Thrilling, right? Even more remarkable when you compare this to how beautifully she sings Non mi dir from the same opera on another video I posted. The high pianissimos and legato make you melt, and they are both encompassed by the same throat in the same Opera!
Great moments of opera Yes artistry all through! She really could make the whole character genuinely come through because she had the capabilities and the intelligence needed to make it justice in every sense.
As a big fan and friend of the divine Renée I must say that this recording is certainly the most intense, urgent interpretation I ever heard of her ... it is a gem and a testimony for the ages ... I have the complete recording of this performance and it is a really amazing one ...
This is truly ferocious singing. Biting down the words and attacking each note with full force and utter fierceness - as if she is giving her last performance. Anyone who calls her a simple lyric or mere lied soprano is instantly put to shame by this clip and the bazooka high notes that it includes.
This is a Don Giovanni interpretation in "Fleming's Style". Or , perhaps , a FLAMING Anna. Bur for sure, this is NOT Mozart or Mozart's style. The recitative is a cheap melodrama without any dramatic insight or feeling. The aria itself is sung in a most hysterical way, thanks to a conductor who has no idea about Mozart. If you want to hear proper singing - listen to Leontyne Price singing Donna Anna. In the studio (recitative and aria) or live on stage in Salzburg, 1960, Karajan conducting. This is a lesson on how Mozart has to be sung and interpreted !
I disagree obviously that this is without insight. She's right on the edge here, going further from the many other performances of the aria that you can hear, but I think it was to do with the production which was set in modern times, and the director wanted the panic of this moment to be incandescent. Maybe her earlier Met performance under Levine or her role debut with Solti are more to your taste. Price also sung a wonderful Donna Anna, especially strong in this aria. Her early career performance in 1960 is indeed treasurable, one of the greatest in the live recorded history of this role. She's much less idiomatic in the coloratura in the rest of the role than Fleming was, but her voice was a size larger.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 The role of Donna Anna requires a big voice, like Price's. It is a very tricky role, especially the second act aria with its coloratura, that's why so few sopranos can fulfill the music's demands. Fleming always sounded like a jazz singer, singing opera. The one who did it successfully, was Eileen Farrell. The One and Only. In the USA, Fleming was most beloved and appreciated. Not so much in Europe. Opinions were very divided. She has her moments and roles. Mozart is not an easy composer to perform and asks for the utmost. If you ask me which singer I prefer in Mozart - Schwarzkopf or Fleming - I prefer the American soprano. She instills life in her roles, while the German soprano sounds like a machine that produces beautiful, exact, cold and dead sounds. You see, like in every art field, there are different tastes and opinions. BUT, I am very glad that there are still people like us, that can discuss on the subject. A subject, that for many is considered dead.
@@mickyalexandru6894 Haha! Well I am an opera director (or was before Covid ended opera) so I have to believe that it has a future. I actually love Schwarzkopf too. I get why she is considered chilly, but in some roles and lieder she is simply superb. Different strokes for different folks!
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 Well, well, it seems that we have a "bit" in common. I have been singing opera , quite a long while and when I quit singing, I continued staging opera concerts . The Covid, unfortunately, stopped my activity as well. In any case, I am retired, but it's a pity for the singers and players. I had to cut off my lectures as well. The situation is not pleasant, but, we have to hope for the best. In Bucharest the Opera House is closed. The same is the Philharmonic - orchestra and chorus. I think it's the same situation all over the world. The funny thing is, that my last lecture - in February 2020 - was about La Traviata and I showed my students Fleming's version at Covent Garden !
I am well aware of Mozart style and admire it, however this is a scene full of rage and other emotions, and I think we should give artists of Fleming’s undeniable brilliance the benefit of the doubt. After all Callas pushed the stylistic boundaries too in some of her bel canto period roles. Fleming could have sung this with flawless legato, but I think her choices here were thrilling.
Wow!!! The intensity! The fierceness! The energy! Who does not feel her perplexity, dispaire and outrage?!?
Thrilling, right? Even more remarkable when you compare this to how beautifully she sings Non mi dir from the same opera on another video I posted. The high pianissimos and legato make you melt, and they are both encompassed by the same throat in the same Opera!
