Renee Fleming La Traviata "Sempre Libera" ROH (2009)

[100fulallmusic]

I know this technically isn't the best Sempre Libera. But it has so much pizzazz. This is a DIVA performance - a big, showy, fearless performance. Despite the slow runs, despite the scooping... I absolutely love it.

[kgarmaker123]

Whenever Sopranos elongate and slow down the goire's and slow the runs down, they are having trouble making their voice move... and they are having trouble with the tessitura.. which means that each note they sing needs to have more air behind it ( hence.. a longer note).. This is not a role for Ms. Renee.. and I am glad she does not sing the E flat because I have never heard one performance of this aria that she does where it sounds right.. and comfortable in her voice.

[asdfopera]

@kgarmaker123

violetta is so much more than sempre libera. i love the way renee sings the duet with germont so i don't agree when you say that she shouldn't sing the role because you don't like her sempre libera. i think that's just too closed minded, but...whatever.

[kgarmaker123]

@asdfopera Whew... I love Traviata.. its a masterpiece, but I cannot imagine a soprano not being able to sing the first act well...... and be remembered as a great Violetta. Fleming has many strengths and roles.. that I like, this is just not one.

[Ariadne7710]

@kgarmaker123 I saw this Traviata live at Covent Garden in 2009 and agree with you 100%. Not only in Sempre Libera but throughout the whole opera Fleming was way below par and a great disappointment for me. She had trouble projecting her voice, she had trouble with breath control and she had trouble with the tessitura and with agility. And I hate that mannerism of hers of sliding in and out of notes. It is WRONG. You can't sing opera in a jazzy sort of way. You must attack notes squarely.

[kgarmaker123]

@Ariadne7710 That sliding and stuff, is just plain bad technique but its the only technique she knows .. to allow her to handle the tessitura.. Its annoying for sure.. Her voice has a low projection rate.. She should not be singing Traviata, or any Verdi opera for that matter. Puccini is not right for her either.. Mozart, Strauss, French rep...

[Ariadne7710]

@kgarmaker123 Yes you are right, she was great in Thais a couple of years ago at the Met, and her Marschallin with Susan Graham as Octavian was marvellous too. She should stick to those roles and not try and tackle Armida or Violetta which she clearly can't do.

[Thiagomorangonni1990]

@kgarmaker123 Callas did it perfectly!!! But Callas was Callas! Renee did a very good job!

[leangesdemoi]

Don't get me wrong, I love Renee. Just not in Traviata. Her voice is way too big for this opera. And as for her getting better as the night goes on...she should be on from the beginning. Just saying. I would pay 200 bucks to see someone gradually get better, I want to see them come out and wow me from moment 1

[asdfopera]

@leangesdemoi

fleming's voice is not too big for violetta. i think what you mean is that she doesn't have the flexibility and high notes of a coloratura soprano in this cabaletta? the rest of the role actually doesn't require this type of singing and fleming's voice is the right "size".

[Lindow]

Renee is way too smart to ever be tackling any of the really dramatic Verdi like Ballo or Forza - she knows her voice is too light to be singing that kind of repertoire intended for at least a real spinto soprano, if not a truly dramatic one.

[KriBlackRoson]

aaw, Renée, how i love you!!

you're THE BEST

[HowAboutMeVideos]

Opera is not meant to be recorded. Renee Fleming wouldn't be where she is if it wasn't for her voice and talent. look where most of you people are...judging her...leave it to the critics, they do a great job at understanding the art.

[LordHettrick]

We'll pretend no one noticed the extreme accellerando at 3:18 which is due to the fact that she slowed down so much during the coloraturas before...

[leangesdemoi]

This is what I hate about these high profile singers. They think that they can get away with a crappy performance; just because they're so famous. Can we not remember the words?  My God it repeats it'self the entire song. And why can she not sing the high E at the end? I don't know another soprano that doesn't sing it. Get over yourself Renee.

[TZEITEL10]

@leangesdemoi I did not see this live but i have seen this performance in its entirety,i have heard this aria sung better,but her performance improves as the night goes on.She was excellent,the audience went wild at the end,the leads received rapturous applause which they deserved.Atleast she tries acts,an improvement on the big names who merely stood on the spot and sang,we expect more now,Natalie Dessay is a great example of the singers who act too.Calleja also shows his acting skill in this.

