About the Album
This is a compilation--plus three previously unreleased selections--of some of the glorious Renée Fleming's finest work, 15 selections covering 13 composers.
The rose-in-full-bloom quality of the voice is staggeringly beautiful: Her rendition of Rusalka's "Song to the Moon" is justly famous and is, alone, worth the price of this CD. Other highlights are Marietta's Lied from Korngold's Die tote stadt, an odd arrangement of the aria from Villa-Lobos's Bachianas Brasilerias No. 5, Manon's Gavotte, and a knock-down-gorgeous reading of Gershwin's "Summertime." The three new recordings are of Violetta's big first-act scene from La traviata, which features one of the most perfect trills heard since Joan Sutherland.
Robert Levine
Track List
- Puccini: Gianni Schicchi - "O mio babbino caro" 2:50
- Catalani: La Wally / Act 1 - Ebben? Ne andrò lontana 5:02
- Mozart: Le nozze di Figaro, K.492 / Act 2 - "Porgi amor" 3:51
- Mozart: Così fan tutte / Act 1 - "Come scoglio" (Applause omitted at end) 4:22
- Bellini: Norma / Act 1 - Casta Diva 5:58
- Verdi: La traviata - original version / Act 1 - Ah, fors'è lui...Sempre libera 9:58
- Puccini: Madama Butterfly / Act 2 - Un bel dì vedremo 4:52
- Massenet: Manon / Act 3 - Je marche sur les chemins...Obéissons quand leur voix appelle) 6:14
- Dvořák: Rusalka, Op.114, B. 203 / Act 1 - "O Silver Moon" 5:56
- Rachmaninov: Fourteen Songs, Op.34 - 14. Vocalise 5:37
- R. Strauss: Caecilie, Op.27, No.2 2:22
- Korngold: Die tote Stadt / Act 1 - Glück, das mir verblieb (Mariettalied) 5:59
- Gershwin: Porgy and Bess / Act 1 - "Summertime" 4:17
- Villa-Lobos: Bachianas Brasileiras No. 5: Aria (Cantilena) 5:03
- Rodgers: You'll Never Walk Alone (From "Carousel") 4:44
Recording info
Release Date: September 16, 2003
Label: Decca
CD / Download: 1
ASIN: B0000C3ICO