℗ 1986 Angel Records
| Released | July 21, 2023 |
| Originated | 1986 |
| Duration | 1h 02m 30s |
| Record Label | Universal Music Australia Pty. |
| Genre | Classical |
A Christmas Celebration (Kathleen Battle Edition, Vol. 12)
Kathleen Battle, Boys Choir Of Harlem, New York Choral Artists, Orchestra of St. Luke's, Leonard Slatkin
Available in 48 kHz / 24-bit AIFF, FLAC audio formats
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1.1
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O Come All Ye Faithful
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:26 | |||
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1.2
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O Holy Night
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
4:46 | |||
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1.3
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Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabelle (Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabella)
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
1:37 | |||
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1.4
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Fum, Fum, Fum!
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
1:03 | |||
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1.5
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Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming (Est Ist Ein' Ros' Entsprungen)
Michael Praetorius; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
3:27 | |||
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1.6
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Ave Maria
Franz Schubert; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
5:54 | |||
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1.7
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Gesù Bambino
Pietro Yon; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
3:46 | |||
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Three English Carols
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1.8
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I Saw Three Ships / The First Nowell / The Holly And The Ivy
Traditional; T.J. Kuenster; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
5:36 | |||
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1.9
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Away In A Manger
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
1:53 | |||
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1.10
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Silent Night
Franz Xaver Gruber; Gibson; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
3:16 | |||
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1.11
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Hark! The Herald Angels Sing
Felix Mendelssohn; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:29 | |||
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1.12
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Marië Wiegenlied (Mary's Cradle Song)
Max Reger; Robert Sadin; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:02 | |||
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1.13
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Zither Carol
Robert Sadin; Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
1:32 | |||
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1.14
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I Wonder As I Wander
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:57 | |||
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1.15
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Mary Had A Baby
William Dawson; Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:47 | |||
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1.16
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Rise Up, Shepherd
Robert Sadin; Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
3:55 | |||
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1.17
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What Child Is This?
Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:13 | |||
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1.18
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Ave Maria
Gibson; Traditional; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
2:44 | |||
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Finale & Reprise
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1.19
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Veni, Veni Emmanuel / It Came Upon A Midnight Clear / O Little Town Of Bethlehem
Traditional; Phillips Brooks; Lewis H. Redner; Franz Xaver Gruber; Gibson; Kathleen Battle; Leonard Slatkin; Boys Choir Of Harlem; Orchestra of St. Luke's; New York Choral Artists |
8:07 | |||
Kathleen Battle enraptured opera audiences of the 1980s and 1990s. Here was a lyric soprano combining unsurpassable beauty of tone with a keen musical intelligence, a way with words and a communicative warmth that drew listeners to Strauss and spirituals alike. She has the easy phrasing of a great jazz singer combined with the breath, breadth and precise projection of a trained voice. James Levine coached her at the Metropolitan Opera, and when he accompanied her at the 1984 Salzburg Festival and DG recorded the recital as Battle's debut solo album, nothing less than a phenomenon was launched. She had been admired as a gifted singer since the age of eight, and a 1985 article in Time magazine declared that she was 'the greatest lyric coloratura soprano in the world'.
Her performances at the Met of Susanna, Despina, Pamina and other lyric roles in the great Mozart operas, conducted by Levine, established her as one of the world's leading interpreters of this repertoire. Recorded near the end of her DG association, Battle and Levine recorded arias from those roles for an album which became a radiantly beautiful souvenir of an era when they formed an artistic team as celebrated and accomplished in their way as Schwarzkopf and Karajan or Nilsson and Solti. However, Battle had already recorded for several labels, and this Eloquence box uniquely brings together selected albums she made for Angel (the US branch of EMI - those which have repatriated to Universal Music Group) with the DG recitals. They include an imaginatively programmed guitar recital with Christopher Parkening and excerpts from a Messiah led by Sir Andrew Davis in Toronto.
These Handel arias feature on a new compilation within the album, 'Kathleen Battle sings Sacred Music', which also features excerpts from her appearances in Levine's DG recordings of The Creation by Haydn and the C minor Mass by Mozart, as well as Poulenc's Gloria and the 'Pie Jesu' from Fauré's Requiem. Two further albums showcase excerpts from more complete albums: one of Handel and Mozart arias, including the celebrated Semele recording with John Nelson, and another of operatic and concert arias, including a staggering 'Grossmächtige Prinzessin' (Ariadne, with Levine) and the touching songs from the Ozawa recording of Mendelssohn's A Midsummer Night's Dream. This set is an essential acquisition for all lovers of lyric soprano artistry.
48 kHz / 24-bit PCM – Universal Music Australia Pty. Studio Masters
Tracks 1-19 – contains high-resolution digital transfers of material originating from an analogue master source
Tracks 1-19 – contains high-resolution digital transfers of material originating from an analogue master source
| Track title | Peak (dB FS) | RMS (dB FS) | LUFS (integrated) | DR | |
Album average Range of values | -4.45 -9.36 to -0.48 | -26.32 -31.75 to -21.28 | -22.71 -28.60 to -17.30 | 13 11 to 17 | |
| 1 | O Come All Ye Faithful | -1.22 | -21.28 | -17.3 | 11 |
| 2 | O Holy Night | -1.76 | -22.47 | -18.7 | 12 |
| 3 | Bring A Torch, Jeannette, Isabelle (Un Flambeau, Jeannette, Isabella) | -7.95 | -29.61 | -26.4 | 12 |
| 4 | Fum, Fum, Fum! | -4.58 | -28.54 | -25.1 | 17 |
| 5 | Lo, How A Rose E'er Blooming (Est Ist Ein' Ros' Entsprungen) | -5.15 | -29.99 | -26.2 | 15 |
| 6 | Ave Maria | -7.81 | -27.98 | -24.2 | 12 |
| 7 | Gesù Bambino | -2.96 | -22.97 | -19.7 | 12 |
| 8 | I Saw Three Ships / The First Nowell / The Holly And The Ivy | -0.48 | -25.52 | -21.7 | 15 |
| 9 | Away In A Manger | -9.36 | -31.75 | -28.6 | 13 |
| 10 | Silent Night | -6.14 | -27.51 | -24.3 | 11 |
| 11 | Hark! The Herald Angels Sing | -1.58 | -21.87 | -17.9 | 11 |
| 12 | Marië Wiegenlied (Mary's Cradle Song) | -8.06 | -27.03 | -23.8 | 12 |
| 13 | Zither Carol | -6.43 | -27.67 | -23.6 | 13 |
| 14 | I Wonder As I Wander | -7.80 | -28.97 | -26.0 | 11 |
| 15 | Mary Had A Baby | -3.21 | -27.40 | -22.5 | 14 |
| 16 | Rise Up, Shepherd | -3.99 | -25.67 | -22.5 | 12 |
| 17 | What Child Is This? | -3.15 | -24.01 | -20.7 | 12 |
| 18 | Ave Maria | -1.96 | -24.59 | -21.1 | 12 |
| 19 | Veni, Veni Emmanuel / It Came Upon A Midnight Clear / O Little Town Of Bethlehem | -0.94 | -25.29 | -21.1 | 14 |