Customer Reviews

Haunted Heart

5 star:		(31)
4 star:		(13)
3 star:		(6)
2 star:		(5)
1 star:		(9)

 

 

No one really would have suspected it, but Fleming truly does have a strong pop/jazz style voice. At times there are elements or hints of Carly Simon, Phoebe Snow, Nancy Wilson and, oddly, Cher, yet it is a unique sound all hers and and not at all derivative.

Many of the cuts reveal a juicy low voice that purrs and then opens up strongly recalling Nancy Wilson in similar material.

Fleming's cover of Joni Mitchell's "River" is about as classic and stunning a performance of this song as one is likely to hear. Ever. Even from Mitchell.

Fleming tackles one of my favorite songs "The Moon is a Harsh Mistress" and goes one better than my previous favorite recording, Linda Ronstadt's. Not an easy thing to do.

So far I am thrilled with just about every note and phrase I've heard. This is not "crossover" style music, it's "real music" and, if Fleming really sounds like this - or can sound like this - she could pick up another career quite easily. This is gorgeous, late night, candles, glass of port, sink into the sofa music.

Some of Fleming's previous excursions into the realm of pop have met with disaster (notably her over-the-top "Over The Rainbow" at last year's Kennedy Center Honors). This album has none of that affected, show offiness that made even die-hard fans of hers question her taste and musicality.

Many opera fans are going to hate her in this material, many probably won't, on principle, even give it a listen, but those who don't know Fleming as an opera singer, will easily buy that this is a real deal, a golden throated chanteuse singing this material as if to the manner born.

Mine is the 39th review for Ammy of this album, and I see it averages 4 stars. I haven't read the various reviews (yet), but I can well guess why. I'm sure there are those who are outraged at the "conceit" of this album. But at the risk of being booed and neggied, I love it.

As one who sings both opera and jazz on a "professional amateur" scale, let me state my insights into why this album is so special, why it is one of the best of 2005, and why it is one of the best "of its kind":

Relatively few opera singers could pull off an album with two jazz musicians brilliantly. It seems to me that coloratura sopranos, Verdi baritones and operatic tenors would have a devil of a time doing such a project, because their vibratos would be so wide as to destroy the flavor of jazz and the interplay with the other two musicians. The singer would have to be a bass-baritone, a contralto, or possibly a very accomplished lyric soprano or a mezzo who can sing an octave down and control the vibrato.

Relatively few jazz pianists could pull off an album with an opera singer brilliantly. It would take not only someone who knows how to accompany singers generally, but also someone who can flow with the ebb and tide of the drama that opera singers create but jazz singers (generally) do not--all the while being able to improvise within that structure.

And relatively few jazz guitarists could pull off an album with an opera singer brilliantly. Again, it would take someone who not only knows how to accompany singers generally, but also someone who can take an "orchestral" approach to the guitar but again, can improvise within that structu

Three of those few who can potentially pull off a project like this are Renee Fleming, Fred Hersch (p) and the inimitable Bill Frisell (g. Here, each does it brilliantly.

The first time I listened to this, I uttered a breathless "wow" at the end of so many songs that I lost count. The second time I started catching the subtleties. Consider Hersch's quote from "Jingle Bells" in Joni Mitchell's "River". Or, consider how Hersch matches Ms. Fleming's sense of the dramatic in "Midnight Sun", "In My Life" and the title track. Or consider how Frisell hits overtones in "Answer Me", and harmonizes within the overtones. Or consider how Ms. Fleming bends notes and scats like a jazz singer in "When Did You Leave Heaven" and "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress", hits a 10-note portimento like an opera singer in "You've Changed", and does a baroque ornamentation like an oratorio singer in "My One and Only Love."

What do you call this album? You can't call it jazz, really, and certainly you can't call it opera. It's really a cabaret album, but with Mahler's "Liebst du um Schonheit" and Villa-Lobos' "Cancao do Amor", also a recital album.

Among the vocal jazz and cabaret albums I review, I call it one of the best of the year, and an album that really can't be compared to much else. These are 3 musicians who create exquisite art together, with utmost sensitivity. Together, they leave an end product that should be in the c.d. changer of all music-lover's, and certainly will be in mine, for a very long time. RC

P.S.--To the person or persons who keep "neggieing" this and virtually every other review of this album: Grow Up!! I see 3 reasons to neggie a review: a) The review misrepresents the product; b) The review makes false factual claims (not opinion; fact); c) The review is a personal attack on the artist. Neither this nor the other "heavily-neggied" reviews is guilty of any of these 3. RC

First and foremost, put aside any preconceived ideas that you might have as to what this album is going to or should sound like. If someone didn't tell you this was an opera singer in general and the glorious Renee Fleming in particular, you would think you've stumbled upon a wholly sophisticated sonic experience, born in the jazz clubs of lower Manhattan, far from Carnegie Hall, 92nd Street Y or Lincoln Center. I truly loved this CD and to be honest, I wasn't sure that I would. With a bluesy and earthy vocal palette, what we ultimately come realize is what a personal statement this CD is and it's just so darn refreshing to hear Ms. Fleming pouring forth these wonderful works with such tender and obvious affection and commitment. This love letter to jazz and blues (and select classical) is as intelligent and artistic as anything Ms. Fleming's ever done. So go ahead and light a few candles, pour yourself a cocktail, sit back and enjoy the seduction.

