Kathleen Battle
Kathleen Battle (born August 13, 1948 in Portsmouth , Ohio , USA ) is an American opera singer ( soprano ).
Life
Kathleen Battle was born the youngest of seven siblings and grew up in relatively simple social circumstances. Her mother introduced her to traditional African-American gospel music at an early age and eventually studied at the College-Conservatory of Music in Cincinnati , Ohio , from which she graduated in 1971 with a master's degree. She then worked as a music teacher and made her debut as a professional singer at the Spoleto Festival in 1972 under the direction of Thomas Schippers . Five years later she sang in Richard Wagner's opera Tannhäuser at the Metropolitan Opera . In the following years she sang a. a. with the Vienna Philharmonic , the Berlin Philharmonic , the New York Philharmonic Orchestra and at the Salzburg Festival . One of the highlights of her career is her collaboration with Herbert von Karajan , under whose direction she performed in Mozart's Coronation Mass in St. Peter's Basilica in Rome before Pope John Paul II (1985), as a soloist in the New Year's Concert of the Vienna Philharmonic (1987) and as Zerlina in Don Giovanni was heard in Salzburg (1987/88).
Her repertoire includes the arias by Bach , Handel , Mozart , Rossini , Franck and Fauré . So far she has received the Grammy Award five times for her work .
One of her best known interpretations is the song Lovers , composed by Shigeru Umebayashi , which she sang for the film House of Flying Daggers . With Wynton Marsalis she recorded the album Baroque Duet for Sony BMG , which was released in 1992. Classic Kathleen Battle followed in 2002 . She also worked on recordings with Al Jarreau and Cyrus Chestnut .
Awards
Grammy Awards
- 1987: Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance
- 1988: Best Opera Recording
- 1988: Best Classical Vocal Soloist Performance
- 1993: Best Classical Vocal Performance
- 1994: Best Opera Recording
Web links
- Kathleen Battle Website of the artist agency Columbia Artists (English)
| personal data | |
|---|---|
| SURNAME | Battle, Kathleen |
| BRIEF DESCRIPTION | American opera singer (soprano) |
| DATE OF BIRTH | August 13, 1948 |
| PLACE OF BIRTH | Portsmouth , Ohio , USA |