I love Fleming, and the ornaments she inserts were the norm in Mozart's time. The only thing I DETEST is this modern director idea that Anna had a romance with Giovanni. Or that she somehow 'wanted it' or couldn't resist. That's a really really misogynistic idea. She said no, he raped her, killed her father, she can't come to terms with it. And Anna's music is not the music of a liar.
Suggesting that Donna Anna had a romance with Don Giovanni hobbles Mozart and Da Ponte's dramatic intentions because then she becomes no different from Donna Elvira. The two roles are already difficult enough to distinguish when sung by sopranos who do not understand the difference.
Fleming typically does arias slower than normal. It's funny to go down a list of arias in iTunes or something and see that her rendition versus other sopranos' is always the longest and generally by a large amount, but I think that's a testament to her incredible facility with breath control and line - the versions never really seem "long," and that's because she can keep the line moving forward and spinning. It never lies flat and stagnant.
I saw this production at the Met and there was no sense during the live performance that there was any "she wanted it" in the production. Fleming is superb here and certainly for the entire performance she remained a character harmed and yet strong enough to want revenge.
I love DG and have seen it many times over the years, but never heard an Anna as secure as this. Listen to the thrust as she goes for those A’s over and over. I adore her.! Great singer , actress, teacher and so generous to students who come backstage when she sings . Many of my kids who were in the Tanglewood program for young singers would go back and she would actually spend time with them
René F sjunger inte bara sin Rene Fleming- roll utan kommer in i Mozarts Donna Anna - detta är en helt magnifik tolkning. Tack för denna enastående goda tolkning!! Herodopost.
I recently uploaded this scene/aria with Cheryl Studer and Frank Lopardo from La Scala, Muti conducting (audio-only). It was taped from the audience so the sound quality is poor and recessed. But listen to Studer's abandon. She was truly mad in this. Visit my channel to hear it. Be forwarned, it's NOT recommended for the faint-of-heart.
It's a partnership. At this point, he would have gone faster if she wanted. It loses power with this molasses tempo. She loved to do this, and it's why I can't stand her at times. Same for Rusalka milking the B flat.
Love Groves in this. Ottavio as a real man, not a fey rococo figurine. The character should be played (and sung) as a full-blooded explicit foil to the Don---a paragon of male virtue, everything a cad isn't. Also agree in detesting the modernist idea of Anna as a fraud who dallied w/ the Don. Anna and Ottavio are deadly serious, fully Romantic characters, and there's nothing ironic about them. That look on Anna's face as she exits---yuck. Leftists are never so thrilled as when pushing depravity and baseness.
I don't mind the vibrato all that much but she could have acted a bit stronger in the second part of the aria - more dramatics (well - that's what I like to see....)
By over-interpreting the aria, Flemming loses dramatic momentum. The score is not meant to be pulled out of shape so much by excessive rubati. Donna Anna is fuming and desperate for revenge. At times, Flemming looks like she is playing Carmen, not Donna Anna! For the full force of Donna Anna's emotion, try the live Sutherland performance from the Met.
I would be hard pressed to go to Sutherland for any sort of emotion. Beautiful singing, yes. Also lets not assume all of the acting is only Fleming, who FAMOUSLY adheres to what directors are asking of her.
Well... saw it again and I take back what I said. Not exactly the kind of Donna Anna that I like but it was well sung and she sings well. A little too much portamento but anyway well sung. I wonder why I said that. Whatever!
William maddox Of course you know that this role was sung in Mozart's time by sopranos who never heard of Verdi, Puccini, Wagner. So what does heft mean? I think Fleming's is actually too strong for this music. You're just used to hearing it from 20th century traditions.
I disagree with you on Ottavio. He may be boring, but I think he genuinely cares for her and wants to make things right for her. He may just not be able to say the right thing. He tries to do what she says, he tries to comfort her, and I don't feel it's because he just wants in her bussle, but rather that he sees someone he cares for in pain but doesn't know how to console her. His frustration does mount, but he is a patient man for putting up with her!
Yea, sure, this is way Don Ottavio called her father who had just died "horrbile object", because he cares about Donna Anna. Actually I think Don Ottavio is the clear blame that Mozart does against aristocrazy who experience everything, even love and marrige with cold detachment.
Superbly well sung of course - we all know that she is the greatest Donna Anna of the last few decades. But the quality of the acting is also so high - so much nuance, such control of gesture, and she lives the role in each moment as few others too. What is so brilliant is that she matches it with her singing - every vocal shift is accompanied by a physical shift - they are both expressions of the character as she tries to affect Don Ottavio into action. We even get the slight ambivalence and sense that she is performing to Don Ottavio coming through - those little glances like the one at the end where she pauses to see the effect she has had. True mastery - this is operatic performance of a rare order.
