Product Description
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-1998Amazon.com
Like Dawn Upshaw’s The World So Wide on Nonesuch, this program is such an inviting cross section of American opera of the last 50 years, you wonder … More >>
Renée Fleming – I Want Magic! ~ American Opera Arias
Ideas Product
#1 by Anonymous on May 25, 2010 - 10:53 pm
Renee Fleming just isn’t that good, folks. I don’t comprehend why so many are infatuated with her.
Rating: 1 / 5
#2 by MOVIE MAVEN on May 26, 2010 - 12:54 am
Yes, Renee Fleming has one of the most beautiful voices of our time. But she is recording too much, too quickly and this album is filled with selections that simply do not need to be recorded: The two arias from Gershwin’s “Porgy & Bess” are delivered cleanly and lovingly, but have been recorded ad infinitum by women who get deeper into the music; the Menotti aria (or more properly “lullaby”) from “The Medium” simply should not be excerpted; when separated from the storyline of this short, thrilling opera, it comes across as simplistic rather than simple; Sopranos should stop recording Bernstein’s “Glitter and Be Gay.” We hear it all too often and there is still no better recording than the original cast on Sony with Barbara Cook; The title aria from Previn’s “A Streetcar Named Desire” leads me to believe (as I did after watching the complete opera on television) that a great American play has been trivialized. I rated this album with 2** for Fleming’s voice alone, which is truly gorgeous; if you have never heard her sing, pick up a copy of “Signatures” with Solti conducting the London Sym. Orchestra in which Fleming sings “O Silver Moon” from “Rusalka” or even better “The Beautiful Voice” in which the repertory includes arias from “Die Tote Stadt” and “Louise” or best yet, her new-ish album of Stauss arias and scenes.
Rating: 2 / 5
#3 by Cynthia Wimer on May 26, 2010 - 3:11 am
an incredible voice…but does she know what she’s singing?
Rating: 3 / 5
#4 by Anonymous on May 26, 2010 - 4:51 am
Don’t worry about the Glitter and be Gay- you won’t be listening to it ever again once you hear the Vanessa aria (no disrespect to Steber whose old recording is wonderful). Simply stunning. Also, the Rake’s Progress aria which is also fantastic- beautifully, urgently sung. Still- the Met may have done Susanna for Ms. Fleming; but if they ever mount a Venessa for her, I’m buying a plane ticket to New York.
Rating: 5 / 5
#5 by B. Marold on May 26, 2010 - 6:23 am
‘I Want Magic’ sung by superstar mezzo Renee Fleming, backed by James Levine and his Metropolitan Opera Orchestra follows the same pattern of severa of Fleming’s other releases, in that there is one widely known and very familiar piece (Gershwin’s ‘Summertime’ from ‘Porgy and Bess’) plus many less familiar pieces.
The theme of all the pieces is that they are arias from American operas, all in English. And, I get a lot more from this selection than I do from, for example, her recording of Shubert Lieder. One thing I learn is how totally typical is Leonard Bernstein’s piece from ‘Candide’, which sounds like it stepped right out of a production of ‘The Fantasticks’. Gershwin’s two great songs, on the other hand, are icons of American music and even Herrmann’s movie song from Wuthering Heights makes Bernstein’s song sound ordinary.
But, the album is really all about Fleming’s realization of these songs, which is simply nothing less than spectacular. While I tend to prefer hearing works ‘in situ’, Fleming’s talent is so great that hearing her do eleven pieces out of context is worth it. The album is also more interesting than the average collection of Lieder in that it has the backing of a major American dramatic orchestra.
Better than average Fleming choice.
Rating: 5 / 5