this would definitely be one of my time-machine moments to visit, and i'd keep going back just as often as I watch this on youtube or listen to it on my ipod.
I listen to this recording almost every day as well and for my taste, this has to be one of the most beautiful arias ever sung and Renee does it not only beautiful, but with such ease
We must be on the same page, because I think her scooping is beautiful too. Who cares about these so-called experts critiques, as long it sounds great in our ears.I think Renee will go down in the history books as one of the greatest singers of all times.
Read Renee Fleming's autobiography. You'll learn how much regard Renee had for Leontyne and what Leontyne saw in Renee....very interesting/enlightening.
@cantanteporsiempre 'THE INNER VOICE': The Making Of A Singer [ISBN 0-670-03351-0], is the name of the book. Her moment with Leontyne Price is within pages 71-73. Enjoy! ;-)
Those crescendos of hers are incomparable. Most other sopranos sound a bit whispy at precisely the parts when she blooms like a rose garden. Some here have said this "shea butter" is a bit excessive. But I like a bit of luxury.
This is one of those rare miracles of art where all are in form and in sympathy. I consider RF the musical daughter of Leontyne Price (whose version of this I considered the ultimate) and you can hear Renee reference LP often in this aria as others have mentioned below. Brava Renee -- go ahead and sing it anyway you want -- and God Bless Leontyne for showing everyone 'how it's done!'
In my opinion, (I havent consulted with the composer about how this should be sung...lol ) she made an interpretation out of context and it was so much more than effective. This showed amazing artistry, exquisite tone and phrasing, and great control. The scooping was lovely (even musical). Sometimes she scoops and sometimes she doesnt. Yet the voice was always legato and uninterupted (unlike other "simple" interpreters). The colors in her voice are heavenly! Why wouldnt she use them! Brava!!
What I find the most rewarding to see is how much she's come into her own through the years. And how much that shows in her artistry. And I think she's got some guy that she's not telling us about:-).
Wow...this was earlier in her career (1991?), when she did a lot more Mozart and American opera. She had just become a star at the Met, and her international career was on an upward trajectory.
I believe Price is superior to anyone in this aria. I've tried to like Ms. Fleming... but she slows everything down so much it loses force... she's just showing off notes... I feel she's singing underwater. OR she's drugged or something. Everything seems lugubrious...
Really not trying to flame here... for those who love her, salut! May you have many happy hours in her company.
But for this aria... and for many others... Price is the standard.
Gorgeous voice, but there's a bit too much shea butter in the bath for me. I love what she does from 4:40-5:03... just after her hair gets caught on the parade float.
This is pure opera and its absolutely wonderful. She has the guts to sing emotion and happiness and vulnerability in an age which shies away from emotion. She's fantastic. I have seen Felicity and she hasn't got 1/10 of the beauty of Miss Fleming's voice. Wonderful. Thank you so much for posting this.
Milked...and it got sour...sorry..there's a LIMIT to legato singing...now she cannot help herself with all those scoops and mannerisms...jazzy stuff...the voice is indeed lyrical, delightful to the ears..it is true..but there's an annoying factor there...
Chere Renée Pourquoi tant de sophistication et de minauderies??????????ecoutez la simplicité de Felicity Lott ( que je n'aime pas beaucoup d'habitude) c'est un modele!! C'est ça Louise!!!!
Peut-être parce que l'air lui-même (et l'opéra tout entier, "naturaliste" peut-être mais à mon sens surtout dégoulinant :)=) est sophistiqué et maniéré. Finalement, je trouve qu'elle ne détonne pas tant, il n'y a qu'à écouter les paroles. Ce qui ne dépare en rien la belle et sobre performance de Lott. C'est une affaire de goût, j'imagine...
"Depuis le jour," like the aria "O mio babbino caro," is often sung out of context, as a showcase for beautiful sound and legato. In concert form you don't get the feeling that "o mio babbino" is the aria of a manipulative 15 yr old girl. "Depuis le jour" in the opera has been rendered in a simple, gushy and excited style as opposed to sophisticated and langurous as we often hear it in many concerts and recordings.
