Added: 5 years ago
From: fernandoclassic
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  • can anyone be more fortunate then being born with a voice like this? Amazing

  • best rusalka i have evver heard

  • Indeed her voice is glorious. Nevertheless those sliding portamenti she has the habit of adding to everything bother me!

    Compare the her much less refined (and she definitely was also less refined as a woman!) rendition of this aria in 1991 at Avery Fisher, when she didn't slide all ending of notes!

  • Wonderful. Brought tears to my eyes. Awesome, how she remembers all the words and has great pronounciation in such a hard language as Czech is.

  • wow

  • Sit back, relax ....enjoy. and stop trying to sound like experts.

  • I could not agree more. Fucking arm chair critics the real question is this? Could they produce one note of this volume and quality? I think not or it would be 10,000 of $ per hours of singing. The average must always exercise the write to defile with the vanity of their mediocrity. It is very beautiful. Kind and warm regards my friend in music.

  • O.k., so not only did Fleming make this aria famous, she just owned the B-flat in it! She held it out for about 9 seconds, never once showing bad technique while doing so...Brava

  • i love Renee Fleming and i think no one has performed this better than her in my opinion i think it is a little slow in this particular performance i think the conductor could have speed things up ever so slightly but her voice is fantastic! 5/5

  • This is pure class !!!!!

  • My renee..............

  • Renee.....

  • I love her

  • a bit breathy but twas nice:)

  • Her high B never fails to send shivers down my back, one of the most beautiful sounds I've ever heard.

  • Fabelhaft! Sie kann als eine der ganz wenigen westlichen Sängerinnen das "slawische Gefühl"

    zum Ausdruck bringen!

  • sehr symphatische sängerin. leider sind sie in der tiefe viiieel zu gutural und die höhen sind teilweise etwas geschrien.

  • Obdivuji odvahu zahraničních zpěvaček zpívat česky! Přece jen musí být pro cizince dost šílené se tu výslovnost naučit (na rozdíl např. od italštiny).

  • Ale v opeře je pravilo o původním jazyku a je překládání je vrcholná urážka autora tak proto zpívá v původní české veri jinak by to byla hluboká potupa !!!

  • she looks so beautiful...:D

  • This is like heaven in a song. =)

  • gr8

  • She needs to put a lot in it cause she's the star. But I prefer the more modest interpretations of real operas. More emotion, less emphasis on the star.

  • Wow. Five stars.

  • No.

  • I just want to make a healthy comment on the observation your brought up. I think your observation is subjected to difference of taste. It was never objective. It is subjective in the bounds of your beliefs. The degree of technique Renee Fleming put in her technique, that seemed 'spasmed' to some subjective thinking, was acknowledged by great artists and audiences alike through patronages. If there will be a moment, Ms. Fleming will lose her voice, it is because of an aging voice, not technique.

  • Indeed! She has gone through an unbelievable amount of vocal training from world class teachers--if she was doing something harmful to her voice she would've fixed it by now!

  • However.... I admire the good taste you have for music....

  • You have no idea of what you're talking about, the swooping is a stylistic choice. She has a very good sense of pitch, and a very evenly supported tone. Her vibrato is perfectly natural. If you don't like the singing, shut up and stop listening to it. Your the only person on here who actually cares about your opinion.

  • One of the most beautiful and emotional performances that I've seen.Bravo

  • Bad style and phrasing...

  • Beautiful, to the eyes and the ears.

  • I absolutely LOVE Rene! I don't care if her czech is perfect....hello, she's american...not czech. I don't expect Czech's to pronounce english perfect either...but vocally, technically...she's amazing...even with the human voice's flaws and interpertation. I love how the wind is blowing through her hair....perfect for this song.

  • very good performance... but still, she's fighting with the Czech pronunciation, you can hear she's not native speaker. Well done anyway, it's extremely difficult language. The voice - great, but I like Beňačková's version a bit more.

  • I love her voice. This is my favorite rendition. I know this is off topic, but I cannot get over how beautiful she is, especially in the beginning of this video. I have a huge crush on her lol

  • The amazing thing about this music to me is that it is so emotional, so much more than in any other music ive listened to, i always have liked heavy metal, post hardcore etc, this is my first time watching this music and it just blows my mind how great it sounds, it gives me a sensation in my chest and sends a tingle down my spine

  • This is one of my favorite soprano arias. Given a halfway decent performance, it almost always makes me cry:).

