Part II - Your Favorites: RENÉE FLEMING

[spizzell1]

She would be in my top 100, not the second group. That is just me. Her Thais is without rival, her Der Rosenkavalier, Rusalka, Eugene Onegin, Capriccio are just the best. I do not understand the haters, I just don't, but I hate that they miss the beauty of this singer. She is my favorite, and always will be.

[costavell]

legato,pianissimi!!!!!!!jtmmmm­mmmmm,i love you,renée

[Operafiend22]

The voice is first rate, but the delivery can be somewhat precious at times. She is able to suck me in with her sumptuous tone, and then when I am almost completely hers...she ruins it with a sigh or a portamento...OVERKILL. Her singing is just too mannered for my taste. If Renee didn't have such a great voice, I wouldn't mind, but it's like looking at the Mona Lisa through dirty glass...

[Homoclassicus]

Detractors of Fleming work a lot, but those who deny she has a most versatile and beautiful timbre are only lying to themselves. Hers is one of the most talented voices of the last century. What she makes with it is a matter of opinion. IMO she excels in an unusually varied repertoire, established a supreme standard of singing in Strauss, Berg, Massenet, Janácek. In her best days she shows almost no technical flaws at all, and in her best repertoire is a tremendously intelligent musician.

[ShawDAMAN]

"Hers is one of the most talented voices of the last century. What she makes with it is a matter of opinion."

Well said, actually. I just don't like some of the gasps and scoops and stuff that she does. Sometimes she sings opera like she's singing broadway. But I have always been impressed with her voice and in terms of pure vocalism she is one of the best currently performing sopranos by far.

[ruffomaldito]

Simply beyond comments!

[Jonnybrams]

I'm very excited to see who appears in which rank of the top 10, though with their individual greatness it matters little. If all 10 happen to be males, then i'd like to make an educated guess of: Vickers Vargas Corelli Del Monaco Gobbi Ruffo Bastianini Hampson Fischer-Dieskau Siepi (not in that order)

[Herur22]

I agree with you on many of them.

[tenorvoicefan]

Most of them are my choice, too.

[GermanOperaSinger]

She's far better than Netrebko, but still overrated. Fine natural voice, and she can sound very good when she wants to. But more often than not she ends up sounding ridiculous with her stupid mannerisms.

[CatalinaDM56]

Early '90's, Fleming was unstoppable. Now...meh. Her voice has...lost its color, in pursuit of unintentional innappropriate rep.

[ShawDAMAN]

good summary, my thoughts as well.

[Iareto]

She has such a lovely voice, but I understand why she isn't on the main list.  She wouldn't be on mine either. I just don't care for the way she sings now at all. She used to be wonderful (check out her earlier rendition of "Ain't It a Pretty Night". Fantastic.)

[Iareto]

And by the way, how wonderful is this music? This opera is so underrated in my opinion.

[asdfopera]

Renee will always have her ardent fans and detractors, but I think that when she sings this lied all our hearts melt. She is indeed "the beautiful voice". :)

[FarfalloneAmoroso]

Best wishes, Mike, have a nice holiday.

[ShawDAMAN]

I've always been impressed with her natural voice, which I think was exceptional. I was listening to her sing Bellini in the early 90's and besides the full rich sound, the extreme upper range, great trills and florid passages were all there. However a lot of her singing seems to be rather mannered, and in my opinion, "affected." Probably a wee bit overrated like many superstar singers but I'm not surprised she's here.

[tenorvoicefan]

Yes, you are totally right. But Miss Fleming is much better than the other so called superstar, Miss Netrebko! In my opinion she is so much overrated....

[100Singers]

Ms. Netrebko´s name is already mentioned in the video for all singers who received only 3 votings. Mike

[ShawDAMAN]

Ah, I see. Thanks.

[tenorvoicefan]

Wünsche schönen und erholsamen Urlaub!

Viel Spaß, Mike!

[MastersoftheOpera]

Well Renee was THE LEADING LYRIC SOPRANO of the 1990's with a golden voice. Sure she borrowed styles from Leontyne Price, Anna Moffo (and Lord knows who else) and she did use jazz singing techniques because she wanted to be a jazz singer; but she could really sing Mozart with pizazz....and her signature role Rusalka!

[bobom1]

Thanks again for this project - have a good holiday! Looking forward to October!