I adore this recording. But I have to say that people who say no one does it like her have not heard Leontyne Price's version of this aria. Flemming has been quoted as saying Price is a huge inspiration to her. And you can hear it in the way her voice is both large and light in her top. It's stunning to hear. Her and Price together own this.
If she was right next to you you guys that are so anti flemming wouldnt know what to say. sooo talk now sure but the rest of us know that this is perfection. Live music is full of imperfections thats what makes it sooo perfect. i loved it.
Exactly... the only thing to talk about is the dress... I have nothing to say about Renee's voice. She is incredible and most of us aspiring singers would love to have a sand grain of her talent and artistry!
Please! when we don't have anything to say..we talk about dress. She seems like a queen...but I think it is beautiful!Better than jeans in La scala...for tenor's emergency
To me, most of you are wrong. Renee's ONLY flaw is that she tends to bend her notes just a little bit and her accents are slightly exaggerated. Her tone, however, is the most beautiful I've ever heard. It has a visceral quality to it, it wraps you up in warmth, it washes over you. I've had the pleasure of seeing Renee in Rodelinda and I can tell you she has a power to enthrall audiences with that rich tone that no other soprano I've seen can do.
It all depends on what she happens to be singing. I saw her at the MET in Bellini's IL PIRATA and I did not like her performance - at all ! The passagework was good but there was nothing to her interpretation. She is probably better at Mozart & Handel and maybe some of the French and Richard Strauss but I don't think that Italian Opera is really her type of repertoire - as much as she attempts to sing it.
From what I can tell - she seems much more interested in the voice with scant attention paid to the words. Her diction is often mushy and indistinct. She avoids consonants and stresses just the vowels. I find her quite cold and detached. Sorry folks - just my own personal taste.
Sorry but I find missing in her interpretations. What is it ? Is it the lack of vocal coloration or the general blandness ? Trying to figure out why she does nothing for me as an operatic artist.
Wow, what is happening acoustically at 3:50 when her voice seems to detach itself and fill the entire room? Does anyone else hear that change? Absolutely fascinating...
that is why her singing has been described like a Flight because it gives that sense of detachment and that element is the basis of the enormous quality of her vocal lines
Je n'ai jamais entndu cet air si bien chanté.Madame Flemimg chante tout tres bien, elle sait respecter les nuances, l'exprression la musicalité un peu veriste de Charpentier.. I love you Renée for being that you are, the best...
There is no way getting around the fact that this is Spectacularly beautiful and appropriate in style.
Even scepticism about Fleming's overly mellow style, has no grounds here. This aria is composed as mellow as an aria has ever been...
So she is her element here. I would dare say that critisizing RF for this clip is downright unfair and is -thank God- not in unison with the delirious audience of this gala performance!!
im by no means a fleming fan boy...but this is good singing, flat out. she is sensitive and she floats the high notes with grace and control. her low notes are easy and not pressed on at all. people need to lay off of her and give credit where its do!
I don't know what it is with you anti-Renee partisans, but there is room for more than one singer doing an aria. And la Flemming is made for this kind of stuff!
You should go back and listen to that video clip of Ms. Moore, because she honks out a note on the lower passagio with obvious brutality (not that the rest of the aria isn't lovely, albeit with a much lighter tone color than Flemming). I didn't notice La Flemming doing that here, quite the opposite.
Mrs. Fleming interprets this aria with much gentleness and feeling, I believe that serious just to recognize his this aria magnifies work when interpreting.
SUGGESTION is that everyone go to "GRACE MOORE" on YouTube to listen to HOW this aria should be sung, UNFORCED, a PURE NATURAL SOPRANO TONE which represents the GOLDEN AGE of SINGING.
Absolutely stunning! How amazing is it that all that sound can come from one tiny person on that huge stage and fill the entire concert hall? Brava Renee!