     I've not heard every version on record, of course. Thus far, however, my three favorites are those of Fleming, Leontyne Price and Frederica von Stade. If anybody wants to recommend other renditions, I'm all ears:) --

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  • ESTE TEMA ME ENCANTA,ME LLEGA AL ALMA

  • This is at the Faenol Festival in Wales,

  • I was wondering where it was. The welsh are known for their amateur singing, aren't they? In the movie how green was my valley all the miners sang beautifully.

  • Her sustaining power is amazing!

  • I must agree! I've said this before, but I've noticed that in many of her live performances she'll hold the pivotal note of the song for around eight-nine seconds each time. I love that about her.

  • Yes! Have you seen her "you'll never walk alone" from the inaguration? She holds the last note about 20 seconds. Completely nuts.

  • I know! The woman has lungs! I so wish I could purchase a recording of this. Also, you may want to check out her Vissi d'Arte from the 2006 Nobel Prize ceremony. FANTASTIC!

  • She would do better to give the voice mre emotion than in gestures - which at times seem to go overboard... - a turn off. . .

  • Ouch! The pronunciation is off. Leontyne Price's version is better. Not enough emotion given to this song. She does not get my vote on this one - sorry.

  • The pronunciation? Come on... jus't don't look at her and you will feel the hugh emotion in her voice.

  • too slow

  • OMG!!! What a note. She is amazing xp

  • Absolutely beautiful.  Gives me goosebumps.

  • Durrrr, wales. I feel like a horse's patoot. This is really ethereal.

  • What part of the world? Where is this?

  • Russia, I think.

  • Surely it is Bregenz, the famous Austrian summer festival, on Lake Constance, held during July and August. It's held on a special outdoor stage by the lakeside - hence the shots of the moon in this video.

  • wow. Not much of a comment, but wow.

  • what a voice - I wish i could here something like this - the moment I die!!

  • she's trying to hard to convince me... seems a little hokey...kind of annoying. I like her Handel better.

  • I aggree fantasia so moving

  • she is truly amazing

  • Truly amazing.  There is something about this piece that always brings a tear to my eye. Her passion is truly, truly fantastic. Just closed my eyes and went to heaven.

  • Was this for the Hans Christian Andersen tibute in Copenhagen?

  • See my answer to the comment below.

    It's in Wales !

    suzypuss

  • Thanks for that.

  • It's so funny when the presenter says in the end "celebrrrrating (...) Grrrrrenada"!

    Question to English native speakers: is that supposed to be some sort of posh accent? I always thought the R was a semi-vowel in English, and, therefore, there could be no RRRRRRR sound.

    Thanks.

  • It ^is^ a posh accent, and no, rolling is not normal for posh English Rs. Did he roll the Rs in a suitably Spanish manner? Definitely not Scottish, or even Mexican, rolled Rs.

  • Thanks for the reply. No, it doesn't sound like anything I can recognize and place in the world map.

  • If you'd listened to what he'd said previously, you might realise it was actually happening in Wales. And that's a Welsh accent, not 'posh' English ! Pity this festival, put together by Bryn Terfel himself, isn't happening this year - victim of the recession I think.

    suzypuss

  • its czech accent not english:) dvorak its czech composer and she sings original version as it supposed to be. To miguelcarvalho2008: its sad u do not know countries in europe. part of a world u live in

  • Excuse me, I do know she's singing in Czech, it's a piece I really love. I was referring to the announcer at the end who speaks with a Welsh accent. If you look at the comment above from miguelcarvalho to which I responded, he was asking about the presenter's accent and his 'rolled Rs'. OK ?

  • Dvorak is the Man!

  • Oh, she is so beautiful...

    One day, one day....

    WONDERFUL!

  • I like that effect you dislike: she stopping her vibrato when softening her voice at the end of some phrases; for me that sounds like she is full of feeling and she is about to cry. I would not call unappeling any of her voice features but that is my particular point of view.

    Technique is not everything. Again, that is my personal taste.

    I love how she is so confident to slow and almost stop the tempo 5:30.

  • Stunning, tear wrenching performance.

  • WOAH! She is AMAZING, that B flat gets me every time!

  • The MOST incredible B flat, shivers.

  • I remember the first time I heard about her in 1997 at the SF bay area.she has Mature so much my God her voice at the end what a VOICE!!!!!

  • Everything about this is beautiful! Renée Fleming is the best there is.

  • I agree. Makes me weak in the knees. It would be a dream come true for me too.

  • Simply staggering.

    One day I hope to see her sing this at the barbican - a dream come true.

