LSM Newswire

Monday, September 21, 2009

Renˆ©e Fleming's "Verismo"

Renˆ©e Fleming’Ä®
Verismo


Orchestra e Coro Sinfonica di
Milano Giuseppe Verdi
Marco Armiliato
Renˆ©e Fleming sings arias by Puccini
and his contemporaries

In Stores: September 15th, 2009
Available Digitally: August 25th, 2009

"This music is the highest expression of drama and passion." Renˆ©e Fleming


NEW YORK, NY ’Äì With well over thirty recording projects on the Decca label to date, iconic American soprano Renˆ©e Fleming is easily one of the most recorded opera singers of her generation. Today, Decca proudly releases Verismo, the 15th solo album in as many years by Fleming, featuring opera arias by Puccini and his contemporaries ’Äì composers of the Verismo style who set the lives and loves of their heroines to music of extraordinary beauty and intensity.

Along with great Puccini favorites from La Bohˆ®me, Turandot, La Rondine, Il Trittico and Manon Lescaut, the album also includes rarely heard arias by Verismo composers Mascagni, Catalani, Leoncavallo, Giordano, Cilea, and Zandonai. From the tragedy of the nun Angelica, singing of the son who never knew his mother, to the rapturous young lovers of La Rondine, this is deeply emotional music of love and loss, of triumph and pain. Of the roles she portrays on this album, Mimˆ¨ from Puccini's La Bohˆ®me is the only one that Renˆ©e Fleming has sung on stage. This album offers a world-premiere recording of the original manuscript version of the aria ’ÄòSola, perduta, abandonata!’Äô from the tragic final scene of Puccini’Äôs Manon Lescaut. Star tenor Jonas Kaufmann joins Renˆ©e Fleming for an irresistible melody from Act II of Puccini’Äôs La Rondine.

’ÄòVerismo’Äô (literally ’Äòrealism’Äô) was an artistic movement of the late 19th-Century, which sought to bring the ’Äònaturalism’Äô of writers such as Zola and Ibsen to other art forms, including opera. Known as the ’Äògiovane scuola’Äô (’Äòthe young school’Äô), the Verismo composers wrote operas that were very different to those that came before them, setting stories about ’Äòreal’Äô people and their real life struggles. The heroines Renˆ©e Fleming portrays include noblewomen (Fedora, Gloria, Angelica), courtesans (Stephana, Magda), Asian waifs (Iris, Liˆ¼), a Tyrolean village girl (Wally), the avaricious Manon, and three working women: music-hall performer ZazˆÝ, seamstress Mimˆ¨ and factory-worker Conchita. The disc covers a concentrated period of Italian opera from the premiere of La Wally in 1892 to that of Turandot in 1926. This rich period saw the creation of more new works than almost any other era in operatic history.

Renˆ©e Fleming describes the process of choosing the repertoire for Verismo as ’Äúa revelation.’Äù ’ÄúI was surprised by the sheer volume and variety of the Italian operas from this period,’Äù she explains, ’Äúand the intense emotionality of the music has given voice to some of the most beautiful interpretations I have ever heard.’Äù ’ÄúListening to singers of past generations gives me a real sense of individual style, taste and imagination,’Äù Fleming remarks, ’Äúeach voice harbors a singular personality and moment in time.’Äù Researching the arias for this collection, Fleming studied recordings by Leontyne Price, Maria Callas and Mirella Freni, the fabulous drama and lyricism of Rosa Ponselle and Zinka Milanov and finally the theatrically committed and searing performances of Magda Olivero, Mafalda Favero, Lynne Strow Piccolo, Rosanna Carteri ’Äì the singers from the earliest days of recordings who embodied these roles for the first time. ’ÄúIt completely stokes my imagination to think that all of these great interpreters were ’Äònew music’Äô specialists,’Äù she adds, ’Äúthat generation of singers was the last to devote the majority of its time to creating roles with living composers.’Äù