I cry like a baby every time I watch this. I agree it is the best Depuis le jour ever. And this is how she sang before she started doing all these weird mannerisms and affectations with her voice, when her musical/vocal choices truly reflected the MUSIC. And her singing was FLAWLESS. Brava!
Renee is one of my absolute favs but she sings Depuis le jour with almost the same nuances that Leontyne used in 60's recording! It sounds very much like she mocked that recording!
Her technique is astonishing. I don't always agree with her production, but wow, it's so solid! I wish I could get a recording of Eleanor Steber doing this on Voice of Firestone. Their interpretations are similar; however, Eleanor was more of technician and REnee is more of an interpreter... Both supurb!
With regards to "over-beautifying" I believe that one can overdo the emphasis on a word or syllable, however, it can never ever be too beautiful. Otherwise, why would singers try to improve their sound. Aren't they always striving to become the most beautiful version of themselves?
As a singer myself, I don't care for the overdone consonants in French diction (which she does nowadays), but I do respect her ability to create a legato line by oozing on the charm. As for her facial expressions, she is used to (and likely here) performing in 3000+ seat opera halls, so she is performing for the audience, not the up close and personal camera angles.
My only problem with this performance is the 8 inch tall shawl attached to her dress. It makes her neck look really short and it should be removed or shortened at least 4 inches (the shawl, not the neck of course!)
I'm not normally a fan but she sounds really lovely here. She also observes the markings on Je suis hereuse ( sp?) which many sopranos don't do. I wish she still sounded this fresh and had as few mannerisms as she does here.
I would have disagree with that. I believe this is Fleming's best stuff. She has a clean tone and pure vibrato thoughout most of this aria. For about the past 8 years, she's had a tendancy to sing half of her lines in straight with NO vibrato. It makes her low sound very huffy and can make the music lose a great deal of it's conviction. She's too croony.
your completely right she is a rather stylized performer ugh ugh I personally vomit when I hear her shoved into italian bel canto and the tech never fits ....but hey not every opera artist is truly encompassing despite the hype.
This is Renée at her finest. There was a more recent performance in France that was posted, and later removed. Thanks for posting this...very relaxing after a long day that ended at 3:30am.
perfect
thank you!
yusukeundisolde 7 months ago
Her crescendo at 4.48 min ... WOW ... splendid !!!! Brava Madame Fleming! You're so wonderfull ...
escamillo75 8 months ago 2
Like much of what she does -- it is over indulgent and loses the heart beat of the piece. And yes, she is fabulous.
minkamagalah 8 months ago
This gets me every time. Totally self indulgent but I'm all about it.
lpw0021 1 year ago 2
What a world class voice that was.
urgrad03 1 year ago
Renee Fleming has such great control... Simply put- she owns this aria.
7thViking 1 year ago 2
@7thViking
the quality of her Vocal Line is unrepeatable - she is the Queen of the Vocal Line
LohengrinT 1 year ago
DEMASIADO BELLO ! SUBLIME!
roxanalatronico 1 year ago
Love her :D
classicalgal14 1 year ago
can't
stop
watching
this!!!!!
dem24utube 1 year ago 2
Melopedia: Bueno...Bueno... Fleming y Levine son mucho....
melopedia 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
voce splendida e tecnica sopraffina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!voto 8
MrFrancogianni 1 year ago
This has been flagged as spam show
voce splendida e tecnica sopraffina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!voto 8
MrFrancogianni 1 year ago
voce splendida e tecnica sopraffina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!voto 8
MrFrancogianni 1 year ago
voce splendida e tecnica sopraffina!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
MrFrancogianni 1 year ago
this would definitely be one of my time-machine moments to visit, and i'd keep going back just as often as I watch this on youtube or listen to it on my ipod.
dem24utube 1 year ago
@dem24utube
I listen to this recording almost every day as well and for my taste, this has to be one of the most beautiful arias ever sung and Renee does it not only beautiful, but with such ease
chorusinger 1 year ago
An amazing, amazing performance by the gorgeous Renee! Perfect!
