Renée Fleming’s Verismo is naturally beautiful

By -

Renée Fleming’s new CD Verismo has already received rave reviews. It opened at the top of the charts when first released. So, this review of her newest release may be a bit late (and even superfluous). However, it is a beautiful album and not commenting on the quality seems a shame. Listening to Verismo is like falling in love with Puccini’s music all over again (and again and again). There other composers from the givane scuola (young school), but it is Puccini who really dominated this period of opera and justifiably dominates the tracks on Fleming’s new album.

Verismo refers to the post-Romantic Italian operatic tradition of composers such as Pietro Mascagni, Ruggiero Leoncavallo, and Giacomo Puccini, who advocated bringing the naturalism of writers such as Emile Zola and Henrik Ibsen into opera. These are operas whose emotional impact is as much in your face as layered with complexity. True to tradition, the arias on Verismo are just that, complex layers of emotion with a searing edge of power. There are a surprising number of detractors who feel Renée Fleming is not up to the task, or that perhaps she has belied the Verismo tradition by including the more popular Puccini operas of La bohème and La rondine. I can only feel they have not really listened to the CD. These are wonderful versions of beautiful music.

What is even more enticing about Verismo is the wealth of rarely heard pieces Ms Fleming included in this recording along side the more recognizable arias. Ms Fleming said, “I was surprised by the sheer volume and variety of the Italian operas from this period, and the intense emotionality of the music…” Although Manon Lescaut is not unknown, but here we are treated to a delightful original manuscript version of Sola, perduta, abbandonata!. It runs the full gambit of emotions from tender strings and harp setting the stage where the title character is feeling lost and abandoned to anguish and fear of death. Ms Fleming’s voice is both commanding and vanquished, leaving the listener a chance to feel every moment.

Beyond several Puccini arias are selections from operas by Mascagni, Catalani, Leoncavallo, Zondonai, Celea, and Giordano. From the delightfully spicy ler dalla fabbrica a Triana from Conchita to tender love song of No! Se un pensier from Siberia. The breadth of styles is incredible. The only time the album doesn’t completely entrance the listener is during Angioletto, il tuo nome? from Zazà. It felt a bit stilted. This isn’t to say that Ms Fleming’s voice is anything but spectacular – but that the track doesn’t live up to the rest of the brilliance of Verismo.

Each aria is delightful, emotionally rich and full of life. I highly recommend Verismo to anyone who has ever enjoyed an opera. The music is exquisite, and the performances absolutely first rate. Renée Fleming is the Diva of our age and this is more than ample proof just how very good she is.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Role of Music in Opera

By -
There are numerous books on the topic, and every composer, librettist, director, singer and audience member has their opinion as to what role the music should play in an opera. In a play without music, the words ought to support the meaning behind a character's actions. However, in the case of action movies, often times the action is what tells the story and there aren't words, just images to forward the plot. We might hear music to accompany action, build tension, but the action tells the story. Musicals tend to speak until the emotion of the moment just "has" to break out in song - unless it's something like "Mama Mia" where the dialog is the rails we travel on between songs; the songs themselves, written before the concept of the musical, are the focus of the production, while the story is secondary. Operas are a different beast. The music provides emotion to the words spoken, but it also plays the role of ambience when there is only action. In ...
Read more

Episode 210b: Joyeuse le départ

By -
Image
Podcast:  Play in new window  |  Download Subscribe:  Apple Podcasts  |  Android  |  Google Play  |  Stitcher  |  TuneIn  |  RSS Provost Cunningham has Transmigrated, but to where! What is Dr Sage going to do with his body? And how can she bring home her friends, Abigail and Erasmus, without also bring home Cunningham? What are they going to say when they find the “skeleton” she’s hiding in her closet? Cast: Eddie Louise Clark  as Dr Sage Chip Clark  as Professor Savant Justin Bremer  as the Narrator Emily Riley Piatt  as Abigail Entwhistle, Calypso & Dean Stewart Written by  Eddie Louise Theme music by  Unwoman Sound Design by  Chip Michael
Read more

Teaching Composition – What are we trying to achieve

By -
In the process of learning composition I have spent time with a number of instructors who have encouraged me to write twelve-tone, pitch-class, electro-acoustic and other forms of experimental techniques. No matter how much I might understand and appreciate the work of other composers in the genres, these are not forms of music I resonate with. They are simply not forms of music I listen to and I struggle with the idea of writing them. However, in a Master Class by Libby Larsen she made the comment, “Learn them all, because all forms of music have something to offer.” This I very much agree. There are elements of each of the above mentioned forms (and others) that I do resonate with. Berg’s Violin Concerto is a beautiful twelve-tone work, although it is possible to look at numerous sections of the music with a “tonal” analysis. Another composer friend, Gary Bachlund commented that using these techniques can narrow the choices for how to compose a piece of work. If you look at ...
Read more