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Im going to say the quiet part outloud. She was preceived as "difficult" because she was expected to be overwhelmed with the honor of being in certain spaces. She likely had her manager call the limo company (for example) because had she said something to the driver; she would have been seen as unappreciative. Many singers have silent days in which they dont talk or wont speak in certain situations.

Everything happens for a reason, I was told. Who knows if being "terminated" saved her instrument. Beverly Sills ruined her instrument by singing opera roles not suited to her range.

Went to school with Battle. She was the best of coloratura sopranos of her day. That she was banned from all Opera strikes of a double standard. Company directors were cowards and we lost several years of her talent. A little Ellington and ancour pieces are no substitute.

I heard Kathleen Battle many times and she was an amazing artist. Her Cleopatra was the best in history I believe. I knew many in the classical music industry and the stories they told about her were jaw droppingly horrible in the 80s and 90s, and they were undoubtedly true. I think she was bipolar based on her behavior but that is just a guess. None of that takes away from how amazing she was and is as a singer. But you can't gloss over the things she did and the people she hurt in her prime years.

Who is the narrator? His mispronunciations are truly impressive.

I've seen her a few times, and glad to hear she is still in good voice. In addition to all the below, she has a sense of drama and focus that few have. I don't fault her for anything professionally.

So many mispronunciations, why?

The greatest lesson learned here is that no matter how high you climb, you need to be humble, keep learning, and treat your colleagues with respect. Sadly, her golden years are wasted.

This guy might’ve learned to pronounce some names and words - - Levine, Wagner, maschera, Glyndeborne, among others.

I was lucky enough to see her recital at the Met last Sunday. She is now 75 years old but is very much in command of her instrument and the sound is still heavenly. She had the entire Met audience on its feet several times...it will be a night to remember.

pay-pull.....not pap-pull

I'm also a LEO....Aug. 17!

butterfly mcqueen sounds like kathleen's speaking voice.

she's fastidious.

her voice reminds me of nell carter.

i saw her perform last nite!

The ultimate diva! I love you Kathleen. You have moved society forward with your gift.

Why is saying she had a beautiful voice a "confession"? Was it a sin? FFS pointless expression.

KB

I don't care! She was absolutely great!

If they dont like the diva aspect of it then they should just skip Opera! Period! She is a star...,

The pronunciation is hilarious

it's pronounced VOGNER not WAGNER.............get with the porgram

P. Diddy??? Come on! 🤣 Appreciate the post! 🙂

Kathleen was a diva in a scary way.. I’ve talked to a lot of people from the Met, agents and PR agencies.. they have nothing good to say about her.. I still love her.. she is a brilliant artist..

Enough with the snobbery from some posters criticizing the author! He did a very good job and I am sure put in a lot of effort. Stop being so picky about insignificant things, commenters. If you like the video, say so, and show some appreciation. If you don't like it, go elsewhere. No one's stopping you. I thoroughly enjoyed this video portrayal of Kathleen Battle. I often wondered why such a big thing was made of her personality. Leonard Bernstein is just one of many who was downright cruel at times, and a bully. Nobody fired him.

I saw Kathleen Battle when she performed here in Vienna several years ago. I was a student then and could only afford one of those cheap standing room only tickets way up in the rafters at the back of the theater. But even from such a far distance her voice was pure and silvery and rang throughout the entire theater like a bell! After her finale, the crowd was so enthralled that they applauded for several minutes and REFUSED to allow her to leave the stage. She had to give one encore after another. After the concert I joined the very long line that had formed to get her autograph. I was the last in line and waited very patiently for maybe an hour or so until it was finally my turn. The two people in front of me were Asian tourists, and they were so enthusiastic that the begged Miss Battle for a photo. Before she even had time to answer they had crowded around her and almost bullied her into the picture. She was trying to be as gracious as she could, but you tell she was just exhausted after the concert and didn't have the energy to resist being pulled this way and that. So she obediently submitted to be photographed by the couple, who had already taken several pictures with or without her consent. I felt so sorry for her! After they had had their fill of photos with her, I walked up to her and respectfully asked if I could have an autograph. She looked up at me with a forced, exhausted smile and signaled for my program to sign. While she was signing I apologized to her for the demanding behavior of the tourist couple. She just looked at me, handed me back my signed program and said some well-rehearsed line like "thank you for your concern" or something to that effect - without any feeling or emotion. You could tell that this is something that has happened to her a million times before. I was the last audience member still there, so I thanked her and headed outside to my car. As I started the engine and began driving around the theater to exit to the main road, I saw a small, lonely figure exit through the back door of the concert theater. I watched as the tiny figure crossed the street, carrying a huge duffle bag over her shoulders. It was none other than Kathleen Battle herself! But she looked so small and all alone! I watched as she carried her heavy duffle bag, no doubt containing her dress and other accessories for that night's performance, cross the road and then entered through the side door of the Hotel Imperial across from the concert theater. She then disappeared inside. A few years before one of my friends, also an opera singer, revealed to me that being a singer is the loneliest job in the world. He flies constantly from one city to the next all over the world for recitals, and after each concert he returns to his hotel room, has a bite for dinner and then goes to sleep alone. There's no one to talk to, no time to go sightseeing, no friends to entertain you. You quarantine yourself in your hotel room so you don't catch a cold and have to cancel a concert, leading to lost wages. The next day you wake up and repeat everything all over again. This was undoubtedly Kathleen Battle's fate that night.