Urcheon 2 years ago 2
thanks for posting this! didn't know there was a video of it... have the CD. def one of the best documentations of her voice in its prime!
jtdendy 2 years ago
I happen to be very fond of renee fleming's scooping!! ... i find it very beautiful,.. especially in arias that require long legato lines!..
CallasAfrica 2 years ago
@CallasAfrica
We must be on the same page, because I think her scooping is beautiful too. Who cares about these so-called experts critiques, as long it sounds great in our ears.I think Renee will go down in the history books as one of the greatest singers of all times.
chorusinger 1 year ago
that thing over the dress does not fit her
cantanteporsiempre 2 years ago
Read Renee Fleming's autobiography. You'll learn how much regard Renee had for Leontyne and what Leontyne saw in Renee....very interesting/enlightening.
vivomusique 2 years ago 2
what is the name of the book?
cantanteporsiempre 2 years ago
@cantanteporsiempre 'THE INNER VOICE': The Making Of A Singer [ISBN 0-670-03351-0], is the name of the book. Her moment with Leontyne Price is within pages 71-73. Enjoy! ;-)
vivomusique 2 years ago
The Inner Voice
rubberduckie5 2 years ago
I could listen to that high B all night
DoinItClassy 2 years ago 6
Stupendous singing, I definitely think that she is the most capable singer today when she is in her element & not doing over-the-top inflections.
VivaMariaCallas 2 years ago 3
Those crescendos of hers are incomparable. Most other sopranos sound a bit whispy at precisely the parts when she blooms like a rose garden. Some here have said this "shea butter" is a bit excessive. But I like a bit of luxury.
HulaGuyMN 2 years ago 4
She sings this aria as nobody else. And she is also so beautiful and charming.
romalisan 2 years ago 2
splendida Renée e splendida aria...una delle più belle arie francesi
mongemark 2 years ago 2
Amaizing work. One of the best Louises :)
yulisaaa 2 years ago
she has the most beautiful voice in the world
bradoperaman 2 years ago 3
That note.....THAT NOTE!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Sweetthang9 2 years ago 5
This is one of those rare miracles of art where all are in form and in sympathy. I consider RF the musical daughter of Leontyne Price (whose version of this I considered the ultimate) and you can hear Renee reference LP often in this aria as others have mentioned below. Brava Renee -- go ahead and sing it anyway you want -- and God Bless Leontyne for showing everyone 'how it's done!'
MrShunyata 2 years ago
In my opinion, (I havent consulted with the composer about how this should be sung...lol ) she made an interpretation out of context and it was so much more than effective. This showed amazing artistry, exquisite tone and phrasing, and great control. The scooping was lovely (even musical). Sometimes she scoops and sometimes she doesnt. Yet the voice was always legato and uninterupted (unlike other "simple" interpreters). The colors in her voice are heavenly! Why wouldnt she use them! Brava!!
spintotenor83 2 years ago 3
What I find the most rewarding to see is how much she's come into her own through the years. And how much that shows in her artistry. And I think she's got some guy that she's not telling us about:-).
Lindow 2 years ago
MAGNIFIC!
mariokalogeropoulos 2 years ago
magnifique
IfYourMomWereATaco 2 years ago
Is this from 1996???!!! WOW!!! She looks younger now!!!
callastoujours 2 years ago 2
This comment has received too many negative votes show
Thats what plastic surgery does for people! Any way, she has always sounded good.
Chilair1 2 years ago
4:46 Je suis heureeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeuse!
goldenthroat86 2 years ago 2
damn she knows she can SANG. Outstanding
musoph21 2 years ago
Proof of her incredible instrument and enormous talent. Shame she doesn't sing like that today.
decca1969 2 years ago
I really don't know what you mean...
She's in her 50s. If this was in 1996, as some people is saying, it was13 years ago.
Is she singing badly, now?
Not for my ears...
