In Conversation: Lawrence Brownlee Interviews Denyce Graves

As part of his online interview series, Sit Down With LB, tenor Lawrence Brownlee has a Facebook LIVE conversation with the legendary mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves. From their homes in Florida and New York, the discussion covers the gamut from hearing Leontyne Price the first time and knowing she wanted to become an opera singer to when she gave Samuel Ramey his wake-up call as a clerk working at the Omni Parker House! We also get to hear about her experience singing with Zubin Mehta and Riccardo Muti; learning to become a better cook; being friends with Ruth Bader-Ginsburg; admiring singers like Kathleen Battle and Elly Ameling; coping during quarantine life with a family; nurturing her life outside opera by spending time on the farm with horses, dogs and alpacas; and how teaching young singers has brought her a renewed sense of appreciation for the art form. You can see the full interview here.  Watch Denyce Graves sing the "L'amour est un oiseau rebelle" (Carmen) and "Mon cœur s'ouvre à ta voix" (Samson et Dalila) after the jump.

Celebrating Kathleen Battle's 72nd Birthday With MET Streams

Kathleen Battle (center) is featured in the 1982 Metropolitan Opera production of Mozart's Così fan tutte with Maria Ewing (left) as Dorabella and Kiri Te Kanawa (right) as Fiordiligi (Photo: Winnie Klotz).

During the COVID-19 pandemic, the Metropolitan Opera has been deep-diving into its video broadcast troves to stream the content out to users in hopes of fundraising and continued engagement. In honor of Kathleen Battle's birthday today (see our previous tribute here), we highlight the recently aired performance of L'Elisir d'Amore featuring her performance alongside Luciano Pavarotti (view here) and on August 22 they will present Il Barbiere di Siviglia with fellow artists Rockwell Blake and Leo Nucci (view here). Read the company's feature "Practically Perfect," written by photo editor Jonathan Tichler, on Ms. Battle here. More of the soprano's MET production photos after the jump.

Kathleen Battle with Luciano Pavarotti in L'Elisir d'Amore (Photo: Robert Cahen).

Legendary Lyric Soprano Kathleen Battle Celebrates Birthday

Today marks Kathleen Battle's 67th birthday. Celebrate by listening to audio clips and reading about her life by clicking here.

Broadway's Allison Semmes Aspired To Be The Next Kathleen Battle

Lyric Aspiration: Semmes the opera singer
turned Broadway star. (Photo: Dana Scruggs)

"It’s not difficult to find songstress/actress Allison Semmes these days. Just follow the hot national touring trail of Broadway’s Motown The Musical and catch Semmes’ riveting portrayal of iconic singer Diana Ross. The stage production, which stars Semmes, musically and artistically chronicles the epic rise of Motown Records from its humble 1959 beginnings in Detroit, to how it became the world’s most storied record label. The musical comes to life with captivating portrayals of the label’s legendary singers and musicians that helped put Motown on the map, all told through the vision of the master architect, Berry Gordy, Jr....Growing up in Hyde Park on Chicago’s Southside, a young Semmes’ love for singing took many directions, inclusive of with the Chicago Children’s Choir. Semmes, who performed with the choir from the age of six to 18, developed a strong voice and love for classical music. With the choir, she performed with the Chicago Symphony Orchestra, Lyric Opera of Chicago, and performed abroad. Singing in her church choir was also beneficial to Semmes’ development as a vocalist, and thanks to her parents’ vast collections of albums in jazz, blues, R&B, and heavy doses of the Motown Sound, she was able to listen to the vocal stylings and music of many artists. Yet, heading off to college, classical music charted the way for her to

Broadway Baby: Kathleen Battle performed as alternate to the
 title role in Scott Joplin's Treemonisha on Broadway 
from October - December 1975. [Source]

earn a bachelor of music degree in classical voice from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. She subsequently earned a master’s degree in music with a concentration in musical theater from New York University (NYU)-Steinhardt. 'I wanted to be an opera singer. I wanted to be the next Kathleen Battle,' Semmes said, with a laugh. 'The color to her voice is so expressive and so graceful.' After college, however, Semmes headed to New York, where she began her professional stage career with Dreamgirls. Other musicals have included Bubbling Brown Sugar, The Wiz, and The Color Purple (national tour). In addition to Motown The Musical, her other Broadway credit is The Book of Mormon. Semmes is humbled by her national starring role in Motown The Musical." [Source] Watch performances of the Allison Semmes, after the jump.