This "you're not allowed to look at me" business is not confined to opera. From what I understand, it is also quite common in Hollywood.

I've never heard Richard Wagner's name mispronounced before. How can I take this seriously when the narrator says Waagner? Kathleen Battle gave amazing performances that delighted millions of opera fans. That is all we need to know on Earth, that is all we need to know.

I'll say the obvious. When men are perfectionist they're seen as strong & powerful. When women do it, especially black women, they're quickly called an angry bitch. Kathleen had every right to walk out that interview! That white woman had some audacity!! Willing to bet my savings account she would've never asked Maria Callas that

A friend of mine worked with her while in college when she was doing the latest tour and wanted to work with most of the HBCU choirs. She told me Ms. Battle was “fucking crazy.”

This is a piece of GARBARGE!!!!!!!!!!!!

One must have healthy skepticism, not nuisance skepticism; but rather, to simply question. We humans seldom do; we are lazy, and prefer to let others do the work for us, to think for us, etc. And so it is that, with so many negative comments I am compelled to question: if Kathleen were a man, specifically a European man would she have been treated the way she was? The micro-aggressions we Black women experience are not a myth; however, racism is superstition and frankly, borders on a cult-like following. K.B. is human, and as such she has feelings like ALL HUMANS. However, when a Black woman protects herself, we are either labeled as “the angry Black woman,” or as having “mental health issues.” These are merely weapons used by the ruling class, ‘to keep them in their place,’ as it were. This is especially true, if they have garnered celebrity status, show they have self-esteem, self-respect, and are empowered to know their worth. Here’s the thing, Black people do not need or want a helping hand, a leg up, or a hand-out; however, ‘a level playing field’ would be appreciated. It would be nice too, if for once, Black women were afforded the sensitivity of humanity that is afforded European men. And this sensitivity is incredulously afforded to even European men that are complete and utter psychopaths: the serial rapists, pedophiles and serial killers. For K.B. (a Black woman, a human being) to demand what’s right, whether it be in a Walmart, or on the stage of the MET is not crazy! It’s just right. Often I have heard the comment, “he’s a ‘good’ man,” made about European men who have made racist so-called “jokes,” or who are frauds that steal millions, and/or abuse women and children. NOW THATS INSANE

I was at that concert in 2016. It started 45 minutes late but it was great.

Way too much hero-worship here. Battle was obviously VERY difficult to work with - you don't fine one of your absolute biggest stars unless there's a very good reason. Her 'hair trigger' during the interview shows one aspect of that. Also, a friend of mine spent some years as Battle's interior decorator. The most 'telling' anecdote for me was that Battle evidently kept her Christmas tree up year-round. She was one in a fairly long list of great artists/musicians who had a screw or two loose. Obviously impossible to claim any kind of racism or sexism here - hello Jessye Norman, Leontyne Price, Grace Bumbry, Florence Quivar, etc. etc - some of the TOP Met stars...none with the bad rep. Battle had. Battle's demands were clearly unprofessional and over the line.

Thank you Ancestor Welsing

Rest in power Queen mother , gone but never forgotten

My prof at CCM was her old roommate and I got to meet her. She was super nice to me and everyone lined up to meet her

Who the HELL is this narrator? He is mispronouncing almost every composer and opera and professional musicians. Do some research!!!

this pastiche quasi-doc is just a bunch of trash. None of the video corresponds to the content, and the bad pronunciation and amateurishness makes me want to explode. Maybe it's a school project. I that case, ok. But...NO.

What a comical narration ! Not a single foreign-language word correctly pronounced and many an English one mangled -- "papal" as "papple", "operatic" as "operAYtic" -- ah, Americans . . . Not a bad selection of clips, though

If she had been a white man, she'd have been revered as a genius. I still adore Ms. Battle. Her talent is unsurpassed.

One can always definitively tell how someone treats others by asking the crew and technical staff of any theatrical event. When the tech folk wear t-shirts that say, "I survived the Battle." I believe them. Glorious voice but not kind.

Hey mf,don`t talk over music!

I think it is possible to dissociate the singer from the woman/the man. There are artists whom I admire and love as singers, even though they have a bad reputation, and I do not appreciate their behaviors. No one can prevent me from loving an artist or composer just because of his/her reputation. If KB did these horrible things, I understand why her colleagues applauded when she was fired and why she was not hired in any other opera houses in the world for a while (no fame should justify abuse)but I will continue to listen to her recordings . I saw her once live (in 1995) and she was wonderful. True her voice is rather small, but not different in volume from other light sopranos, but the beauty of it is phenomenal!!! Not only the beauty, but the artistry. No recordings or videos can explain her charisma on stage.

You do not know how to correctly pronounce Haydn's last name -- this is embarrassing.

NO ONE pronounces the composer Wagner's name the way you do -- except a person unfamiliar with opera.

The things spoken about and the images shown rarely match up.

You are mispronouncing James Levine's last name! How much of an authority can you be on this topic! Not much of one.

Did you also write the Wikipedia article (en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Kathleen_Battle)? Parts of this clip is reciting the article word-for-word (and I am not talking about quotations).