Donna Anna is not the music of someone who lied about being seduced! I hate this direction, but you cannot deny this is one of the best Anna's to ever life. She sings this aria at a tempo ive never heard, and the recit is on fire. I have never been one who minded Renee's "mannerisms" because they made her body of work uniquely hers and the voice was always just stunning. But man these early Mozart/Verdi/Strauss years were sublime. I heard a recording of the end of Jenufa from Dallas in the early 90's and it ripped my heart out. Renee fleming is a NATIONAL TREASURE, and an incredible representative of Arts in New York State: All of her degrees are from Schools in NY (SUNY Potsdam, Eastman and Juilliard)
I love Renne. She is never afraid to bring her own interpretation. She brings it to life in a real, authentic, raw way. Her ability to express her inner most thoughts and feelings is outstanding. That is why I love her so much She is an artist all her own. Brava Renee and...thank you for being you!!! With all my ❤
Wonderful ! Here, Rene Flemming is in great form. Not only is the aria Or sai chi l'onore very difficult vocally, but the scene dramatically is even more difficult dramatically. She executes both marvelously well. Congratulations Rene!
Brava! I agree with the tempo comment - much too slow in parts, but I'm pretty sure that was Levine's choice. That is a bitch of an aria, and it's very impressive that she could sing it at that slower tempo.
People who comment on diction in Opera crack me up. You try singing a consonant on these sustained pitches and at this volume. It’s not a poetry recital.
I was fortunate to attend this performance. It took place in NYC. If my memory does not fail, the date is October 2000. Fleming, Terfel and Furlanetto were magnificent, and the rest of the cast was very good.
that is breathtaking.. she really did pull it off, she acts so well. question? do you know where i can find this scene with english subtitiles? or the synopsis of this scene only?
Hooray for Paul Groves :) The Met, well, I'm going to hold off commenting until I know whether or not they're hiring me! I like Flemming singing this, but LOVED her Rusalka in...'05? '06? Man, beautiful production, great singing, Willard White as the bass. Her Song to the Moon was inhumanly good. I do NOT like how she's singing these days, though, and Rodalinda was absurd- John Relyea and Stephanie Blythe showed her up somethin fierce!
Remember it's high fashion to hate americans right now. Renee could sing this to absolute and utter perfection, but the fact that she's american, her detractors would make something up.
Renee is fabulous, I sat front row at a recital, nice power and stage presents. Yes she made me tear up. My favorite in this role is Birgit Nilsson, she was power house, but she nailed this role.
Gorgeous voice; too much nuance; not enough just stand still and sing the Mozart when the aria came. Leontyne Price laid this aria to rest at the Met in the 70s. They are still there applauding....
6 months ago i never thought i'd be listening to this. now opera singing sounds completely normal to me
I love Fleming, and the ornaments she inserts were the norm in Mozart's time. The only thing I DETEST is this modern director idea that Anna had a romance with Giovanni. Or that she somehow 'wanted it' or couldn't resist. That's a really really misogynistic idea. She said no, he raped her, killed her father, she can't come to terms with it. And Anna's music is not the music of a liar.
Agreed. I already hear the MRAs shouting: "Why did Donna Anna wait so long to come forward?" LOL...
He attempted to rape her, she fought him off.
Same, I HATE it. It’s all the rage in Germany/Austria (central Europe in general).
Suggesting that Donna Anna had a romance with Don Giovanni hobbles Mozart and Da Ponte's dramatic intentions because then she becomes no different from Donna Elvira. The two roles are already difficult enough to distinguish when sung by sopranos who do not understand the difference.
Fleming typically does arias slower than normal. It's funny to go down a list of arias in iTunes or something and see that her rendition versus other sopranos' is always the longest and generally by a large amount, but I think that's a testament to her incredible facility with breath control and line - the versions never really seem "long," and that's because she can keep the line moving forward and spinning. It never lies flat and stagnant.
I saw this production at the Met and there was no sense during the live performance that there was any "she wanted it" in the production. Fleming is superb here and certainly for the entire performance she remained a character harmed and yet strong enough to want revenge.
I love DG and have seen it many times over the years, but never heard an Anna as secure as this. Listen to the thrust as she goes for those A’s over and over. I adore her.! Great singer , actress, teacher and so generous to students who come backstage when she sings . Many of my kids who were in the Tanglewood program for young singers would go back and she would actually spend time with them
She was so very involved. Quite amazing.
She sang the hell out of this didn't she. She wasn't messing around. Wow!!!