Christian Grey Uses Music South Of The Border To Seduce Ana Steele

Billionaire Christian Steele invites college student Anastasia to his penthouse apartment to find that she is a virgin and quickly rectifies that by making love to her. As she wanders the lavish home, there is the soft sounds of string in pizzicato and a soprano voice floats over the top. The piece is from a larger work called Bachianas Brasileiras composed by Heitor Villa-Lobos. The particular selection is known as "No. 5 Ária (Cantilena)". A translation of the text is as follows:

Eventide, a rosy cloud, slow and transparent

over the spot, dreamlike and beautiful!

The moon gently appearing beyond the horizon,

embellishing the eventide, like a sweet maid

preparing herself till she's dreamily gorgeous,

with her soul avid to become beautiful

yelling to heaven and earth, to all of Nature!

Silent are the birds to her sad laments

and reflected on the sea all of Her richness...

Soft the light of the moon awakes already

a fierce desire that laughs and cries.

Eventide, a rosy cloud, slow and transparent

over the spot, dreamlike and beautiful! [Source]

"The Bachianas Brasileiras (Portuguese pronunciation: [bakiˈɐ̃nɐz bɾaziˈlejɾɐs]) are a series of nine suites by the Brazilian composer Heitor Villa-Lobos, written for various combinations of instruments and voices between 1930 and 1945. They represent not so much a fusion of Brazilian folk and popular music on the one hand, and the style of Johann Sebastian Bach on the other, as an attempt freely to adapt a number of Baroque harmonic and contrapuntal procedures to Brazilian music (Béhague 1994, 106; Béhague 2001). Most of the movements in each suite have two titles: one 'Bachian' (Preludio, Fuga, etc.), the other Brazilian (Embolada, O canto da nossa terra, etc.)." [Source]

"Fifty Shades of Grey is a 2015 British-American erotic romantic drama film directed by Sam Taylor-Johnson with a screenplay by Kelly Marcel, based on the 2011 novel of the same name by British author E. L. James. It stars Dakota Johnson as Anastasia Steele, a college graduate who begins a sadomasochistic relationship with young business magnate Christian Grey (Jamie Dornan). The film premiered at the 65th Berlin International Film Festival on February 11, 2015, and had a wide theatrical release on February 13, 2015, by Universal Pictures. Despite mixed reviews, it was an immediate box office success, breaking numerous box office records and earning over $569 million worldwide. It is currently the third-highest-grossing film of 2015. Its sequels, Fifty Shades Darker and Fifty Shades Freed, are scheduled to be released on February 10, 2017, and February 9, 2018 respectively."

Purchase the 50 Shades of Grey: The Classical Album by clicking here. Watch Kathleen Battle sing Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5, plus more plot info and a few more stills of the famous penthouse, after the jump. 

Kathleen Battle Spiritual Is Backdrop For Solo Dancer Kara Wilkes

"In Kara Wilke’s [sic] solo, set to Kathleen Battle’s haunting version of 'Over My Head I Hear Music in the Air,' Wilke moves swiftly from graceful to grotesque, changing the mood from gorgeous grandeur with effortless jumps to unsettling with unexpected kicks outward and flicks of the wrist." [Source]

"Kara Wilkes a native of Wisconsin, began her professional career performing classical and contemporary work for five seasons with Milwaukee Ballet Company. In 2006, she was invited to join Victor Ullate Ballet in Madrid, Spain; she then returned to the United States and was a member of North Carolina Dance Theatre for four seasons. While based in Charlotte, Wilkes performed works by Nacho Duato, Twyla Tharp, Alvin Ailey, Jacqulyn Buglisi, George Balanchine, Dwight Rhoden and Mark Godden. Wilkes was named one of '25 to Watch' by Dance Magazine in 2009 and joined LINES Ballet in 2011." [Source] Learn more about the Alonzo King LINES Ballet by clicking here. Watch a beautiful video, Tracing Lines with Alonzo King by Franck Thibault, after the jump.

