Renee Fleming: Verismo

Renee Fleming (Artist), Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini (Composer), Pietro Mascagni (Composer), Alfredo Catalani (Composer), Ruggero Leoncavallo (Composer), Riccardo Zandonai (Composer), Umberto Giordano (Composer), Marco Armiliato (Conductor), Jonas Kaufmann (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Jonas Kaufmann
• Conductor: Marco Armiliato
• Composer: Giacomo Antonio Domenico Michele Secondo Maria Puccini, Pietro Mascagni, Alfredo Catalani, Ruggero Leoncavallo, Riccardo Zandonai, et al.
• Audio CD (September 15, 2009)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Label: Decca
• ASIN: B002GXG57Q
• In-Print Editions: MP3 Music
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (23 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #49,676 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)

Track Listings

1. Puccini - Senza Mamma

2. Mascagni - Un di ero piccina

3. Puccini - Ore dolci e divine

4. Mascagni - Ah, il suo nome... Flammen perdonami

5. Catalani - Ne mai dunque avro pace...Ohime!

6. Puccini - Si mi chiamo Mimi

7. Leoncavallo - Musette svaria sulla vocca viva

8. Leoncavallo - Mimi Pinson la biondinetta

9. Puccini - Addio... Donde lieta"

10. Leoncavallo - Angioletto, il tuo nome?

11. Puccini - Sola perduta, abandonata

12. Zandonai - Ier della Fabbrica

13. Cilea - O mia cun fiorita from Gloria

14. Giordano - Tutto tramonta

15. Puccini - Tu che di gel cinta

16. Giordano - Nel so amore from Siberia

17. Puccini - Bevo al tuo fresco sorriso

Editorial Reviews

About the Artist

One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. Known as "the people's diva," she continues to grace the world's greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other mediums. Over the past few seasons, Ms. Fleming has begun hosting a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera's Live in HD series for movie theaters and television, and Live from Lincoln Center on PBS. In 2008, a precedent was broken when Ms. Fleming became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to headline an opening night gala.

As a musical statesman, Renée Fleming has been sought after for numerous distinguished occasions, from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to performances in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. On January 18, 2009, she performed for the televised We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert for President Obama. She has performed for the United States Supreme Court, HRH The Prince of Wales at Buckingham Palace, and celebrates the upcoming 20th anniversary of the Velvet Revolution at the invitation of Vaclav Havel.

Renée Fleming's 2009-10 operatic season at the Metropolitan Opera includes performances of Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (October 2009; January 2010), and continues with a new production of Rossini's Armida (April/May 2010), which is a MET premiere. She also appears at the Vienna State Opera in performances of Strauss's Capriccio (June 2010) and at the Zurich Opera in Verdi's La Traviata and Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier (June/July 2010).

Following summer performances in Ecuador and South Africa, Ms. Fleming's 2009-10 season in the concert world commences with the New York Philharmonic's Opening Night Gala performance of Messiaen's Poèmes pour Mi, welcoming new Music Director Alan Gilbert. She then appears in early October in the Chicago Symphony Orchestra's Opening Night Gala, performing Barber's Knoxville Summer of 1915 and selected songs by Strauss, and at the end of October embarks on a European tour with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Further season highlights include November concerts in Madrid and Prague, with January US performances in Florida and Mississippi, as well as a public master class at The Juilliard School in New York City in October. A masterful recitalist, Ms. Fleming appears in November and December in Baden-Baden, Vienna, Vancouver, Seattle, Baltimore, Berkeley, Santa Barbara and Los Angeles. In February, 2010, she will join the Boston Symphony Orchestra for performances of Strauss's Four Last Songs and Mahler's Symphony No. 4.

A two-time Grammy winner, Ms. Fleming's new CD Verismo (Decca/September 2009) features a collection of rarely heard Italian arias with the Orchestra Giuseppe Verdi di Milano conducted by Marco Armiliato, and Ms. Fleming's DVD of the complete Der Rosenkavalier (Decca/October 2009) features the Munich Philharmonic, conducted by Christian Thielemann. These releases follow the critically acclaimed 2008 CD of Strauss: Four Last Songs, also conducted by Christian Thielemann. In recent years, this eleven-time Grammy nominated artist has recorded everything from Strauss's complete Daphne to the jazz album Haunted Heart, to the movie soundtrack of The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King. Her recording honors range from the 2009 Echo Award for Strauss's Four Last Songs to the Prix Maria Callas Orphée d'Or by the Académie du Disque Lyric for TDK's DVD production of Capriccio.

