Watch Kathleen Battle’s Met farewell

The controversial US soprano, 75, went for the high notes in the closing number of her unprompted return yesterday to the Metropolitan Opera.

Link here.

From Tim Page’s review in the WSJ: ‘…Ms. Battle was greeted with an immediate and prolonged standing ovation—the first of many—from her eager audience as she walked onstage in a black dress with a long, turquoise-colored wrap. Purcell’s “Music for a While” dispelled most of any major concerns—yes, she could still sing (and mostly quite beautifully); yes, the beaming high notes were still intact and immediately recognizable as hers alone; and when her pitch sense began to wander a little, she corrected it quickly and effectively….’