"Sophie's Choice" Uses Johann Strauss Jr. For Big Dance Scene

Sophie (Meryl Streep) and Nathan (Kevin Kline) are having an evening of Southern decadence when the scene climaxes with the two characters dancing romantically to "Frühlingsstimmen" of Johann Strauss II. "'Frühlingsstimmen' ('Voices of Spring'), Op. 410, is a waltz by Johann Strauss II, written in 1882, for orchestra and solo soprano voice. Strauss dedicated the work to the pianist and composer Alfred Grünfeld. The famous coloratura soprano Bertha Schwarz (stage name Bianca Bianchi) sang this concert aria at a grand matinée charity performance at the Theater an der Wien in aid of the 'Emperor Franz Josef and Empress Elisabeth Foundation for Indigent Austro-Hungarian subjects in Leipzig.' The waltz was not a great success at its premiere, but was more successful when performed on Strauss' tour of Russia in 1886. A piano arrangement by the composer contributed much to its success beyond Vienna. Bianca Bianchi was then a famous member of the Vienna Court Opera Theatre and Strauss was sufficiently inspired to compose a new work, a waltz for solo voice, for the acclaimed singer. The result was his world-renowned "Frühlingsstimmen" waltz which celebrated spring and remained one of the classical repertoire's most famous waltzes. The piece is sometimes used as an insertion aria in the act 2 ball scene of Strauss' operetta Die Fledermaus. The waltz makes a grand entry in the key of B-flat major with loud chords preceded with the waltz's three beats to the bar ushering the first waltz's gentle and swirling melody. The second waltz section invokes the joys of spring with the flute imitating birdsong and a pastoral scene. The plaintive and dramatic third section in F minor probably suggests spring showers whereas the fourth section that follows breaks out from the pensive mood with another cheerful melody in A-flat major. Without a coda, the familiar first waltz melody makes a grand entrance before its breathless finish, strong chords and the usual timpani drumroll and warm brass flourish. A performance lasts between seven and nine minutes." [Source] Watch Carlos Kleiber conduct an orchestral and Kathleen Battle sing a vocal version of "Frühlingsstimmen," as well as more information on Sophie's Choice, after the jump.

Opera Singers Important To "Christmas In Washington" History

Clamma Dale

Performing for Presidents of the United States has long been a duty and service that comes with great honor for classical musicians for more than a century. Particularly highlighted during the holiday season in December each year since 1981, opera singers have played an integral part of the concert Christmas in Washington. Standing alongside fellow musicians from virtually every genre of the music world to celebrate holiday favorites has brought the world of opera to larger audiences via television. Taking a look back over the years, the following singers have been fortunate enough to be part of this American tradition: Frederica von Stade (1984), Clamma Dale (1986), Kathleen Battle (1988), Barbara Hendricks (1990), Dawn Upshaw (1995) Ruth Ann Swenson (1996), Thomas Hampson (1997), Harolyn Blackwell (1998), Charlotte Church (2001), Renée Fleming (2003),  and Andrea Bocelli (2010). Take a look at some of the

Kathleen Battle

performances after the jump. "One of two annual holiday specials produced by George Stevens, Jr. (the other being the Kennedy Center Honors), the variety show first aired in 1981 on NBC before moving to its current home on TNT in 1998. Recorded in Washington, D.C. at the National Building Museum, on the second Sunday of each December before being re-edited for later broadcast, Christmas in Washington is a one-hour concert featuring artists from musical genres. Each guest perform at least one solo, but the marquee performer usually has one or two more songs. The show also has at least one guest from the world of opera. Each of the musical performances are backed by a full orchestra and chorus. The show's finale consists of a medley performed by all the musical guests before