Renée Fleming's artistry has been an inspiration to many other prominent artists, such as Chuck Close and Robert Wilson, whose portraits of her were included in the Metropolitan Opera's 2007 fund-raising auction. Two portraits of Ms. Fleming were also created by Francesco Clemente, who revealed one work in Salzburg in spring 2007, with the Metropolitan Opera displaying the other in 2008. Among her numerous awards are Sweden's Polar Prize (2008); the Chevalier de la Légion d'Honneur from the French government (2005); Honorary Membership in the Royal Academy of Music (2003); and a 2003 Honorary Doctorate from The Juilliard School, where she was also commencement speaker.

An advocate for literacy, Renée Fleming has been featured in promotional campaigns for the Association of American Publishers (Get Caught Reading), and the Magazine Publishers of America's READ poster campaign for the American Library Association. She was honored by The New York Public Library as a "Library Lion." Her book, "The Inner Voice," was published by Viking Penguin in 2004, and released in paperback by Penguin the following year. An intimate account of her career and creative process, the book is also published in France by Fayard Editions, in the United Kingdom by Virgin Books, by Henschel Verlag in Germany, Shunjusha in Japan, and by Fantom Press in Russia.

In addition to her work on stage and in recordings, Renée Fleming has represented Rolex timepieces in print advertising since 2001. In 2008, she launched La Voce by Renée Fleming, a fragrance designed for her, with the proceeds benefiting the Metropolitan Opera. Master Chef Daniel Boulud has created the dessert "La Diva Renée" (1999) in her honor, and she has inspired the "Renée Fleming Iris" (2004), which has been replicated in porcelain by Boehm. Having been added to Mr. Blackwell's best dressed list, her concert gowns have been designed by Bill Blass, Gianfranco Ferré, John Galliano, Christian Lacroix, Karl Lagerfeld, Issey Miyake, Oscar de la Renta, Angel Sanchez and Vivienne Westwood. In addition to serving as the face of opera for two public transit campaigns in New York and London, Ms. Fleming has appeared on The Martha Stewart Show, The View, Prairie Home Companion as "Renata Flambé," and Spectacle: Elvis Costello with..., among numerous other media outlets.

Ms. Fleming is currently a member of the Board of Trustees of the Carnegie Hall Corporation, the Board of Sing for Hope, and the Advisory Board of the White Nights Foundation of America.

Product Description

Renée Fleming sings opera arias by Puccini and his contemporaries. Celebrating the composers of the Verismo style. Favorite Puccini arias from La Bohème, Turandot, Manon Lescaut, Il Trittico etc.
Rarely heard arias by other Verismo composers. World Premiere recording of the original manuscript version of the aria from Puccini s Manon Lescaut. Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann joins Renée Fleming for an irresistible melody from Act II of Puccini s La Rondine.

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

28 of 29 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another fantastic album from Renee Fleming September 15, 2009

By Robert Petersen

Format:Audio CD

This album was launched as part of Renee Fleming's South African tour with the KZN Philharmonic Orchestra in August 2009. Fleming has compiled familiar selections and some rarities in this new album. Some listeners might find that her voice not matching singers more familiar in the style of verismo, but on repeated listening, there is much to enjoy. The rare selections from Leoncavallo's La Boheme and Zandonai's Conchita are a particular highlight, alongside excerpts from Puccini's La Boheme, La Rondine and Turandot, where Fleming's heartfelt singing is most welcome. A disc which shows off Fleming's artistry yet again.

26 of 28 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another impressive recital album September 29, 2009

By Ralph Moore TOP 500 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

You will already know if you like Renée Fleming's voice and are a fan. If so, there are no real surprises here: she is singing repertoire ideally suited to her gifts - a little jazzy sliding and smoky shading does no harm at all in verismo - and all her vocal virtues are very much in evidence. The voice is still in its prime, and if the top notes are not exactly easy they are still very much there. The famous sumptuous tone gratefully plumps out these dramatic arias but Fleming also enlivens them by her concern to colour phrases and inject emotion rather than just make a beautiful noise. If, on the other hand, you are not a fan, please leave alone those of us who are and allow us to enjoy this disc; don't snap at out heels with bitchy comments and spiteful little no-votes, but return instead to those singers you like. This is an artist who has brought pleasure to millions over the last twenty years; lyric sopranos with her fullness and depth of tone are rare. She has been very careful how she has eased into a somewhat heavier Fach; I do not envisage her going much further along this route and expect that she will stop with certain of the middlingly heavy Puccini rôles, perhaps Elisabetta in "Don Carlo" and maybe even the "lightest" Wagner rôles such as Elsa in "Lohengrin".

