Customer Reviews

Dark Hope

5 star:		(24)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(9)
2 star:		(8)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

First, a couple of disclaimers: I bought this as a curiosity. Renee Fleming is certainly "known" to any "opera freak", which my poor wife will gladly tell you that I am, and part of me just wanted to see how badly she messed up. And second, I am not really qualified to review this type of music, "indie rock", or whatever you call it. The subject of classical performers singing "rock" is painful to contemplate, and I won't list examples except one that went the other way when Wagnerian Peter Hofmann got it right about 25 years ago. And leave out the late, great, Eileen Farrell and the absolutely fabulous discs she cut for Reference Recordings in the late'80s and early '90s: those sure aren't rock, and the Great American Songbook had always been part of her repertoire anyway.

That said...

Renee DID NOT mess up!! This is a wonderful album that I hope fans from "both sides of the aisle" will listen to. Yes, you can tell that a Rolls Royce engine is powering Volkeswagen music. But it's nice to have it sung with strength and faultless diction! I shall mention two specifics: The young artist Duffy did "Stepping Stone" on her "Rockferry" a couple of years back, and sang it very well, but this is a different order of magnitude, with Renee coming across NOT as an opera singer doing pop, but simply as a pop singer with exceptional pipes. Further, I have heard Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah" from lots of voices, and NEVER heard it better. Period. The sound and back-up are excellent throughout, as is the disc presentation.

Thinking of the whole record, I wonder why I even thought Renee could ever be less than perfect. She may never give us anything similar, so better grab this...You Go Girl!!!

Madame Fleming knew there would be naysayers with this release of rather esoteric rock anthems. The truth is there's never been anything like this. It completely falls outside the parameters of classical vocalists taking on "pops" repertoire or "crossover" (Eileen Farrell still the champion of this undertaking) or when pops vocalists do the opposite (Streisand, Mouskouri, or very sadly Bolton on whose opera CD Miss Fleming was an accomplice). The diva has taken on the guise of a rock balladeer with absolutely no trace of operatic persona (although it might have been a hoot if she had taken one of her songs into the strastosphere a la Nina Hagen!). The only song I'm even vaguely familiar with is Arcade Fire's Intervention . . . and her clear diction is an improvement (but not a replacement) on the original. The only drawback here is the lack of musical contrast with these songs, and a sort of sameness with her instrumental backup.

Classical and operatic purists will know to stay away. If you have a preconceived notion this will be like Kiri Te Kanawa's trainwreck jazz album or Terfel or Hampsons's baritonial forays into pops, forget it. Definitely worth a listen for those who are musically broad-minded. Simply not for everyone.

This is just fabulous. Anyone who knows or cares about Renee Fleming's career will probably have read the advance reviews in the mainstream press--notably, the pieces in The New York Times that can't quite decide what to make of this venture and so chastise the artist for claiming that this isn't, finally, a "crossover" album, and then worry about who the audience might be: Will classical listeners even recognize Fleming's voice? Will indie rock fans have the remotest interest in listening to covers performed by a classical artist? Kudos to Decca for taking the risk. Listening to "Dark Hope" does provide a measure of cognitive dissonance, and yet it's not hard to see why Fleming would not want to be identified here as a "crossover" artist. If this is "crossover," then it completely reinvents the sense and the sound of the term. We're a long, long way from the crooning duo of Placido Domingo and John Denver, and even from Eileen Farrell's or Kiri Te Kanawa's lovely excursions into the Great American Songbook. But it is not true that you won't recognize Fleming's voice. If you try really hard, you can detect it. (Listening to her previous foray into a pop-jazz idiom, the amazing "Haunted Heart," helps set the compass.) And if you try really, really hard, you can even sense how Fleming's phrasing in the ecstatically brilliant "Hallelujah" channels Joni Mitchell as well as her own familiarity with Handel. If this is "crossover," this is wonderful. But what's the point of such archaeology? The singing and the soundscapes and sonic envelope on this recording are simply brilliant -- edgy, eclectic, and with a lacing of camp (maybe unintended, but who cares?). Hard to say what the indie-rock audience will think. As an opera and classical music buff, I can only say that I am in complete awe of Fleming's musical curiosity and ingenuity. She clearly doesn't need to do this, given the astonishing vocal health she continues to enjoy in her native idiom, but it very much sounds as if she does need to do this at a level that transcends questions of vocal capacity or career management. And there is nothing condescending about the music making on this recording. Far from it. It is not indie-rock and certainly not classical. It is simply, staggeringly and sometimes bewilderingly, unique.