Querzeo 2 years ago 11
It was 1996.; I watched the whole thing on PBS. And Renee turned 50 only this year.
skylark100 2 years ago
Well, I know. She came here in 2004, when she was 45, so... I should've said she had already entered the 50s. It's my english, dude.
Anyway, I have bought her last recording of the Last Four Songs, and it´s just briliant!
Querzeo 2 years ago
hers is a unique sound. Sets her apart. I think she was at the top of her game here. What beauty and ease in her tone.
ugotitbabe000 2 years ago 2
She was blessed that night!!!
callastoujours 3 years ago 3
I think this is one of her all-time greatest performances.
OperaLover84 3 years ago 30
PERFECT!
mariokalogeropoulos 3 years ago 3
4:42 ... at 4 min 49sec a one million dollar note ... that was great !
miuzefreak 3 years ago 3
very true
mtenor 3 years ago
Wow...this was earlier in her career (1991?), when she did a lot more Mozart and American opera. She had just become a star at the Met, and her international career was on an upward trajectory.
gilachay 3 years ago
Correction...this was in 1996.
gilachay 3 years ago
gorgeous voice, but what is she wearing? lol
trevorbradlee 3 years ago 2
That is an unusual dress.
DivaDeb1234 3 years ago
Amen, lol!!!
shinjitsu85 3 years ago 2
True dat! Also, it's probably not her tempi but the conductors' with whom she works.
OperaLover84 3 years ago
I believe Price is superior to anyone in this aria. I've tried to like Ms. Fleming... but she slows everything down so much it loses force... she's just showing off notes... I feel she's singing underwater. OR she's drugged or something. Everything seems lugubrious...
Really not trying to flame here... for those who love her, salut! May you have many happy hours in her company.
But for this aria... and for many others... Price is the standard.
kudzudaddy 3 years ago
best depuis le jour ever. she owns this aria.
jimmymartinezzz 3 years ago 4
Her french is very good !!!! Lovely !!
2loperadeparis 3 years ago
Good, but she's no Leontyne Price. I think even Renee would agree>
AGM1951 3 years ago 2
Je suis fan !!! This woman is amazing !!!!
veronicantonelli 3 years ago
LOOOOVE the Gotti dress--and of course, her singing... like being in a bath of milk, honey and shea butter...
coy6642126 3 years ago
Gorgeous voice, but there's a bit too much shea butter in the bath for me. I love what she does from 4:40-5:03... just after her hair gets caught on the parade float.
CalifaJohn 3 years ago
LOL @ shea butter
shinjitsu85 3 years ago
Marvellous...I love this woman, my GOD! I would like to sing with her at least once!
operartist 3 years ago
This is pure opera and its absolutely wonderful. She has the guts to sing emotion and happiness and vulnerability in an age which shies away from emotion. She's fantastic. I have seen Felicity and she hasn't got 1/10 of the beauty of Miss Fleming's voice. Wonderful. Thank you so much for posting this.
lady00010 3 years ago
I still think that no one beats Leontyne in this
gransasso101 3 years ago 2
WOW!!! I'm speechless. TERRIFIC!!!
callastoujours 3 years ago
She milked this aria like Barbers milks the cows that produce my breakfast cereal topping.
Lovely though.
urgrad03 3 years ago
Milked...and it got sour...sorry..there's a LIMIT to legato singing...now she cannot help herself with all those scoops and mannerisms...jazzy stuff...the voice is indeed lyrical, delightful to the ears..it is true..but there's an annoying factor there...
pirocagrande 3 years ago
Agreed.
urgrad03 3 years ago
Fantastic..
cek1111 4 years ago
Chere Renée Pourquoi tant de sophistication et de minauderies??????????ecoutez la simplicité de Felicity Lott ( que je n'aime pas beaucoup d'habitude) c'est un modele!! C'est ça Louise!!!!
mpuma 4 years ago
Peut-être parce que l'air lui-même (et l'opéra tout entier, "naturaliste" peut-être mais à mon sens surtout dégoulinant :)=) est sophistiqué et maniéré. Finalement, je trouve qu'elle ne détonne pas tant, il n'y a qu'à écouter les paroles. Ce qui ne dépare en rien la belle et sobre performance de Lott. C'est une affaire de goût, j'imagine...