  • i saw her and the milwaukee symphony orchestra last night. it was brilliant. the orchestra did "also sprach zarathustra" by richard strauss and she sang four last songs also by richard strauss. it was one of the most beautiful things i have ever heard. she has the voice of an angel and is the best soprano singer there is. it doesn't matter what anyone else says, she is the best. she did four or five encores and they were all brilliant. we must have clapped for at least ten minutes.

  • I wish I would have gone!!! Darn...

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  • Comment removed

  • You have to be joking...

  • So excited. They announced that she will be in the Tampa, FL. area... January 2010

  • Renee Fleming is a legend among us. She will go down as one of the greatest opera singers ever. She's a national treasure.

  • The most beautiful rendition of this aria!

    Thanx

  • outstanding rendition! an inspiring musician.

    yes! slow the chorus down let us relish and savour each and every emotion portrayed in this poetry and music

  • adequado.maravilhoso.bravíssim­o!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • WOW! Renée really captivates me in most of what she sings. She's extremely a good singer! Her interpretation here was simply wonderful.She passed me the feeling in the music, and she sends shivers down my spine for her singing and expression.Simply beautiful! And what to say about that acute note? Gorgeous! She gets us stop breathing to pay very close attention to every small detail. Renée is Fleming! Ela é demais! Eu adoro-a!

  • Sends shivers up my spine. Beautiful , Dvorak is one of my favourite composers.

  • WOW!!! OMG..That is all i can say..I lost it when she held that High B for 10 seconds perfectly. OMG! WOW

  • Hey vikahills. Of course you don't understand her Russian. Listen! She's singing in Czech.

  • Efectivamente. En checo, porque Dvorak, Smetana, Janacek o Schulhoff son compositores checos que no conviene confudnir con Tchaikovsky o Stravinsky. Cuando Anna Netrebko canta esto, lo canta en checo. Aunque no tan bien como Renée Fleming.

  • Very expressive and beautiful, I just don't understand her Russian.

  • Russian? Thought it was Czech.

    The internet is a wonderful resource for translation.

    I love this song because you can compare sopranos -- not to say who's better or worse, but to see what they do with it. Popp, Gustafson do gret jobs on it.

  • thanks, I really thought it was Russian...lol

  • Yes you are correct - it is Czech.

  • I waited about five hours in the purgatorial bowels of the Met last summer the day the box office opened.

    The sniping from the tall grass by some of these frustrated divas is as astonishing--in a perverse kind of way--as Renee's ability to mesmerize an audience.

    I suppose even the opera world has its equivalent of Willy Loman's baffled by the success of others.

  • Beautiful absolutely beautiful....I need to paint her some day..

    John Allsopp

    Manor House Fine Art

  • oh God this is amazing!

  • Yes....God could only have produced a voice like this..

    John Allsopp

    Manorhousefineart

  • I saw her two weeks ago at the Met in the title role. There is so much more to opera than just voice. For almost the entirety of the second act she is mute and yet she communicates with the ability of the greatest ballerinas.

    ...And her final moments on stage as she walks across a seeming lattice of moonbeams on the lake may be the most indescribably beautiful in all opera.

    Renee truly seems to be "not of this world" and the image

    is one not soon to be forgotten.

  • You're so fortunate to have been able to see that!

  • This is a signature piece for her and you can tell why listiening to this rendition.

  • I totally agree. Even her recorded version isn't quite as lovely as this one...and the recorded is quite lovely. :-)

  • Thank G-D opera has Fleming.

  • AMAZING!!!! I just saw her perform Rusalka at the Met and it was incredible!!!!!

  • there are no words to describe it.

  • Glorious singing.

  • Have tickets for the 14th matinee - I CANNOT WAIT!

  • Wasn't it just a glorious performance!!! Amazing production, strong cast, and Renee....

  • She is doing this with the Met soon.  I can't wait to hear it! She is fabulous.

  • Es una excelente interpretación, le pone mucho sentimiento, aunque a veces llega a empalagar con tanto, pero es muy buena, excelente, pero para esa canción prefiero a Anna Netrebko = )

  • No one, absolutely NO ONE, does this song better than she does.

  • bravo Mrs. Fleming! bravo!

    i feel so honored being able to sing this piece.

    the theme!

    *clutches chest*

    THE THEME!

  • I have a video of the lovely Renée Fleming singing at the Inauguration concert @ Lincoln Memorial. She is flawless. Love her!

  • portamento, portamenti - oh we're so impressed with your command of ONE Italian

    musical term. Kiss off jerks.

  • Rene Fleming has the most beautiful voice ,And she sings this song superbly absolutly wonderful!!!!

  • WANT less portamento....

