Charles Varney, a Portsmouth High School music teacher and mentor to the adolescent Battle, related to Time reporter Michael Walsh his wonder at first hearing "this tiny little thing singing so beautifully," referring to the eight-year-old Battle. Battle was an excellent student in school, and wavered between a career in math or music. Pressure from Varney persuaded her to pursue music after her graduation from Portsmouth High School in The winner of a National Achievement Scholarship, she enrolled at the College-Conservatory of Music of the University of Cincinnati, but hesitated to get a degree in performance.
She opted for a more secure route in music education, where she took a B. I took art, dance, piano, and languages. I kept promising myself I'd take more math. It gives me a comfortable feeling to keep my options open. The next two years after graduation Battle taught music to inner-city elementary students while taking private voice studies at the College-Conservatory.
In she auditioned for Thomas Schippers, the conductor of the Cincinnati Symphony. By Battle had resigned her teaching position to concentrate on performing music full-time, and soon was introduced to James Levine. The music director and principal conductor of New York's Metropolitan Opera, Levine was a native of Cincinnati who had come home to be the visiting director at the orchestra's renowned May Festival.
He auditioned Battle. Some have instinct and a beautiful voice but less intellect," Levine told Holland.
Levine became Battle's career mentor, encouraging her to develop a repertoire which included sacred music and emphasized Mozart. With performances throughout the United States enhancing her reputation, Battle went to New York when she was offered an understudy part in Scott Joplin's opera Treemonisha.
Then came an audition at the Metropolitan Opera where, two years later on September 18, , she made her debut under Levine's direction as the shepherd in Wagner's Tannhauser. Critical response to Battle's performances has rarely varied throughout the ensuing years following her debut. Time magazine, among others, pronounced her "the best lyric coloratura soprano in the world" in Averaging sixty performances a year, the artist whose most memorable roles have been the young servants soubrettes and heroines of Mozart is not dismayed by the few critics who lament her limitations.
The consensus among many critics is akin to Holland who wrote that her "relatively confined set of roles may actually concentrate her talents. In his review of her album Salzburg Recital, he stated, "Artists like Battle should be cherished, and not dismissed with a vulgar sneer. They were appearing together in Strauss's Arabella in when Battle objected to cuts to her part as Zdenka. Acting on the advice of members of the production staff, she requested her part be restored, but Te Kawana denied her request.
She is an excellent actress and tries to give full characterization to each of her roles. Several of her best roles were televised live from the Metropolitan Opera, New York and later released on video. A perfectionist in her own work, Battle became more and more difficult to deal with as her career moved forward.
Some felt that her demands were becoming unreasonable, and her behavior became erratic. These difficulties came to public attention when she was dismissed from the Metropolitan Opera in for "unprofessional conduct. AllMusic relies heavily on JavaScript. Please enable JavaScript in your browser to use the site fully. Blues Classical Country. Electronic Folk International. Jazz Latin New Age. Aggressive Bittersweet Druggy.
Energetic Happy Hypnotic. Battle continues to appear on stage and television, and she enjoys musical collaborations with numerous artists. Those performances are captured on numerous recordings and videos. She also has won four other Grammys. Battle also is the recipient of six honorary doctorates from American universities. About Quizzes. Kathleen Battle Kathleen Battle is an American operatic soprano.
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