Klaposmirmu 4 years ago
"Depuis le jour," like the aria "O mio babbino caro," is often sung out of context, as a showcase for beautiful sound and legato. In concert form you don't get the feeling that "o mio babbino" is the aria of a manipulative 15 yr old girl. "Depuis le jour" in the opera has been rendered in a simple, gushy and excited style as opposed to sophisticated and langurous as we often hear it in many concerts and recordings.
piax00 4 years ago
I adore this recording. But I have to say that people who say no one does it like her have not heard Leontyne Price's version of this aria. Flemming has been quoted as saying Price is a huge inspiration to her. And you can hear it in the way her voice is both large and light in her top. It's stunning to hear. Her and Price together own this.
FoggyRoad81 4 years ago
I love Flemming , but why oh why does she do the terrible sliding up to the note so often?
mrrk 4 years ago
If she was right next to you you guys that are so anti flemming wouldnt know what to say. sooo talk now sure but the rest of us know that this is perfection. Live music is full of imperfections thats what makes it sooo perfect. i loved it.
wedidntknow 4 years ago
Would be interested to hear what you all thought of Grace Moore's version from the thirties -- BEAUTIFUL tone! It's on YouTube, too.
Suturb55 4 years ago
Oh, she is lovely to look at. Such beauty,and her magnificent voice. Thank you so much.
Nhlvrnfla 4 years ago
sarah Brace sing this take a look
stevewoko 4 years ago
Absolutely sublime! No one will ever sing this like she does.
CHerbek 4 years ago 2
Exactly... the only thing to talk about is the dress... I have nothing to say about Renee's voice. She is incredible and most of us aspiring singers would love to have a sand grain of her talent and artistry!
wondereric 4 years ago
Only thing I can find wrong is that DRESS! ack
wondereric 4 years ago
Please! when we don't have anything to say..we talk about dress. She seems like a queen...but I think it is beautiful!Better than jeans in La scala...for tenor's emergency
oboistCONDUCTOR 4 years ago
To me, most of you are wrong. Renee's ONLY flaw is that she tends to bend her notes just a little bit and her accents are slightly exaggerated. Her tone, however, is the most beautiful I've ever heard. It has a visceral quality to it, it wraps you up in warmth, it washes over you. I've had the pleasure of seeing Renee in Rodelinda and I can tell you she has a power to enthrall audiences with that rich tone that no other soprano I've seen can do.
ete4 4 years ago
It all depends on what she happens to be singing. I saw her at the MET in Bellini's IL PIRATA and I did not like her performance - at all ! The passagework was good but there was nothing to her interpretation. She is probably better at Mozart & Handel and maybe some of the French and Richard Strauss but I don't think that Italian Opera is really her type of repertoire - as much as she attempts to sing it.
BelliniNorma1 4 years ago
Jealous much?
ugotitbabe000 4 years ago
From what I can tell - she seems much more interested in the voice with scant attention paid to the words. Her diction is often mushy and indistinct. She avoids consonants and stresses just the vowels. I find her quite cold and detached. Sorry folks - just my own personal taste.
BelliniNorma1 4 years ago
however in solo performances, it is acceptable for diction to be sacrificed in order to create beauty of sound...
mdcam89 4 years ago
Sorry but I find missing in her interpretations. What is it ? Is it the lack of vocal coloration or the general blandness ? Trying to figure out why she does nothing for me as an operatic artist.
BelliniNorma1 4 years ago
It's what they call "garce jalouse"
wotanman 4 years ago
juste le mieux! superbe!
garconfrancais01 4 years ago
This aria is hers, folks. NO ONE ELSE sings it like she does today.