  • Cannot believe so many nitpicking comments!What is with you people? I've only ever heard this song on the radio before, and for me Renee's version has stood out by a mile. To watch her sing shows why...she is living the story.. not just singing it! That last note is just staggering. So may I politely suggest that if you think someone sings it better then just go and listen to them and take your snide comments with you. You won't be missed.

  • amen to that.

    i wish people would give opera a chance, it's like coffee, an acquired taste. you need to see it in order to like it. you need to be in the opera singer's shoes in order to truly appreciate the voice.

    opera was today's broadway 100 years ago when this song was written. it is one of the world's most famous arias.

  • Opera has a much richer history and is more respected even today than any broadway.

  • Fleming is astounding. Her voice is fantastic, I don't care what the critics say about her!! She is one of the best in the business!

  • agree, couldn´t agree more!

  • with worse czech than Flemings.

  • Although, I hear that Fleming's Czech is ALOT better than Netrebko's.

  • Oh, Netrebko's is absolutely horrible! But, it is a really hard language to sing in. It just shows how amazing Renee is!

  • I hope you don't really mean Netrebko was horrible because she is still damn good. For some reason her pitch is unstable and the music is not connected in this aria. I fully agree Fleming is so incredibly good on this aria (and many others). I feel this aria can be sung differently but not really better.

  • Try Strauss' Four Last Songs; no Schwarzkopt but very worth admiring. :-)

  • alifeofworship, i completely understand. me too!

  • I don't think the question is whether to use portomenti or not. The question is, "how much"? The first two notes she sings is written as a unison, but she doesn't sing is it as a unison. It's "ornamented" and I don't know exactly what she's doing with the pitch to express herself. But the only reason portomenti are beautiful is because they are painted on a canvas of good clean singing. If everything is a portomento, then what does one do at the climax of the piece? Cum on stage?

  • Or in a restaurant?

  • Can I also say, that I think it's interesting that anyone who has a negative opinion of this video, has gotten -1, -2, or -5 ratings?! It's like a Renee cult.

  • I'm sorry. Renee Fleming has a stunningly beautiful voice, and she's got technique to burn. But her portamentos make me feel as if I've eaten an entire container of icing with no cake. Ugh!

  • The cake is a lie.

  • Anna Netrebko is my favorite soprano but this interpretation by Renée is also very beautiful !

  • How can Anna Netrebko be your favorite soprano? I'm sory, I'm just not a huge fan. I think her technique is a bit patchyand her voice just isn't quite there for me.

  • Such a beautiful song and so beautifully sung.

  • Geweldig !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

  • This is a trully amazing performance, both emotionally charged and technically flawless. Can anyone tell me where it took place. who else sang in this concert where when it took place?

    Thanx!

  • It was filmed for "Renee and Bryn: Under the Stars".. Her and Bryn Terfel did some solo arias from different operas and some duets, as well as a night of Broadway and Musical Theatre things. You can buy the CD or DVD on Amazon or Ebay. Maybe check your library for it! They filmed it in Wales. I recommend it!

  • :')

  • Excelente!!

  • Rene Fleming is as my true hero. She and Renata Tebaldi have been true Sopranos. may there music live forever and ever and maybe some day i will be lucky enough to see her in opera!

  • Simplesmente maravilhosa !!! Minha diva!

  • i think i'm in love...she has a voice like velvet...breathtaking.

  • I am totally in love with Renee Fleming!!

  • In response to the comment about the sliding, one must remember that this song is being sung by a young lady in a very emotional state, I don't think that surgical notes quite cut it. For me Renee has really cracked the spirit of the song as the composer intended. Bravo Renee!

  • Renee, I think that the song to the moon is the aria most suited to you. Nobody exceeds you to my mind. I sincerely love all of your work but this song for me is the absolute best. Andy.

  • She has a great voice, but slides a little much for my taste

  • funny games anyone???

  • Lump in throat.

  • to dessaybestactress: miss flemming is singing in Wales with the orchestra of welsch national opera/G. Jones

  • Where is she?

  • Krásná Renee a geniální Dvořák. To sedí :-) Czech forever ...

  • absolutely beautiful, so emotive, i'm absolutely speechless at this performance.

  • a special way of caressing the melody with her soothing, beautiful tone.

  • I have listened to a number of versions and this one is most evocative of love and longing -- lovely!

  • I've never admire this singer but I have to admit that here she is simply divine. What a voice! Brava!

  • Beautiful, beautiful, beautiful -- beautiful music, beautiful voice, beautiful woman.

    Did I mention that I loved it?

  • Simply wonderful.  I want to sing like her!

  • Huh?

  • Words are inadequate.

  • Simply wonderful..