Renée Fleming - I Want Magic! ~ American Opera Arias

Renee Fleming (Artist), George Gershwin (Composer), Carlisle Floyd / Igor Stravinsky (Composer), Leonard Bernstein (Composer), Douglas S. Moore (Composer), Bernard Herrmann (Composer), Gian Carlo Menotti (Composer), Samuel Barber / Andre Previn (Composer), James Levine (Conductor), Metropolitan Opera Orchestra (Orchestra) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Orchestra: Metropolitan Opera Orchestra
• Conductor: James Levine
• Composer: George Gershwin, Carlisle Floyd / Igor Stravinsky, Leonard Bernstein, Douglas S. Moore, Bernard Herrmann, et al.
• Audio CD (September 15, 1998)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B00000AFR4
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Download
• Average Customer Review: 4.2 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (31 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #33,700 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #6 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Divas > Fleming, Renée
  • #22 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Featured Performers, A-Z > C to G
  • #33 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Languages > English

Editorial Reviews

Soprano sensation Renee Fleming performs American arias by Bernard Herrmann, Douglas Moore, George Gershwin, Leonard Bernstein, Samuel Barber, Andre Previn and Igor Stravinsky.
Genre: Classical Music
Media Format: Compact Disk
Rating:
Release Date: 15-SEP-1998

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

6 of 6 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Aguably my favorite collection by this singer, April 17, 2002

By 

Bruce Hodges (New York, NY) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Renée Fleming - I Want Magic! ~ American Opera Arias (Audio CD)

Renee Fleming's legacy is growing fast. Already we have at least a dozen fine recordings, including her superb Richard Strauss songs, a collection of more well-known opera arias, and her surprisingly moving work in "A Streetcar Named Desire."

This disc may be my favorite, however, mostly because it includes so many marvelous pieces that are not very well known. The opener, from Bernard Herrmann's "Wuthering Heights," is stunning. Why is this not recorded more often? (Granted, Ms. Fleming has now set the performance bar pretty high.) The two arias from Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah" are better known, but receive extra-special treatment here.

James Levine and the Met Orchestra are up to their usual high standard and could not be more sympathetic collaborators, and the sound overall is glorious.

There is not a misstep anywhere in this collection - an outstanding example of a great singer presenting a highly unusual program.

9 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars She IS magic!, June 30, 2000

By 

bert1761 (Washington, DC United States) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)   

This review is from: Renée Fleming - I Want Magic! ~ American Opera Arias (Audio CD)

Renee Fleming is simply astonishing. There is apparently little she can't sing. So much on this disc is so good it's hard to pick out highlights. Nevertheless...

The aria from Wuthering Heights that opens the disc is one I'd never heard before, and it is truly gorgeous music that suits Ms. Fleming's gorgeous voice perfectly.

I was astonished by her performance of "My Man's Gone Now." Generally, I think of Ms. Fleming as suited primarily to "lighter" voiced roles, but her performance of this aria showed beautiful darker colors. An earlier reviewer hit the nail right on the head: while I had always found the sound of Ms. Fleming's voice to be quite similar to Kiri Te Kanawa's (albeit deployed with FAR greater musicianship and intelligence), I found her sounding very much like Leontyne Price on this track.

I thoroughly enjoyed her performances of the arias from The Rake's Progress and Vanessa (oh how the latter opera calls for an up-to-date recording -- and it should feature Ms. Fleming in the title role).

The "title track" is a tasty little teaser that should make anyone want to hear -- or, better yet, see on DVD -- her performance as Blanche du Bois in Andre Previn's operatic Streetcar. Being a tremendous fan of the play and of the movie, I was dubious about this opera, but Ms. Fleming gave an even more moving portrayal of Blanche than did Vivien Leigh.

But what keeps causing me to hit the repeat button on my CD player are the arias from Susannah -- particularly "Ain't It a Pretty Night." The sheer sound of her voice in this aria is amazing. But her interpretation is astounding. She captures Susannah's sweetness and innocence, but also colors her voice in such a way that indicates that she senses the hoorible fate that is to befall her and make her truly a tragic heroine.

I must note that Ms. Fleming does miss the mark somewhat on Glitter and Be Gay, but it's a relatively minor misstep relative to the joys of the rest of the CD

3 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars All-American Fun, December 31, 2006

By 

Bruce Varner (Chicago area, USA) - See all my reviews
(VINE VOICE)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Renée Fleming - I Want Magic! ~ American Opera Arias (Audio CD)

I love this CD. It's so incredibly American. It features American lyric soprano Renee Fleming singing American opera arias. Ms. Fleming is capably accompanied by the Met orchestra, America's best opera orchestra, conducted by another distinguished American, Maestro James Levine. The only way this CD could be more American is if it were released on July 4th, with two baseball tickets included. I'm grateful that Decca made this release.

This CD starts out very strong with a gorgeous aria "I have dreamt" from "Wuthering Heights". I've never seen this opera nor heard of this opera. If the opera is half as good as the aria, I would love to see it. Renee cruises through "The Letter Song" from "The Ballad of Baby Doe" with heartfelt interpretation. "Monica's Waltz" is not one of my favorite arias in the world, but Ms. Fleming sings it beautifully.

Here's where we depart, and the reason I gave this CD only 4 stars. First, Renee sings two arias from "Porgy and Bess": "Summertime" and "My Man's Gone Now". Renee's voice is way too rich and lush for these arias. Listen to Renee sing it, then listen to the gold standard, Leontyne Price. You'll see what I mean. Renee's rendition of "My Man's Gone Now" was just way too pretty. The score calls for some extended glissandos, which are supposed to be wails of grief. Renee sang the glissandos beautifully, but no grief was in sight. Her next choice "Glitter and Be Gay" from "Candide" is just not a good choice for her. I think even Renee would tell you that a voice like hers is just not right for Cunegonde. This aria (and role) calls for a smaller voice. [...].

Then Renee reminds me of why I love her in the first place, by returning to two arias from "Susannah", a signature role for her. Her performances of "Ain't it a pretty night!" and "The trees on the mountains" are too good for words. She completely understands this role, and communicates the mood in these arias right through your speakers. Just imagine how good it must be live!

Renee closes with "No word from Tom" (The Rake's Progress), "He has come, he has come!" (Vanessa), and "I want magic! (A Streetcar Named Desire). I wish more opera companies would produce "The Rake's Progress". This is a wonderful opera by an "adopted" American composer, Igor Stravinsky. The aria from "Streetcar" is kind of an odd choice to close this CD, but Renee did premiere the role of Blanche in this Previn piece with the SF Opera. So maybe it's not so strange after all.

Highly recommended for fans of Renee Fleming, and those who need to add some good old American opera to round out their Puccini collections. This is a nice performance record by a woman surely destined to be one of the greatest lyric sopranos in history.