Frederica von Stade

the attendees-of-honor, the President of the United States and the First Lady, make a closing statement. Recent events have benefited Children's National Medical Center. The show also has a host. For many years, the show was hosted by Dr. Phil and his wife, Robin. However, since 2009, the show has had a single host. The 2013 edition featured Hugh Jackman as host and The Backstreet Boys as marquee performers, marking the first time in six years that a group has been featured as marquee performers. The show airs live on pay-per-view internationally and in most major cities, after which a re-edited 42-minute version (with commercials in a one-hour slot) airs on the aforementioned TNT network." [Source, Source, Source, Source, Source]  

Renee Fleming performing during the Christmas in Washington at the National Building Museum in Washington, D.C., in 2003. | gettyimages.com

Last-Minute Holiday Shopping Ideas From Heavenly Voices On High

Purchase the album here.
Recommended track: "Do You Hear What I Hear?"

If you want to turn the frequency up this holiday season, check out the plethora of recordings from divas both past and present. From the latest release by Measha Brueggergosman to the Germanic overtones of Rita Streich, Maria Stader, and Anneliese Rothenberger, high notes during the holidays will ensure everyone has a holly jolly time. Check out more than 30 albums after the jump to give you instant holiday spirit through sacred seasonal music or christmas classics. Each one is linked to the full digital version to allow you to either choose the entire package or simply download the tracks you enjoy most. You can even make a compilation off the recommended tracks from each selection. Joyeux Noël, Buon Natale, Frohe Weihnachten, Feliz Navidad and с рождеством! Remember to share the music with someone you love this holiday season.

A Soubrette Dilemma: Where Have All The Pretty Voices Gone?

Kathleen Battle sang the soubrette role of
Despina in Mozart's Così fan tutte during
January 1982 at the MET.
(Photo: Winnie Klotz/Metropolitan Opera)

When people talk about opera sopranos, many immediately conjure up the caricature of a Rubensian figure wearing viking horns with the vocal amplitude of an diaphone foghorn. Fortunately for audiences these high voices come in all shapes and sizes. On the more petite end of the spectrum is a specialized fach known as the soubrette. Often categorized as light and lyric, this voice type is more likely to caress the listener's ear drum rather than penetrate it. The last century has seen a radical shift in the characteristics of this genre. Marcella Sembrich was a late 19th-century Polish soprano who often made appearances onstage as Zerlina (Don Giovanni), Susanna (Le Nozze di Figaro), and Rosina (Il Barbiere di Siviglia). These roles were a sharp contrast to her typical fare of dramatic coloratura roles of Lucia (Lucia di Lammermoor) and Elvira (I Puritani). This fascinating cross-pollination of repertoire certainly brought a radiant sound and identity to her characterizations in the opera house. At the end of her career, the soprano taught at the Curtis Institute in Philadelphia where one of her students, Eufemia Gregory, would go on to teach another famous soubrette of the 1970s & 1980s: Judith Blegen. It was in the latter half of the 20th-century that sopranos really began to give the vulnerable and sweet women in the soubrette repertoire their own distinct sound that didn't always carry over to other vocal categories. They were interpreters from around the globe like Rita Streich, Mattiwilda Dobbs, Norma Burrowes, Reri Grist, and Patrice Munsel, starting to emerge as leaders in this repertoire. But the silky floating tones of a coquette didn't mean she could not be strong in her own right. These roles became more crafted and unique under the domination of singers like Edith Mathis, Helen Donath, Elly Ameling, Judith Blegen, and Kathleen Battle. This group was heavily influenced with the stereo advancements in the recording industry which begged for a delicate immediacy from a voice in front of a microphone

