Battle Sings a Beautiful but Tense Recital

People talk too readily these days about artists taking risks in performances. But there was an unusual, unsettling sense of risk and tension in soprano Kathleen Battle’s recital Thursday at the Orange County Performing Arts Center.

One didn’t feel it just during the extraordinary set of four a cappella spirituals, beautifully and personally sung, as Battle stood so humanly exposed and vulnerable, so intensely isolated as an artist.

One felt it during some nervous gestures, laughs and the uncommon number of asides with her accompanist, the exemplary Neal Goren, between selections during the first half of the program.

One wondered and worried about what was happening. It never became clear. The moments passed, then recurred; they marred Battle’s presentation marginally but not her singing.

Battle may have been bothered by the applause that followed each work she sang--a break in usual recital etiquette. She had entered richly into each selection (music by Handel, Strauss, Duparc, and later by Donizetti and Rodrigo), and she might have wanted to shift the necessary emotional gears without outside distraction.

Once she began singing, the voice never faltered. She sang with melting legato line, purity of vowels and caressing warmth. The voice retains its mix of silver and gold. It trills effortlessly and scales the heights with fervor.

High points included “Ombra mai fu” from Handel’s “Serse,” Duparc’s “Phidyle” and the last of Rodrigo’s four amatory madrigals, “De los alamos vengo, madre.”

Unfortunately, Battle’s physical gestures, particularly in “Non disperar” from Handel’s “Guilio Cesare” and “O luce di quest’anima” from Donizetti’s “Linda di Chamounix” have become broader, more mannered than before. Once again, the presentation looked effortful, even though the singing never sounded that way.

Goren showed he was a worthy partner, playing with admirable sensitivity and musicality.

Incidentally, for those who were bewildered by Battle’s turning away from the audience before singing each spiritual: She was discreetly using a pitch pipe to get her vocal bearings.

She sang two encores--”Schenkt man sich Rosen in Tirol” (the Rose Song) from Carl Zeller’s operetta “Der Vogelhandler” and Susanna’s aria “Deh vieni non tardar” from Mozart’s “Le nozze di Figaro.”

The recital was sponsored by the Philharmonic Society of Orange County.