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Time - Man of the Year
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1992-10-19
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REVIEWS, Page 93MUSICPackaged Pyrotechnics
By CHRISTOPHER PORTERFIELD
PERFORMERS: Kathleen Battle and Wynton Marsalis
ALBUM: Baroque Duet
LABEL: SONY
THE BOTTOM LINE: A potent pairing, but the brilliance may
be too much of a good thing.
To borrow a term from Hollywood, Kathleen Battle's recent
albums have been very high-concept. Their glossy appeal can be
pitched in fewer than 10 words: Kathleen Battle and [another
famous musician] perform [mainstream repertory]. Thus last
year Battle teamed up with soprano Jessye Norman in a program
of spirituals on Deutsche Grammophon that is still going strong
as a crossover best seller. In January Battle released an
all-Bach album with violinist Itzhak Perlman, also on DG; it
remains near the top of the classical charts. Now, in the new
pairing with trumpeter Wynton Marsalis, she has another best
seller.
Is there anything wrong with this? Not exactly. Battle is
our reigning lyric coloratura soprano, and Marsalis, a prodigy
who continues to grow as both a classical musician and a
jazzman, makes a worthy collaborator. It is hard not to be
dazzled and delighted by the pyrotechnics they provide in these
predominantly bright, florid selections from Handel, Scarlatti,
Bach and others. Yet the album, like its predecessors, seems an
event built as much on personality and packaging as on musical
impulses. And the limitations of its formula are exposed by the
nature of most soprano-trumpet duets: the nonstop bravura
finally becomes a bit wearisome (the Bach album with Perlman
comes off better in this respect).
Singers' careers are short. Battle is welcome to
capitalize on her superstardom, and more power to her. But for
her next recording it may be time for another approach: no
marquee casting, and a choice of repertoire that would more
fully challenge and stretch her marvelous gifts. Now there's a
concept.