This recital is a judicious mix of a few favorites and mostly slightly more recherché verismo arias and ensemble excerpts. I for one could have done without yet another artist giving us her version of "Sì. Mi chiamano Mimì" but it's central to the repertoire, I suppose.... Otherwise, it's good to hear comparative rarities such as the arias from the lesser-known operas of Giordano, Cilea, Mascagni and Zandonai and perhaps Fleming's advocacy will help boost the chances of the odd revival which such music merits. The accompaniment provided by the Orchestra Sinfonica di Milano directed by Marco Armiliato is rather anodyne and over-respectful of the great soprano; "unobtrusive" is perhaps the better word. I like the increasing tendency of late in recital discs to provied supporting singers such that excerpts from complete operas are not clumsily doctored, kippered or re-arranged; the ensemble pieces from "La Rondine" and Leoncavallo's "La Bohème" provide particular pleasure. Some might find the scene from the latter's "Zazà" a little saccharine, but a certain sentimentality is inherent in this genre; if you don't enjoy the pathos of Suor Angelica's lament over her lost baby boy and the plight of suffering ladies in general, you probably cannot stomach verismo opera in any case.

A guest appearance from Jonas Kaufmann in the last ensemble from "La Rondine" is a bonus. There is much great singing here; Fleming's fans need not hesitate. Read more ›

12 of 13 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another "HIT" for Renée September 28, 2009

By Leo Della Rocca

Format:Audio CD

Here we have another successful CD by Renée Fleming, after the mostly unsuccessful Bel Canto CD she recorded years earlier. It is logical that this repertoire should suit her, for she has triumphed in many modern American operas. Yes, verismo refers to the period between around 1875 to 1900, and verismo operas include such well-known operas as Mascagni's Cavalleria Rusticana (perhaps the most famous of them all) and Leoncavallo's Pagliacci, but the two genres are very similar since their plots deal with real life situations - even if not based on fact. Ms Fleming has had much experience and success singing modern American opera, e.g., Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire and Floyd's Susannah. Her voice, temperament and technique are very suited to this type of opera with its many nuances and emotional impluses. If you like Renée Fleming's voice and you would like to hear a fresh new look at the interpretation of some of verismo opera's famous arias, buy this CD. Ms Fleming can ideally express the subtler and sweeter or more sorrowful and introverted shades of verismo, such as in "Senza mamma". In fact, she has not included the heavier more dramatic arias because, as she herself has stated, those arias and roles do not suit her voice. It is also curious to note that the aria form, per se, was not typical of the verismo style, as it mostly interrupts the action and natural movement of the plot. In fact, Puccini is said to have been against inserting an aria in an opera, but did so to please the reigning prima donna or primo uomo of the time.

7 of 7 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Deeply affecting. September 28, 2009

By Abel TOP 1000 REVIEWER

Format:Audio CD

Renee Fleming has sung divers roles and recorded many.
Her best genre, however, does appear to be these lyrical verismo works that show off her vocal quality in its best light. And she is fully capable of expressing the different emotional shades of the different pieces.
While initially I had a bit of reservation before actually seeing and listening to the tracks, my apprehensions are quickly dispelled. True that not all the tracks are from familiar works. In fact, composers like Cilea and Zandonai are rather out of the way. But Renee is able to dig out excerpts from these works that are beautiful and suit her timbre to a 'T'. ANd I am particularly glad she did not choose excerpts from 'Francesca da Rimini' or 'Adriana Leocouvrer', the two foremost works of Zandonai and Cilea. The title roles in those works simply do not suit Renee's timbre. This disc is highly recommended.
I would however be much interested to listen to Renee's 'Andrea Chenier' by Giordano one day.

7 of 8 people found the following review helpful

5.0 out of 5 stars Another winner September 26, 2009

By L. Wells

Format:Audio CD

I think this is an excellent collection - well chosen and well sung. Purists say she's mannered - as if a singing actor shouldn't act. To me she strikes a very responsive chord. I also recommend her "Homage" and "I Want Magic". My dream is for her to record a CD of Menotti arias.