’ÄúAbove all,’Äù Fleming remarks, ’Äúmy goal with this recording is to share a broader selection from an especially rich tradition of Italian opera, so that these Verismo heroines can be heard again in all their beauty and complexity.’Äù

Following the release of Verismo, Decca presents a DVD of Renˆ©e Fleming in one of her greatest stage roles ’Äì as the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’Äôs Der Rosenkavalier, conducted by Christian Thielemann available October 6th. The dream cast, filmed live at the Baden-Baden Opera Festival, also includes Diana Damrau, Sophie Koch, and Franz Hawlata. This re-staging of a celebrated Herbert Wernicke production is released in time for Renˆ©e Fleming’Äôs appearances at the Metropolitan Opera in Der Rosenkavalier from October 13th through the 22nd.

Renˆ©e Fleming Verismo Tracklisting

Puccini Suor Angelica ’ÄúSenza mamma’Äù
Mascagni Iris ’ÄúUn dˆ¨ (ero piccina)’Äù

Puccini La rondine ’ÄúDenaro nient’Äôaltro che denaro! ... Ore dolci e divine’Äù

Mascagni Lodoletta ’ÄúAh! il suo nome! ’Ķ Flammen, perdonami!’Äù

Catalani La Wally ’ÄúNˆ© mai dunque avrˆ¾ pace? ’Ķ Ohimˆ®! solo una celia io fui per lui’Äù

Puccini La Bohˆ®me ’ÄúSˆ¨. Mi chiamano Mimˆ¨’Äù

Leoncavallo La Bohˆ®me ’ÄúMusette svaria sulla bocca viva’Äù & ’ÄúMa vi chetate! ’Ķ Mimˆ¨ Pinson, la biondinetta

Puccini La Bohˆ®me ’ÄúAddio ’Ķ Donde lieta uscˆ¨ al tuo grido d’Äôamore’Äù

Leoncavallo ZazˆÝ ’ÄúAngioletto, il tuo nome?’Äù

Puccini Manon Lescaut ’ÄúSola, perduta, abbandonata!’Äù

World premiere recording of original manuscript version

Zandonai Conchita ’ÄúIer dalla fabbrica a Triana’Äù

Cilea Gloria ’ÄúO mia cuna, fiorita di sogni e di melodi’Äù

Giordano Fedora ’ÄúTroppo tardi! Tutto tramonta, tutto dilegua’Äù

Puccini Turandot ’ÄúTanto amore segreto e inconfessato ’Ķ Tu, che di gel sei cinta’Äù

Giordano Siberia ’ÄúNo! Se un pensier ’Ķ Nel suo amore rianimata’Äù

Puccini La rondine ’ÄúBevo al tuo fresco sorriso’Äù With Jonas Kaufmann (tenor)


Renˆ©e Fleming in Performance USA 2009-2010

September 16 New York Philharmonic Gala Concert, Messiaen with Alan Gilbert
October 3 Chicago Symphony Orchestra Gala Concert, Barber/Strauss with Paavo Jˆ§rvi

October 13 - 22 Metropolitan Opera, Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier with James Levine

December 1 Recital (with Gerald Martin Moore, piano) Seattle

December 6 Recital (with Gerald Martin Moore, piano) Berkeley

December 9 Recital (with Gerald Martin Moore, piano) Santa Barbara

December 12 Recital (with Gerald Martin Moore, piano) Los Angeles

December 17 Recital (with Gerald Martin Moore, piano) Baltimore

January 1 - 15 Metropolitan Opera Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier with James Levine

January 23 Naples, FL’ÄìArias with Jorge Mester

January 26 Tampa, FL’ÄìArias with Anton Coppola

January 29 Jackson, MS ’Äì Arias with Jay Dean

February 11 -13 Boston Symphony Orchestra Strauss/Mahler with James Levine

March 6 Boca Raton, FL ’Äì Arias with Patrick Summers

April 12- May 15 Metropolitan Opera Rossini: Armida with Riccardo Frizza

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