Kathleen Battle is an American opera and chamber singer with a charming voice. She has toured extensively with spirituals and received as many as 5 Grammy awards.
Reference: Spirituals are spiritual musical works of African-American Protestants. As a genre, spirituals took shape in the last third of the XNUMXth century in America as modified slave tracks of African Americans of the American South.
Childhood and youth Kathleen Battle
The date of birth of the opera and chamber singer is August 13, 1948. She was born in Portsmouth, Ohio, America. She was the seventh child in the family. A large family lived modestly.
Kathleen has been actively interested in music since birth. The choice of her daughter was strongly influenced by her mother, who adored classical music and opera. The woman managed to open the door to the wonderful world of opera music for her daughter.
She dreamed of a career as a singer, so it is not surprising that in addition to general education, she also attended a music school. Her mentor was Charles Warney.
Charles noticed the girl's obvious talent - and immediately began to develop it. The teacher prophesied Kathleen a good future. He spoke of his student: "a little miracle with a magical voice." Warney reminded Battle that she was born to serve the music.
Kathleen did well in high school as well. The teachers spoke of her as one of the most capable and talented students. They noted her great perseverance and diligence. The artist was well versed in the field of music, and already in her youth she achieved good results. Some time later, for her services in this area, the girl was awarded an honorary master's degree.
Like many Negro singers, she dreamed of becoming a music teacher. After graduating from college in Cincinnati, Kathleen taught for black children in a public school. Around this period of time, her concert debut took place: in 1972 at a festival in Spoletto.
Kathleen's career developed rapidly and quickly. She increasingly appeared in the circle of famous conductors, musicians and composers. Since the middle of the 70s of the last century, her impetuous path to the conquest of the musical Olympus begins.
The creative path of Kathleen Battle
She spent several years actively touring the United States of America. Then she visited New York, Los Angeles and Cleveland. A year later, she won several prestigious awards for her contribution to the development of American music. Critics were surprised by Battle's meteoric rise to the music scene.
Then she was noticed by the conductor of the Metropolitan Opera, James Levine. He liked what Kathleen did on stage. He invited her to perform the part of Mahler's Eighth Symphony. A few years later she made her debut in Wagner's Tannhäuser. From this period of time, she performed at the main operas of Vienna, Paris, London, San Francisco. Battle has become one of the highest paid opera singers in the world.
Kathleen Battle is amazing in that she performs musical works of three centuries: from the Baroque to the present. Kathleen feels equally harmonious when performing opera and chamber music.
After performing the role of Zerbinetta at Covent Garden, Battle became the first American performer to be awarded the Laurence Olivier Award for Best Actress in a Contemporary Opera Performance. In addition, it has already been noted above that there are as many as 5 Grammy awards on her shelf.
Leaving the Metropolitan Opera
She was faithful to the Metropolitan Opera for a long time, but still considered it necessary to leave the place in which she gained world fame in time. Rumor has it that the breakup did not go so smoothly. Most likely, the reason for leaving Kathleen was not her own decision. Battle throughout her career has been trailing a scandalous star with a complex character.
Battle left the opera stage, saying that she has a strong love for music, so no matter what the circumstances, she will sing. The artist began to perform lullabies, spirituals, folk songs and jazz.
Thanks to a variety of professional skills, she actively manifested herself in different directions. In 1995, Battle's voice sounded on four albums. She appeared on "An Evening with Kathleen Battle and Thomas Hampson". The artist also opened the 1995-96 Lincoln Center jazz season with a concert and toured America.
In 1996, Kathleen published a cool collection of Christmas pieces (featuring Christopher Parkering), which was highly appreciated by fans and music critics.
With the advent of the new century, Kathleen slowed down a bit. However, she recorded several musical accompaniments for films. Her voice complements the films Fantasia 2000 (1999) and House of Flying Daggers (2004).
After that, she largely focused on concert activities. Kathleen often spoke to American celebrities and officials. She has repeatedly participated in television programs.
Kathleen Battle: Our Days
What a surprise was the information that in 2016 she returned to the Metropolitan Opera again. This year, her solo concert took place on the stage of the theater. The program of the singer's performance was composed in the genre of spirituals.
In 2017, she performed in Japan with a solo concert, presenting her program, which is one of her signature concerts. That same year, she presented this recital at the Detroit Opera House, ending the National Opera Week celebrations.
For several years, she continued to delight music lovers with an amazing voice. But the singer spent 2020-2021 as calmly as possible. Perhaps this is a forced measure caused by restrictions amid the coronavirus pandemic.
