. Even the nightingale must suffer a moment of jealousy when a Kathy Battle tune is played!(This is bordering on blasphemous I know, and I beg forgiveness!) But Kathy Battle is simply amazing! This CD captures her at her best.
I'm not an opera buff by any means, but I love the human voice and great singing. There is not a bad song in the bunch. Like one reviewer, I too, am not a big fan of the spirituals segment, but I have a higher tolerance for it than she..I can still enjoy them for what they're worth.

Just BUY this CD...buy more than one if you can. One for home and one for your car. Believe me, you will not be disappointed.

P.S. Can someone tell me if this Carnegie Hall recital was also filmed and where I can get a copy of it? I cannot find many filmed recitals of Kathleen Battle anywhere. There used to be many at the Metropolitan Library in NYC, but all they seem to have now are her appearances in operas. I remember seeing a Met recital of her in a red gown on the cover of the vhs box, but they must have retired it. Any Kathy Battle fans out there who can help me get a video collection going, I would be most appreciated! ([e-mail])