Vocal Spectrum: Anna Netrebko as Adina* [top]
and Lady Macbeth** [bottom]. (Photos: Ken
Howard* & Marty Sohl**/Metropolitan Opera)

that didn't need to carry over a wave of 4,000 audience members in the opera house. Did all this saccharine give way to a more vanilla tone in the 1990s when voices seemed to be more precise and pointed than brilliantly sensuous in the likes of Sylvia McNair, Dawn Upshaw, Barbara Bonney, and Heidi Grant Murphy? This latter group of ladies was distinctly musical, possessed superb instruments, and sang musically. But something was lacking in the timbre of the sound that seemed to bloom in the previous generation. As opera crosses into its fourth century in existence, have interpreters of the soubrette roles become even more watered-down with a non-distinct sound lacking lushness and identity leaning more toward an early music style by sopranos like Danielle de Niese and Mojca Erdmann? Society today favors an individual who can "do it all" and this may lead to the demise of the specialized singing in soubrette repertoire. Take for instance superstar soprano Anna Netrebko who sang the role of Adina in Donizetti's L'elisir d'Amore at the Metropolitan Opera in January 2014 and then took on one of the heaviest soprano roles in opera,  Lady Macbeth in Verdi's Macbeth at the Bayerische Staatsoper in June 2014. This blurring of lines can produce dramatic reinterpretations of roles by bringing new colors, not to mention volume, to a character in opera and certainly harkens back to the old-school voices that could tackle multiple ranges of repertoire. Read more about soubrettes and listen to audio samples of 20 sopranos in soubrette repertoire after the jump.

At 66, Kathleen Battle Continues To Float Gorgeous High Notes

A video of soprano Kathleen Battle from last evening's performance in Philadelphia of "Underground Railroad: An Evening of Spirituals" proves she still has plenty to sing about with that famous lyric voice. The project started a couple of years ago, inspired by Peter Gelb when he was still at Sony, and has toured ever since. "Legendary soprano Kathleen Battle's newest program celebrates the roots of African-American music and freedom via the Underground Railroad. Battle's sumptuous voice takes flight in this evening of enchanting music, featuring favorite and meaningful spirituals, hymns, and musical majesty. Although Battle's luminous soprano voice has graced the world's great opera houses and concert halls, there is a special place her heart for the songs and spirituals of the African-American journey. In this moving evening, Battle and acclaimed pianist Cyrus Chestnut explore the music that expressed the suffering and salvation of enslaved Africans as they found their way to freedom." [Source] Read an exclusive interview about the concert here and how Peter Gelb inspired the project here. Watch the soprano sing "Fix Me" after the jump. Below is a video interview and rehearsal footage from local CBS Philadelphia.

Kathleen Battle Continues Alicia Keys Collaboration In New York City

Alicia Keys (left) with Kathleen Battle in 2008 after performing together at the Black Ball.
Opera star Kathleen Battle has been working alongside popular songstress Alicia Keys since 2007 to help raise money for a worthy cause. This Thursday, November 7, the pair will be on the stage together once again for the Keep a Child Alive Foundation's 10th Black Ball. "An inspiring evening of music and philanthropy to benefit children and families affected by HIV in Africa and India." This year's event will also feature performances by Carole King, Laura Mvula, Ron Ayers, and others to be announced. The show takes place at the Hammerstein Ballroom in New York City. The Black Ball has raised over $18.4 million since 2004. [Source] Watch performances of the two ladies from previous years, after the jump.

Highly Fashionable Opera Divas On The Cover Of A Magazine

Kathleen Battle (Japan, 1992)	Barbara Hendricks (Paris, 1987)
Anna Netrebko (Russia, 2012)	Renée Fleming (USA, 2005)

It's pretty typical to find opera sopranos gracing the covers of industry magazines in glamorous gowns and jewels, but it is a rare sight to see these divas go mainstream with coverage the likes of Tatler, Vogue, Esquire, and Town & Country. Here we have some wonderful samples of ladies who truly reached the zenith of popularity and gave good face for these leading publications. We didn't forget the men. Be sure to check out a special cover (not for the faint of heart...) after the jump. 

Vintage Kathleen Battle Video Footage 1982 - 1987

Kathleen Battle Makes Waffles and Grits with B. Smith in 1997

From the television show B. Smith With Style in 1997, Miss Kathleen Battle joins in to make a brunch of waffles and grits. Watch the clip after the jump.