René F sjunger inte bara sin Rene Fleming- roll utan kommer in i Mozarts Donna Anna - detta är en helt magnifik tolkning. Tack för denna enastående goda tolkning!!
Herodopost.
Probablement une des meilleures Anna.
Fleming is the best
Perfect!
"Don GIovanni" by Mozart. Renée Fleming is singing the role of Donna Anna.
Well done. Very well done.
Brava!!!
very very powerful.. oh.. BRAVA!!
just FYI this is the GIOVANNI that the MET does, with TERFEL and FLEMING, it's on DVD!
I like her voice....but not the interpretation for some reason....
Don Giovanni. You are welcome.
What year is this production? 2000s?
Perhaps it's because of the dark setting and the costumes - the whole scene makes me thinking of Fidelio; not to mention the music!
She is black on the inside!
I recently uploaded this scene/aria with Cheryl Studer and Frank Lopardo from La Scala, Muti conducting (audio-only). It was taped from the audience so the sound quality is poor and recessed. But listen to Studer's abandon. She was truly mad in this. Visit my channel to hear it. Be forwarned, it's NOT recommended for the faint-of-heart.
@herodopost
Ja, hon är otrolig bra här !
не Эдда Мозер, конечно
I think she's slow because that's the tempo James Levine picked.
It's a partnership. At this point, he would have gone faster if she wanted. It loses power with this molasses tempo. She loved to do this, and it's why I can't stand her at times. Same for Rusalka milking the B flat.
Love Groves in this. Ottavio as a real man, not a fey rococo figurine. The character should be played (and sung) as a full-blooded explicit foil to the Don---a paragon of male virtue, everything a cad isn't. Also agree in detesting the modernist idea of Anna as a fraud who dallied w/ the Don. Anna and Ottavio are deadly serious, fully Romantic characters, and there's nothing ironic about them. That look on Anna's face as she exits---yuck. Leftists are never so thrilled as when pushing depravity and baseness.
It’s like when they try to portray Carmen in a sympathetic light when in reality she was the 19th Century equivalent of a Twitch Thot.
Can I be your rococo figurine? 6376 I was born 4376
I don't mind the vibrato all that much but she could have acted a bit stronger in the second part of the aria - more dramatics (well - that's what I like to see....)
Ma qua sono tutti inglesi?
By over-interpreting the aria, Flemming loses dramatic momentum. The score is not meant to be pulled out of shape so much by excessive rubati. Donna Anna is fuming and desperate for revenge. At times, Flemming looks like she is playing Carmen, not Donna Anna! For the full force of Donna Anna's emotion, try the live Sutherland performance from the Met.
I would be hard pressed to go to Sutherland for any sort of emotion. Beautiful singing, yes. Also lets not assume all of the acting is only Fleming, who FAMOUSLY adheres to what directors are asking of her.
ive got a headache in only 5 minutes of listening
?
troppo verdiana...
Well... saw it again and I take back what I said. Not exactly the kind of Donna Anna that I like but it was well sung and she sings well. A little too much portamento but anyway well sung. I wonder why I said that. Whatever!
God, she sings this like it's "O mio babbino caro." Where is the passion, the fire, the fury?
haha hard to know what more you want! the first 30 second alone should be enough for you!
I like her voice but this isn´t for her. Sorry... NO... NO... NO!
Vocally this OK - Fleming does not have the vocal heft for this aria. Dramatically - she is good.
William maddox Of course you know that this role was sung in Mozart's time by sopranos who never heard of Verdi, Puccini, Wagner. So what does heft mean? I think Fleming's is actually too strong for this music. You're just used to hearing it from 20th century traditions.
Don't like at all.
I disagree with you on Ottavio. He may be boring, but I think he genuinely cares for her and wants to make things right for her. He may just not be able to say the right thing. He tries to do what she says, he tries to comfort her, and I don't feel it's because he just wants in her bussle, but rather that he sees someone he cares for in pain but doesn't know how to console her. His frustration does mount, but he is a patient man for putting up with her!
Yea, sure, this is way Don Ottavio called her father who had just died "horrbile object", because he cares about Donna Anna. Actually I think Don Ottavio is the clear blame that Mozart does against aristocrazy who experience everything, even love and marrige with cold detachment.
Superbly well sung of course - we all know that she is the greatest Donna Anna of the last few decades. But the quality of the acting is also so high - so much nuance, such control of gesture, and she lives the role in each moment as few others too. What is so brilliant is that she matches it with her singing - every vocal shift is accompanied by a physical shift - they are both expressions of the character as she tries to affect Don Ottavio into action. We even get the slight ambivalence and sense that she is performing to Don Ottavio coming through - those little glances like the one at the end where she pauses to see the effect she has had. True mastery - this is operatic performance of a rare order.