[asdfopera]

@leangesdemoi

the high e is not written. it is and option taken often by coloratura sopranos, but it is not required.

[PukKoleszka]

@leangesdemoi Anna Netrebko, Angela Gheoghiu, Mirella Freni - no sing E FLAT.

You must listen more.

[bpetii1]

@leangesdemoi Listen to one of the performances of Angela Gheorghiu, she doesn't sing the high Esz, either. I think it is NOT the point. I prefer it also but I think first of all you have to do good coloraturas , your voice should be lyrical than Renee's voice is, you have to be such a person in the stage as Violetta. I think Renee voice is a little bit hard for this opera I think it should be sang by easier voice.

[wishingonthemoon1]

Haha, i love this version of her singing it, she is slightly more sassy and drunk-acting! =P

[PukKoleszka]

it's good! i like it, because here she is not the best vocally... but this emotionality, and heart... She knows what she sing...

[Pamp02]

ridicola, con interpretazione molto poco credibile. sembra che si sia drogata prima di salire sul palcoscenico...non capisco tutti questi applausi

[doncarlo84]

I attended two performances of this production in July 2009. In Sempre libera she is not at her best, but in acts 2 and 3 her vocal skills perfectly fit in with the role, whom she actually brought into life. The production was gorgeous, but she sang even better in her last Zurich Traviata (2010).

[PukKoleszka]

@doncarlo84 smart words! agree! brawo!

[Awrora777]

Флеминг отлично играет поддатую Виолетту.

[OperaLover84]

Why is she bowing at the end? Was this a concert performance or the real thing?

[asdfopera]

@OperaLover84

renee sang violetta at the royal opera house in the summer of 2009. this is from the performance that was shown live in movie theaters in the uk. so yes, it was from a complete performance, not a concert.

[wishingonthemoon1]

@OperaLover84 At the end of Acts, whoever performed last, and usually followed by the rest of the cast in that act, usually do a short curtain call. She deserved to get one, didn't she?!

[noras231090]

@OperaLover84 It's the end of the first act, and some times the main character of the act, take a bow. Especially when the applause is long, and you can see that they have cut a big part of the applause. =)

[PukKoleszka]

she is the best! Maybe she is able to sing more Verdi's roles? Amelia in Ballo...

A she returns to Desdemona!!!

[asdfopera]

@PukKoleszka

Yep, she's returning to Desdemona this summer and again at the Met in a few seasons. I'd like her sing Amelia, from Boccanegra not Ballo, but she seems reluctant to sing that role again.

[PukKoleszka]

@asdfopera do you know what she is going to sing? She is comming to Poland this May!!!

[asdfopera]

@PukKoleszka

you should check her website. that's what i did. there is a link to the program there. she's singing r. strauss lieder, massenet arias, arias from the merry widow, rusalka, and verismo.

[kgarmaker123]

I do not think Fleming should sing this role again.. She is mushing and smearing the vocal line... Ask yourself, in 50 yrs, when others listen to this ( I will be dead. LOL).will they think this is clean singing? I am grateful she did not go for the E flat.. and.. to make the D flat, she had to invent some run up to it.. NO wonder she hates this caballetta..

[asdfopera]

@kgarmaker123

don't laugh out loud at death. :)

[kgarmaker123]

@asdfopera True, but at 61 yrs old, I doubt I will be around another 50 yrs.. thats all I was saying. What do you think of MS Fleming's Sempre Libera?

[LohengrinT]

She looks like a dream in that fabulous costume and that incredible scenography - this woman led modern Opera to its former glamor and splendor and what a glorius singing (with elements of craziness :p)

[caleche78]

@LohengrinT : Glorious singing ? you are an ignorant, she is terrible, she screams.

It is very noticeable her voice is ruined she is almost finished

[Drelnis]

I'll always think of this production as the definitive Traviata - so much more pleasurable than the red chair of Willy Decker.

[asdfopera]

@Drelnis

The Decker production is fine with the right cast. I couldn't imagine Fleming in it though.

[Drelnis]

@asdfopera DEFINITELY cannot imagine Fleming in it :) Would be great to see how Dessay handles it though :D Now, I think think someone like her would fare much better in the Decker production.