Vintage Concert Footage: Jessye Norman and Kathleen Battle

Side-by-Side: Luciano Pavarotti sings "Chiedi all'aura lusinghiera"

Luciano Pavarotti singing Nemorino in Donizetti's L'Elisir d'Amore. The first clip is from 1969 and features Reri Grist in the role of Adina. The second clip is from 1991 with Kathleen Battle in the same soprano part. It's hard not to compare and contrast the similarities of these two ladies' voices as well.

Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman & Denyce Graves Share Stage

Diva Trio (left to right): Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman and Denyce Graves (Photo: Robert Isacson)

"Here’s an idea for a new tour: The Three Divas. Kathleen Battle, Denyce Graves and Jessye Norman sang at Ford’s Theatre Tuesday night — the first time the three sopranos ever performed on the same stage. Ford’s chairman Wayne Reynolds wanted something special to honor Singapore’s first prime minister Lee Kuan Yew, receiving the theater’s Lincoln Medal. 'I heard he loves opera,' Reynolds told us. 'What could be greater than the three greatest African-American opera singers?' With the VIP audience (Henry Kissinger, Bill Daley, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, Eric Holder, Roy Blunt, Brent Scowcroft and James Wolfensohn) sitting on the historic stage, each of the singers performed something inspired by Abraham Lincoln. Understatement was not on the program. Graves was first with an elegant 'Battle Hymn of the Republic.' Battle emerged next and began an a cappella version of 'Swing Low, Sweet Chariot' (finishing with a bold gesture to the box where Lincoln was slain), then slipped into a medley of 'Give Me Jesus' and 'Wade in the Water.' Norman brought the mini-concert home with 'Amazing Grace' and 'He’s Got the Whole World In His Hands.' They emerged together for a standing ovation. No backstage tantrums or rivalries? Not even close, Graves told us at dinner: 'Sadly, we didn’t have anything to do together. I kept telling them, ‘Let’s do the Rosenkavalier trio.’” Reynolds, for one, is ready to send the three on the road: 'I think they’d be great together.'" [Source]

Photo Flashback: Kathleen Battle and Itzhak Perlman

Itzhak Perlman and Kathleen Battle photographed by Christian Steiner.

9/11 Commemorated with Mahler "Resurrection" Symphony

Click on the photo to watch the finale of Mahler's Symphony #2 "Resurrection" with
soloists Florence Quivar  and Kathleen Battle under the direction of Seiji Ozawa.

O glaube Du wardst nicht umsonst geboren! Hast nicht umsonst gelebt, gelitten! Was entstanden ist Das muß vergehen! Was vergangen, auferstehen! Hör' auf zu beben! Bereite dich zu leben! O Schmerz! Du Alldurchdringer! Dir bin ich entrungen! O Tod! Du Allbezwinger! Nun bist du bezwungen! Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen, In heißem Liebesstreben, Werd'ich entschweben Zum Licht, zu dem kein Aug'gedrungen! Mit Flügeln, die ich mir errungen Werde ich entschweben. Sterben werd'ich, um zu leben! Aufersteh'n, ja aufersteh'n wirst du, mein Herz, in einem Nu! Was du geschlagen zu Gott wird es dich tragen!

O believe, You were not born for nothing! Have not for nothing, lived, suffered! What was created Must perish, What perished, rise again! Cease from trembling! Prepare yourself to live! O Pain, You piercer of all things, From you, I have been wrested! O Death, You masterer of all things, Now, are you conquered! With wings which I have won for myself, In love's fierce striving, I shall soar upwards To the light which no eye has penetrated! Its wing that I won is expanded, and I fly up. Die shall I in order to live. Rise again, yes, rise again, Will you, my heart, in an instant! That for which you suffered, To God will it lead you!

Watch alternate clips, featuring Janet Baker and Sheila Armstrong with conductor Leonard Bernstein as well as Karin Ott and Brigitte Fassbaender with conductor Giuseppe Sinopoli, after the jump.