I have to admit, Haunted Heart was a lot better than I thought it would be,especially her recordings of "River", "The Moon's a Harsh Mistress, "My Cherie Amour" and "In my life".
I think this is the most artistically successful recording of Pop/Jazz by a classical singer. I enjoyed it even better than the Anna Sophie Von Otter'/ Elvis Costello CD.
The perspective I am coming from is that of a classical singer who started out as a pop singer/songwriter. I perform and teach cross-genre but love a world class instrument such as Flemming's
I wanted to get the perspective of a friend who used to sing jingles and is also a trained singer but is usually critical of any attempts that opera singers make at crossing -over.
My friend is very familiar with Flemming's voice, but did not recognise it in this context when I played the CD for her. Her reaction was very complimentary, although she did comment that the diction was a bit strange.
She then played it for her brother a well known jazz singer and arranger who had a somewhat negative reaction.He found the singing to be overly dark and round. He prefers a cleaner more 'spoken' approach to this style of singing. I understand this perspective and therefore personally prefer Ella to Sarah as well, but let's not get too picky. Obviously, Rene Flemming is of the Sarah Vaghan School of jazz singing, which is not too shabby.

I will continue to enjoy this CD and will wait for another opera diva to top this one. But, somehow I think the next really good CD of Pop/ jazz from an opera star will also come from Rene.

To those who have been unreasonably mean and negative towards her, I can only say you are not fit to polish her shoes!

When I first began listening to this album, I was a bit taken aback. This is far from Bel Canto. It took me a few songs to adjust my senses to this new Renee Fleming experience and now that I have adjusted, I am hooked. There is no denying that this album has the same artistry and intellect that we have come to expect of Ms. Fleming. The dropped tessitura reveals a sultry, soulful voice that drips with passion through every note. The accompaniments are equally passionate and musical. This CD is just what the title promises - haunting. Ms. Fleming described this album as "a look back at the road not taken" and although I'm glad she went the classical route, this album proves that she is as well-rounded and musically sound as singers come. In listening to this, I feel that I better understand how her unique classical approach came about. I especially enjoy tracks 6, 8, and 9. This album is beautiful and artistic and I enthusiastically recommend it.

Quit grappling over how to reconcile vocal disciplines and just buy the damned album. She's an opera singer, a lieder singer, and above and before anything else, a singer. The single most formidable talent in the realm of vocal music today. A simply dizzying performance. Brava, cheers, finger snaps, the whole bit.

Fleming's voice is one of our generation's great instruments. But the interpretive expression and magesterial technique she brings to Handel, Mozart and Strauss aren't what's needed in Mon Cherie Amour. Bruce Springsteen caught the qualities that one looks for in a jazz singer in his description of Sinatra's voice, filled with "bad attitude, life, beauty, excitement, a nasty sense of freedom, sex and a sad knowledge of the ways of the world." Fleming's is, by contrast (as one of her CDs is titled) "the beautiful voice." And so, unsurprisingly, the singing here is beautiful indeed. What's lacking -- partly owing to song selection, partly to performance -- is the immediate sense of heartbreak, of vulnerability, that comes through in jazz vocalists like Diane Reeves, Sarah Vaughn, Elaine Elias et al. All of us Fleming fans can take heart in the fact that when she decided on opera, the world was not deprived of the next Billie Holliday

Having read in Ms. Fleming's book about her beginnings as a jazz singer, and the great love she has for contemporary music, I was very curious about this album. So few contemporary pop and/or jazz singers have really good voices, and most opera singers who try to sing pop/jazz are clueless. Renee handles this material with style and grace. I hope to hear more from her in this genre. Give "Haunted Heart" a listen-I don't think you'll be sorry.

I can't believe the harshness of some of the comments on this album. Not a lot of in between among the notices -- those that hate are mean and heartless. Very hurtful. Lousy counterpoint to her warmth. I don't think they understand that she doesn't have to lose control to be meaningful and touching. Take her as an original instead of as a mimic. What do I hear? I love her lush voice on this album and Fred Hersch's brilliant piano accompaniment. Bill Frisell is very good, too. I love jazz & pop as well as opera. Ren?e Fleming can make it any of these genres. These songs are very much her own interpretation. They are 'deeper' than what you've heard before. Even if I prefer Nancy Wilson or Eva Cassidy singing "You've Changed," Ren?e Fleming sings it warmly and beautifully, in her own style, and very touching, too. She's not carried by full orchestration, mostly just Fred and her. I was going to write that "My One and Only Love" was especially good, but as the cd kept playing, I must say that they are all especially good. Enjoy.

Renée Fleming is one of the few opera singers who can really handle this kind of material. (Dawn Upshaw and Sylvia McNair being other female examples, although with different approaches than Renée decided on here, and with significantly less "big" voices, making the transition from classics to jazz/pop easier.) Renée doesn't hide the size and gorgeous tone of her voice, and still nothing about this CD sounds forced or unauthentic. If you didn't know who was singing you'd certainly realize it must be someone with a classically trained voice but you'd never expect it to be one of opera's most outstanding sopranos. If anything, she gives too much emotion to some of the numbers, making a complete listen of the CD from beginning to end almost too intense. Even the Mahler song doesn't stick out in any way, emphasizing once more--as if that were necessary--that there's just good music and bad music. No need to say the accompaniment by Hersch and Frisell is sublime. Incidentally, in the Mahler, Frisell plays an accurate transcription of the original piano-vocal score which still sounds like an improvisation, a fact that adds to the impression of the incredibly strong artistic unity of the whole album.