Great moments of opera Yes artistry all through! She really could make the whole character genuinely come through because she had the capabilities and the intelligence needed to make it justice in every sense.
As a big fan and friend of the divine Renée I must say that this recording is certainly the most intense, urgent interpretation I ever heard of her ... it is a gem and a testimony for the ages ... I have the complete recording of this performance and it is a really amazing one ...
Agreed, it is absolutely remarkable. I have also posted the sextet from the same performance - she was amazing there too.
Woah, is there anywhere I can find the full recording?
This is truly ferocious singing. Biting down the words and attacking each note with full force and utter fierceness - as if she is giving her last performance. Anyone who calls her a simple lyric or mere lied soprano is instantly put to shame by this clip and the bazooka high notes that it includes.
Thrilling, the urgency of it,
Isn’t it?
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 Yes totally... Thunderbolt excitement
Just wow!
Wow! Was she on an "exclusively gunpowder" diet or something!?
haha!
Perfeitaaa
This is a Don Giovanni interpretation in "Fleming's Style". Or , perhaps , a FLAMING Anna. Bur for sure, this is NOT Mozart or Mozart's style. The recitative is a cheap melodrama without any dramatic insight or feeling. The aria itself is sung in a most hysterical way, thanks to a conductor who has no idea about Mozart. If you want to hear proper singing - listen to Leontyne Price singing Donna Anna. In the studio (recitative and aria) or live on stage in Salzburg, 1960, Karajan conducting. This is a lesson on how Mozart has to be sung and interpreted !
I disagree obviously that this is without insight. She's right on the edge here, going further from the many other performances of the aria that you can hear, but I think it was to do with the production which was set in modern times, and the director wanted the panic of this moment to be incandescent. Maybe her earlier Met performance under Levine or her role debut with Solti are more to your taste.
Price also sung a wonderful Donna Anna, especially strong in this aria. Her early career performance in 1960 is indeed treasurable, one of the greatest in the live recorded history of this role. She's much less idiomatic in the coloratura in the rest of the role than Fleming was, but her voice was a size larger.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 The role of Donna Anna requires a big voice, like Price's. It is a very tricky role, especially the second act aria with its coloratura, that's why so few sopranos can fulfill the music's demands. Fleming always sounded like a jazz singer, singing opera. The one who did it successfully, was Eileen Farrell. The One and Only. In the USA, Fleming was most beloved and appreciated. Not so much in Europe. Opinions were very divided. She has her moments and roles. Mozart is not an easy composer to perform and asks for the utmost. If you ask me which singer I prefer in Mozart - Schwarzkopf or Fleming - I prefer the American soprano. She instills life in her roles, while the German soprano sounds like a machine that produces beautiful, exact, cold and dead sounds. You see, like in every art field, there are different tastes and opinions. BUT, I am very glad that there are still people like us, that can discuss on the subject. A subject, that for many is considered dead.
@@mickyalexandru6894 Haha! Well I am an opera director (or was before Covid ended opera) so I have to believe that it has a future. I actually love Schwarzkopf too. I get why she is considered chilly, but in some roles and lieder she is simply superb. Different strokes for different folks!
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 Well, well, it seems that we have a "bit" in common. I have been singing opera , quite a long while and when I quit singing, I continued staging opera concerts . The Covid, unfortunately, stopped my activity as well. In any case, I am retired, but it's a pity for the singers and players. I had to cut off my lectures as well. The situation is not pleasant, but, we have to hope for the best. In Bucharest the Opera House is closed. The same is the Philharmonic - orchestra and chorus. I think it's the same situation all over the world. The funny thing is, that my last lecture - in February 2020 - was about La Traviata and I showed my students Fleming's version at Covent Garden !
I am well aware of Mozart style and admire it, however this is a scene full of rage and other emotions, and I think we should give artists of Fleming’s undeniable brilliance the benefit of the doubt. After all Callas pushed the stylistic boundaries too in some of her bel canto period roles. Fleming could have sung this with flawless legato, but I think her choices here were thrilling.