We should simply rejoice that Kathleen Battle was here for the closing of the Philadelphia Orchestra's season at the Mann Center for the Performing Arts a few weeks ago. And that she sounded dandy. And that the music was by Andre Previn and the words by Toni Morrison in a song cycle titled Honey and Rue. If only the answer were a simple yes or no. First, consider the question's source.
Physicians love classical music.
English written by a Nobel Prize winner. But I was picking up only one out of five words. How much this matters depends on what's behind the sound, since the music can sometimes do what the singer can't. Unlike song lyrics, opera and art-song texts are set to music specifically fashioned to their fine shades of meter and meaning. The tune is perhaps what you most easily remember, but the text is its inspirational kernel, unlocking the music's inner dimensions.