Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Deanna Battleis an American operatic light lyric soprano known for her distinctive vocal range and tone. Born in Portsmouth, Ohio, Battle initially became known for her work within the concert repertoire through performances with major orchestras during the early and mid-1970s. She made her opera debut in 1975. Battle expanded her repertoire into lyric soprano and coloratura soprano roles during the 1980s and early 1990s until her eventual dismissal from the Metropolitan Opera in 1994. After a 22-year absence...
NationalityAmerican
ProfessionOpera Singer
Date of Birth13 August 1948
CityPortsmouth, OH
CountryUnited States of America
From the spiritual came the blues, gospel, and rhythm-and-blues. I heard all of that music growing up, and that has influenced how I approached classical music. I'm sure of it.
Wynton and Christopher were really great experiences for me because they are both very gifted artists.
When I do concerts and recitals, the two most common requests are spirituals and opera.
Some of the things that have been the most meaningful to me have been experiences I've shared with my family.
People are drawn to the spiritual. It has a universal appeal.
I'm a consumer as well as a performer. Among my leisure-time activities is going to the theater. I'm very interested in that.
I think for more than half of my career, I have refrained from talking to the media.
I sing what I sing. And that's recitals and orchestra concerts. To appease - no, that's not the right word - let's say to satisfy - any opera urgings that my public has, I'll put in an aria.
I hear music that comes out of need, out of grief, sorrow, suffering and out of overcoming these things, as well. That journey to freedom still goes on today. It's an incremental change, the culmination of many events in your own life and the lives of your children and grandchildren.
The question is not... if art is enough to fulfill my life, but if I am true to the path I have set for myself, if I am the best I can be in the things I do. Am I living up to the reasons I became a singer in the first place?
How many of the original songs survive intact from the slave cabins? Probably not many in their original form. Time has transformed them like light in a prism. What we hope to present is a version of those spirituals, and they speak not just to black Americans, but to people worldwide.
I bring my classical training - some of it, but not all of it - and also my background and culture, to spirituals. And I try to leave room for that unpredictable factor, where the feeling of the song is allowed to come through. The same ethos can be applied to singing Mozart, or Schubert, or Bach. It's not just about what's on the page.
I can't imagine life without singing.
In spirituals, the talk of heaven and deliverance was code for a better life. 'Crossing the River Jordan' was code, of course, for escaping to freedom.