RENÉE FLEMING
HOMAGE-The Age Of The Diva
A GALLERY OF DIVAS-ALL OF THEM PARAGONS OF OPERA UTTERANCE!
This is my first Renée Fleming CD and I am totally mesmerized by it. Its title is "HOMAGE-The Age Of The Diva" (it had a release date of October 2006) and Renée pays tribute to many of the star divas of the opera such as Magda Olivero or Maria Jeritza. Some of the tracks are rare such as track nine that I`m listening to now-Tsveti moi! By Rimsky-Korsakov from his lost opera Servilia. A song from Massenet`s Cléopâtre is also new. Renee attempts to tippy-toe on newly plowed soil for a large proportion of the time here. Ms Fleming`s voice is beautiful, quivers like a nightingale in the upper-ozone-stratosphere of sopranosville, as a I play this record for about the umpteenth time. I`m still trying to decide which track is my favorite, but am leaning towards two Korngold selections, and this is maybe due to the fact that he is in the vanguard of film-score composers.
Included is a very attractive CD booklet with all the lyrics to the arias and information about each of the pieces, the composers, the most famous performers, their claim to fame, origins and such. Also, the photographs are nice of Renée Fleming dressed to the gills as an old-timey-diva. Moreover, there are photos of many of greats such as Mary Garden or Geraldine Ferrar. I am doing a little research on these famous divas, and am dying to hear some of their recordings. This may have been the purpose of this CD, and if that is true, it is doing its job splendidly! I usually listen to the Metropolitan Opera on Saturdays, when in season, but I listen mostly in my truck when I am running errands, so my concentration is somewhat limited. I have heard Renée Fleming on 89.5 KMFA radio, Austin`s classical station, which I listened to religiously, because it keeps my jangled nerves in check. I always listen to the New York Philharmonic on Tuesdays-yea, I look forward to that show the most!
I have been reading up on the two dearly departed divas, and that may have factored in in my purchase of this CD. I anxiously perused the recent death of Beverly Sills in Wednesdays` New York Times (that was the 4th), a piece by Anthony Tommasini, and did not have too many recollections of her, save some Tonight Show appearances. I will make a point to review her career more thoroughly. Then on Friday I flipped through the obituaries of Régine Crespin, a French diva most known for her as Sieglinde in Wagner`s “Die Walküre”, (part of the Ring Cycle) and especially her version with Georg Solti`s Decca recording. This piece was also written by Anthony Tommasini, the classical music critic for the New York Times, and a writer I seem to get most of my classical stuff from. I am curious about Regine`s sound catalog too. Please go to this historic opera site to purview old postcards, programs, billboards, scores, and trivia galore-it is a lot of fun and you will learn a lot too!
HOMAGE-The Age Of The Diva
A GALLERY OF DIVAS-ALL OF THEM PARAGONS OF OPERA UTTERANCE!
This is my first Renée Fleming CD and I am totally mesmerized by it. Its title is "HOMAGE-The Age Of The Diva" (it had a release date of October 2006) and Renée pays tribute to many of the star divas of the opera such as Magda Olivero or Maria Jeritza. Some of the tracks are rare such as track nine that I`m listening to now-Tsveti moi! By Rimsky-Korsakov from his lost opera Servilia. A song from Massenet`s Cléopâtre is also new. Renee attempts to tippy-toe on newly plowed soil for a large proportion of the time here. Ms Fleming`s voice is beautiful, quivers like a nightingale in the upper-ozone-stratosphere of sopranosville, as a I play this record for about the umpteenth time. I`m still trying to decide which track is my favorite, but am leaning towards two Korngold selections, and this is maybe due to the fact that he is in the vanguard of film-score composers.
Included is a very attractive CD booklet with all the lyrics to the arias and information about each of the pieces, the composers, the most famous performers, their claim to fame, origins and such. Also, the photographs are nice of Renée Fleming dressed to the gills as an old-timey-diva. Moreover, there are photos of many of greats such as Mary Garden or Geraldine Ferrar. I am doing a little research on these famous divas, and am dying to hear some of their recordings. This may have been the purpose of this CD, and if that is true, it is doing its job splendidly! I usually listen to the Metropolitan Opera on Saturdays, when in season, but I listen mostly in my truck when I am running errands, so my concentration is somewhat limited. I have heard Renée Fleming on 89.5 KMFA radio, Austin`s classical station, which I listened to religiously, because it keeps my jangled nerves in check. I always listen to the New York Philharmonic on Tuesdays-yea, I look forward to that show the most!
I have been reading up on the two dearly departed divas, and that may have factored in in my purchase of this CD. I anxiously perused the recent death of Beverly Sills in Wednesdays` New York Times (that was the 4th), a piece by Anthony Tommasini, and did not have too many recollections of her, save some Tonight Show appearances. I will make a point to review her career more thoroughly. Then on Friday I flipped through the obituaries of Régine Crespin, a French diva most known for her as Sieglinde in Wagner`s “Die Walküre”, (part of the Ring Cycle) and especially her version with Georg Solti`s Decca recording. This piece was also written by Anthony Tommasini, the classical music critic for the New York Times, and a writer I seem to get most of my classical stuff from. I am curious about Regine`s sound catalog too. Please go to this historic opera site to purview old postcards, programs, billboards, scores, and trivia galore-it is a lot of fun and you will learn a lot too!
I`m listening to Servilla by Rimsky-Korsakov now and I have chills as a result of its beauty. This is all very new to me, so it is still very fresh and exciting, in both content and in its performance. I will be studying these references carefully and then will maybe pick up some other titles, if I can manage it. I just loaded “Homage” on my MP3 player, so as I take my walk down 6th Street, the Bourbon Street of the Capitol City, and as I glide past all the hobos, winos, and washed-up souls maybe I will get a clearer perspective on this CD! Just before I leave I`m playing track 5 again-Korngold`s “Ich ging zu ihm” because he most intrigues me at the present time, perhaps because of his amusing name. But oddly in a few moments it will be Puccini`s “Tosca”, perhaps? After taking my walk (it is now 9:38 AM), and after oodles of Starbucks` powerful White Chocolate Moca Ventis, I am not any closer to worshipping one song over another, in fact I LOVE all thirteen tracks! (That is Giacomo Puccini with Maria Jeritza just above).
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