KaminaOne 4 years ago
Another great interpretation of this aria is a recording made by Beverly Sills - her floated notes were other wordly.
cantorandopera 4 years ago
that i would like to here...any way you can upload it?
garconfrancais01 4 years ago
Wow, what is happening acoustically at 3:50 when her voice seems to detach itself and fill the entire room? Does anyone else hear that change? Absolutely fascinating...
CHerbek 4 years ago
Darling, it is called finding the right first formant...It is just like the G spot for vocal resonance.
egyboy67 4 years ago
Egyboy, just to let you know, I just came!
wotanman 4 years ago
Glad to be of help ;) Are you a soprano, Wotan? :)
egyboy67 4 years ago
No, but my good friend Bea Arthur is!
wotanman 4 years ago
that is why her singing has been described like a Flight because it gives that sense of detachment and that element is the basis of the enormous quality of her vocal lines
Lohengrin 4 years ago
Beautiful aria - beautiful voice!
Thanks for uploading.
Phaedrax2 4 years ago
Fleming grows on me everyday!!! That command of the pianissimo is unparallelled, especially today!
operafreak535 4 years ago
One of the greatest vocal performances of all time! She really was in perfect voice this evening! Just beautiful!
CHerbek 4 years ago
Simplu beautiful. Singing doesn't get better than this. We really knows how to paint a picture with her voice. Brava!
Yettamae 4 years ago
I am sure that someone will disagree with me. But she is also much slimmer now. That could have affected her tone. She does sound different now
fuzmiq 4 years ago
Je n'ai jamais entndu cet air si bien chanté.Madame Flemimg chante tout tres bien, elle sait respecter les nuances, l'exprression la musicalité un peu veriste de Charpentier.. I love you Renée for being that you are, the best...
joanabanyeres 4 years ago
There is no way getting around the fact that this is Spectacularly beautiful and appropriate in style.
Even scepticism about Fleming's overly mellow style, has no grounds here. This aria is composed as mellow as an aria has ever been...
So she is her element here. I would dare say that critisizing RF for this clip is downright unfair and is -thank God- not in unison with the delirious audience of this gala performance!!
CONTESTAR 4 years ago
Sometimes unequal, but here she is absolutely magnificent.
lady00010 4 years ago
im by no means a fleming fan boy...but this is good singing, flat out. she is sensitive and she floats the high notes with grace and control. her low notes are easy and not pressed on at all. people need to lay off of her and give credit where its do!
nycmetbound 4 years ago
I don't know what it is with you anti-Renee partisans, but there is room for more than one singer doing an aria. And la Flemming is made for this kind of stuff!
lagunagreg 4 years ago
To all you Grace Moore Fans out there,
You should go back and listen to that video clip of Ms. Moore, because she honks out a note on the lower passagio with obvious brutality (not that the rest of the aria isn't lovely, albeit with a much lighter tone color than Flemming). I didn't notice La Flemming doing that here, quite the opposite.
lagunagreg 4 years ago
She's in absolute perfect voice here! This is one of her best performances.
fiesco7 4 years ago
Mrs. Fleming interprets this aria with much gentleness and feeling, I believe that serious just to recognize his this aria magnifies work when interpreting.
OPERMUSIK 4 years ago
To each his own, I suppose;o).
urgrad03 4 years ago
Surely, the gods smiled on her. Such a beautiful woman and such a glorious voice. The combination can't be beat. Nothing else needs to be said.
22441932 4 years ago
AHMEN!
saxbob2006 4 years ago
SUGGESTION is that everyone go to "GRACE MOORE" on YouTube to listen to HOW this aria should be sung, UNFORCED, a PURE NATURAL SOPRANO TONE which represents the GOLDEN AGE of SINGING.
796824 4 years ago
You must be joking... right?
urgrad03 4 years ago
Absolutely stunning! How amazing is it that all that sound can come from one tiny person on that huge stage and fill the entire concert hall? Brava Renee!