As a 29-years old avid opera fan since 1997, I am familiar with Renée Fleming and have the majority of her solo discography. I was excited and proud of Renée wanting to pay a homage to the musical styles of other artists. Did any of you read the direct input from Renée? The brief article was posted just underneath the CD information. As artists, we will never evolve or mature into our goals if we remain in our comfort zones. Renée had an illustrious career thus far and is seeking newfound inspiration for future roles.

I have nothing negative to write. "Dark Hope" to me, is a fresh sound from Renée Fleming. When listening to her flawless interpretation of Mozart, I wondered how her "regular" singing would sound. This album resolved my curiosities and it is music!

I should know who "Muse" is, but I don't! Because I've established myself as one of you opera purists. I am glad to see Renée taking on projects like this in which she describes not as a "crossover," but rather a "parallel universe." Brava Renée Fleming! You have fans that understand your desire to explore and we encourage you to take on personal projects that is close to home.

Last, I want to remind fellow opera purists that our art is slowing "dying." Without project like this or "crossover" artists to proliferate or create a revival movement to attract the new generation, we might as well say, "Adieu" to opera. Stop being so stuck up! Listen with an open appreciation to other musical genres and styles.

For those who fear YET another pop-opera crossover album, this is anything but. While Renee Fleming is universally recognized as an opera star, she is 1st and foremost an artist and interpreter of music. You won't hear any ridiculous overproduction or classical vocals hammered into place over heavy synth-pop here, only a passionate and honest voice reeking of the heart break and shocking directness. If you love Renee for her flawless accuracy and depth of classical interpretation, you will be sadly disappointed in this album. If however you are open to experiencing a solid, well recorded, emotionally potent and vivid portrait of the heart, then you will love this album. In particular, the tracks "Mad World" and "Hallelujah" are very well known pieces that Renee takes to intriguing new places. She uses her voice in ways that we are certainly unaccustomed to from a classical soprano, but in this case? I don't mind in the least.

America's Favorite Soprano returns with a uniquely different sound and repitoire. Her ease of voice and full tone bring a new edge and a new found appreciation to this amazing indie music. Buy it NOW!

When I heard about this album, I really worried that it would be awkward, over-sung, precious, or silly- not really from anything I've heard from Renee Fleming in the past, but from efforts other opera singers have made with pop songs. But this album is a real discovery, a pleasant surprise. The songs are diverse, but pulled together by that voice. Even singing low, in a range she rarely uses in opera, Ms. Fleming has an instrument that seems dipped in chocolate and honey. Using only a fraction of her power, she engages with the lyrics and puts them over in a way that's all too rare in most pop singing. I cringed at the thought of hearing the overdone Leonard Cohen ballad "Hallelujah" again, but this is the first singer who has made me really listen to the lyric. And that's my least favorite track. "With Twilight as My Guide," "Soul Meets Body," "Today," and "No One's Gonna Love You," are fantastic. I am even getting hooked on "Endlessly," which people are faulting for the disco-synth orchestration. It doesn't bug me, because I think the gloss gives it a retro, Euro-pop feel that's fun in small doses. More than anything, I keep wanting to hear the album over and over again, and I know it's because the richness, depth and flexibility of her voice and her respect for the words are truly compelling.