Love your comments and ofcourse agree! This is pure mastery and Renée floores me like no one else!!!
Who say that?
Absolutely fantastic analysis of this masterful performance from Ms. Fleming!
I agree with you. Why does opera attract so many bitchy fans? Maybe Fleming is just too good an actress, singer - and too good looking after all!
Why did that last look on her say "Kill his a**!"
I love it.
holy shit her acting during the coda is genius. watch how she gives that little glance in-synch with the very last bar of this piece.
Exactly. It's perfect.
You just have to face it, time pass, tastes change, and now we all love the way Fleming sings! Its just a fact!
Donna Anna is not the music of someone who lied about being seduced! I hate this direction, but you cannot deny this is one of the best Anna's to ever life. She sings this aria at a tempo ive never heard, and the recit is on fire. I have never been one who minded Renee's "mannerisms" because they made her body of work uniquely hers and the voice was always just stunning. But man these early Mozart/Verdi/Strauss years were sublime. I heard a recording of the end of Jenufa from Dallas in the early 90's and it ripped my heart out. Renee fleming is a NATIONAL TREASURE, and an incredible representative of Arts in New York State: All of her degrees are from Schools in NY (SUNY Potsdam, Eastman and Juilliard)
I love Renne. She is never afraid to bring her own interpretation. She brings it to life in a real, authentic, raw way. Her ability to express her inner most thoughts and feelings is outstanding. That is why I love her so much She is an artist all her own. Brava Renee and...thank you for being you!!! With all my ❤
Wonderful ! Here, Rene Flemming is in great form. Not only is the aria Or sai chi l'onore very difficult vocally, but the scene dramatically is even more difficult dramatically. She executes both marvelously well. Congratulations Rene!
Very very amotional! Very solid voice Renee has! I love her and she is one of the best singers nowadays!
Brava! I agree with the tempo comment - much too slow in parts, but I'm pretty sure that was Levine's choice. That is a bitch of an aria, and it's very impressive that she could sing it at that slower tempo.
Mushy diction, but beautifully emoted. Mannered,yet effective...and affected. And she is the best Donna A. in a while. Oh well.....
People who comment on diction in Opera crack me up. You try singing a consonant on these sustained pitches and at this volume. It’s not a poetry recital.
i think she is amazing in Mozart¨s roles. You as a singer has a lot to learn from her!!!
Brava!!
I just think she's overacting in the "Ma qual s'offre, o Dei" scene, but everywhere else she's wonderful!
she's wonderful. just... too realistic and lacking grandeur.
I was fortunate to attend this performance. It took place in NYC. If my memory does not fail, the date is October 2000. Fleming, Terfel and Furlanetto were magnificent, and the rest of the cast was very good.
Listen to Edda Moser for dramatic passion..
Thank you :)
demasiadas licencias con el tempo
that is breathtaking.. she really did pull it off, she acts so well.
question? do you know where i can find this scene with english subtitiles?
or the synopsis of this scene only?
Oh, but seriously, this needs to not be so slow. I will say I almost always disagree with Levine's Mozart tempi.
Hooray for Paul Groves :)
The Met, well, I'm going to hold off commenting until I know whether or not they're hiring me!
I like Flemming singing this, but LOVED her Rusalka in...'05? '06? Man, beautiful production, great singing, Willard White as the bass. Her Song to the Moon was inhumanly good. I do NOT like how she's singing these days, though, and Rodalinda was absurd- John Relyea and Stephanie Blythe showed her up somethin fierce!
Remember it's high fashion to hate americans right now. Renee could sing this to absolute and utter perfection, but the fact that she's american, her detractors would make something up.
Renee is fabulous, I sat front row at a recital, nice power and stage presents. Yes she made me tear up. My favorite in this role is Birgit Nilsson, she was power house, but she nailed this role.
Love the aria but the recitative is all over the place ..
whatever, fleming is great. i think you are over-interpreting the interpretation here.
Italians would like to have as clear a diction in their own language as this incredible singer!
Can someone please tell me the official name of this opera? It would be much appreciated, Thank you :)
Il Don Giovanni, ossia Il Dissoluto Punito (1787). Music by Wolfgang Amade` Mozart; libretto by Lorenzo da Ponte.
Wow, she did great on this, the singing and the acting! She sang freely, while keeping it under control, as many singers fail to do with this role.
Perfect
Gorgeous voice; too much nuance; not enough just stand still and sing the Mozart when the aria came. Leontyne Price laid this aria to rest at the Met in the 70s. They are still there applauding....
very emotional!
I love her
Well said!
flawless!
Poor Don Ottavio! Fleming's histrionics make his character even more insignificant.