CHerbek 4 years ago
I cry like a baby every time I watch this. I agree it is the best Depuis le jour ever. And this is how she sang before she started doing all these weird mannerisms and affectations with her voice, when her musical/vocal choices truly reflected the MUSIC. And her singing was FLAWLESS. Brava!
smyer825 4 years ago
Renee is one of my absolute favs but she sings Depuis le jour with almost the same nuances that Leontyne used in 60's recording! It sounds very much like she mocked that recording!
VIDALVAUGHN 4 years ago
Absolutely! I love how she is paying tribute to Price with this.
FoggyRoad81 4 years ago
Not only flawless singing... this is the greatest version of depuis le jour ever...
Lohengrin33 4 years ago
Her technique is astonishing. I don't always agree with her production, but wow, it's so solid! I wish I could get a recording of Eleanor Steber doing this on Voice of Firestone. Their interpretations are similar; however, Eleanor was more of technician and REnee is more of an interpreter... Both supurb!
jdeslauriers 4 years ago
magnifique, mais sa diction du français n'est pas très bonne
girardje 4 years ago
Absolutely Flawless!!!
simmons967 4 years ago
With regards to "over-beautifying" I believe that one can overdo the emphasis on a word or syllable, however, it can never ever be too beautiful. Otherwise, why would singers try to improve their sound. Aren't they always striving to become the most beautiful version of themselves?
theoperagoddess 4 years ago
As a singer myself, I don't care for the overdone consonants in French diction (which she does nowadays), but I do respect her ability to create a legato line by oozing on the charm. As for her facial expressions, she is used to (and likely here) performing in 3000+ seat opera halls, so she is performing for the audience, not the up close and personal camera angles.
theoperagoddess 4 years ago
My only problem with this performance is the 8 inch tall shawl attached to her dress. It makes her neck look really short and it should be removed or shortened at least 4 inches (the shawl, not the neck of course!)
theoperagoddess 4 years ago
May I suggest you close your eyes and open your ears and your mind and ... enjoy!
Rukasepar 4 years ago
i agree with CHerbek...this is nice..and she is not marking..we singers call that piano---which is more beautiful than forte sometimes...
igalic1977 4 years ago
wonderful!
Zandomeni 4 years ago
I'm not normally a fan but she sounds really lovely here. She also observes the markings on Je suis hereuse ( sp?) which many sopranos don't do. I wish she still sounded this fresh and had as few mannerisms as she does here.
gvjps123 4 years ago
In my opinion, this is Fleming in her PRIME! Uhh... just down-right sublime singing. Beautiful technique. Lovely phrasing. What happened:o(?
urgrad03 4 years ago
Anyone who has anything seriously negative to say about this performance has no idea what the heck they are talking about! Brava Renee!
CHerbek 4 years ago
I'm kinda not diggin her facial expressions...
Sweetthang9 4 years ago
it's like a fairytale!
PucciniTosca 4 years ago
This was the best thing I've ever heard from her.
nickbigd 5 years ago
She truly is amazing! Brava La Perfecta!
CHerbek 5 years ago
this is absolutely incredible...i'm speachless
jmalgier 5 years ago
What I respect about her the most is how much she has continuously worked on her technique to get even better. Brava Renée!
Lindow 5 years ago
I would have disagree with that. I believe this is Fleming's best stuff. She has a clean tone and pure vibrato thoughout most of this aria. For about the past 8 years, she's had a tendancy to sing half of her lines in straight with NO vibrato. It makes her low sound very huffy and can make the music lose a great deal of it's conviction. She's too croony.
BigOperaguy 5 years ago
Don't get me wrong, I respect this soprano. I just think she tries to make things too pretty.
BigOperaguy 5 years ago
your completely right she is a rather stylized performer ugh ugh I personally vomit when I hear her shoved into italian bel canto and the tech never fits ....but hey not every opera artist is truly encompassing despite the hype.
Tristiano 4 years ago
This is Renée at her finest. There was a more recent performance in France that was posted, and later removed. Thanks for posting this...very relaxing after a long day that ended at 3:30am.
InformedListener 5 years ago
Brava Renee!!!!
snickersxsparkie 5 years ago