I'm a huge fan of Renee Fleming's opera and classical recordings and I love "Dark Hope". I agree with the earlier review that says that this is something unique and special. Renee's lower register is intimate and sexy and as always, she pays attention to text. It's fun to hear her sing in this idiomatic way. I was not familiar with these songs and that is a bonus of this cd. The songs themselves are interesting and in some cases, provocative. Do yourself a favor and buy this. Listen to it a couple of times and after you've heard her sing Leonard Cohen's "Hallelujah", go to Youtube or another source and listen to her sing Mozart's (Exsultate, Jubilate!). You'll be thankful, as I am, that there's an artist who can do justice to both of these works and so much more.

I love this CD...enough to use it as my motivational CD every morning as I'm treading upon the treadmill. And that's a huge compliment in my book. First of all, I'm a classically trained singer, I'm a soprano, and I'm picky. There's enough variety in the tempos for a good workout and enough depth and mystery in the music and lyrics to keep me interested -- over and over again. I didn't care for Renee's "Haunted Heart" jazz CD. Too precious, too classical, not earthy and gritty enough. "Dark Hope" is an entirely different story. You can tell she had some really good advice in the choice of songs and the keys in which they were sung. They sit in her voice in a way that feels organic and easy. Based on things I've heard her say in interviews in the past few years, I think this CD is part of a midlife reassessment, a search for meaning and answers, even a search for more of who she really is, outside of her image as one of the century's greatest sopranos. She's an inspiration to women who are working (and playing) at rediscovering themselves as they approach 50, and I admire her courage in following her heart with this project. The themes of the songs are heavy, sober, even dark, but there's light in the darkness, at least for me. It has to do with a willingness to be honest, to look at the realities of this life, call a spade a spade, find the strength to deal with the hard stuff and come out the other side a better person. Renee has done that in her own life, and she brings this pain and metamorphosis to every song in a way that speaks to the heart. I would not call this a crossover. They call the style "Indie" but she has a style that's all her own on this CD. The only hints of crossover I hear are impeccable intonation and the amazing attentiveness to the text (lyrics, as they say in pop music). The poetry in these songs is rich and deep, and she sings it the way she sings her song recitals, with an intelligence and sensitivity that tell you she has thought long and hard about what the words mean, at least to her. Each morning on my treadmill, I find something new in these songs. Yes, there is a sameness about the instrumentals, but it's not boring. Truthfully, I expected to hate this CD, but I love it and I'd recommend it to anyone who appreciates great "art songs" of any genre sung by an intelligent, creative, sincere, gifted songstress.

Dark Hope: a perfect title, an atmosphere like the darkness of a moonless night wrapping around you. Moonless nights are those when a myriad of stars shine the brightest.

There is a holding back that becomes like a surrounding spirit we are always aware of but that exists mostly as an unexpressed potential; perhaps like a martial artist that never uses her full devastating strength but uses her power in a fluid, natural, and gentle way. One is always aware that at any moment the greatest force could burst forth, yet it never does. It remains as a kind of hidden internal strength, derived from those decades of training and experience, that inescapably permeates her voice.

There is an intimacy to her songs like you were attending a local gig in some coffee-shop/café with less than a dozen people in the audience and, very naturally, a world-class musician out of your dreams walks up onto the dinky stand that passes for a stage, sits in, and, in complete harmony with the musicians and audience, creates a concert of sublime ethereality. I often found myself thinking while listening to these popular songs, "Wow, what is SHE doing here?"

In some songs I felt she was experimenting with and finding timbre as a means of expressing intensity, never wanting to overdo it. Overall it was a joy hearing how she was learning to use a completely different palette and style, and creatively explore ways to put into a different form that glorious artistic medium she molds--her superlative voice.

One of the funniest things I ever heard, laughing until my stomach hurt, was a friend doing an impression of Ethel Merman singing Jimi Hendrix's "Purple Haze" complete with roof-raising loudness and vibrato like out-of-synch jackhammers. This ain't that. This is the real stuff.