Albert Innaurato, the opera critic and playwright said that she was the most musically talented singer he had ever seen, able to reduce an orchestral score onto the piano at sight.
listen to how Brilliant and strong her voice is! This to me is her real true tone placement. Her trills are fabulously fast ! I always felt she colored her voice darker to sing more lyric roles....she still has a steady tone after 25 hard years of singing some of the most demanding roles....
Jim Buxton interesting. Glad you enjoyed it! I actually think she is lightening her voice to get through the demands of this aria. You can hear her singing Rusalka already in 1990 on TH-cam and it sounds perfectly natural. One of the features of a truly great voice though is the ability to change timbral quality for the repertoire. To me her voice stabilised fully and reached its highest ebb in the late 90s after her second child was born.
In her early years her coloratura and high notes were just wonderful. She is a great soprano and it annoys when "armchair experts" bitch about her. This La Sonnambula was wonderful ... her "Care Compagne" was out of this world. I also adore her in Rosmonda D'Inghilterra
Great moments of opera Exactly. Not all singers are the same ... This judging one against the other is ridiculous. Renee is not Sutherland and vice versa! They had there ups and downs but they are all great artists ...
This is the best I've her her sing. But she has had a very bad technique for most of her career. It's not an "armcher expert" thing nor anything purely theoretical as this would imply, It's the factual truth.
@jenylogan1 Good to know! 👍😁 Both artists were/are definitely top notch! And I always appreciate how as individuals, we each have our own personal preferences. 😁👍
No one can sing that cadenza better than Sutherland. But, Sutherland could never sing the diminuendo! Fleming could have been the greatest bel canto singer of her time. Alas! She diverged.
Ali Offe perhaps, and her 1993 Armidas are maybe the best evidence for this (along with her 1998 Borgias). Her 93 Armida is certainly my favourite bel canto performance since Callas. Haven’t heard anyone contemporary who is the equal, let alone superior. However I think the voice was not big enough to sustain singing the most demanding assoluta roles on a callasian scale over an extended period. Instead she became the greatest Strauss and Massenet singer not just of her time, but of all time!
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 i definitely agree with you! In her repertoire, she is the greatest. As for bel canto, again you're right. However, we cannot know how her voice would have developed if she had followed that path. I would kill a Fleming Lucia, particularly the mad scene without the cadenza! I'll never forgive her for not having sung that. I'm also a sucker for her Casta Diva :)
Ali Offe her casta Diva with Mackerras is simply superb. She did consider singing Lucia but she said although the role is mostly middle voice, the modern expectation was to add all those interpolated Eb etc and she didn’t want to disappoint expectations. I agree it’s a real shame.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 I believe Callas went through the same thing with Lucia in late 50s. You might find this weird but Caballe is the only Lucia i listen to, after Callas. The childish innocence of her vocal line is just spectacular. There are surely flaws in her singing. But, she is Lucia! Fleming could have given us the perfect Lucia between Callas and Caballe, and drown us in endless beautiful sounds! She had everything for the role; trills, dynamics, chiaroscuro tones etc.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 But wait. Didnt she had a range up to G6 ? She interpolated F6 in several arias. That aside, she does sings Eb6 at the finale or Lucrezia Borgia so I assume she has the note ? What was her vocal state like when she said she didnt want to disappoint expectations ?
Very good coloratura, but her agility is a B+ or A- and Amina requires agility of a constant A+. There are some passages where I feel she's pulling her voice through the runs. I also feel like the final cadenza is incredibly manic... Still a great recording of the fresh, ingenue Fleming voice.
jmiller05 agreed. She wasn't yet the finished product - but was humble enough to say that the cabalettas were never her strong suit (link in description above). This is still better than the vast majority of tin pot coloraturas that do it - Fleming is faithfully supporting all three registers here which already makes it 3 times harder, and there's no aspirates. But you do hear the effort. The final note let's you hear the size the voice. TBH the only Amina I love in the whole role is Callas which really makes the pool of singers for the role rather small. HOWEVER! She repeated the unrepeatable Eb6 diminuendo, and I'm sure it was to be noticed by the voice mavens early in her career!
SSBMsounds I’ve actually heard her live in this role and on dvd. I remember being amazed by Gutierrez when she first appeared a few years ago in TH-cam clips - that gorgeous timbre, seamless, liquid sound, and lovely phrasing. Subsequently I have seen her live at the ROH as Amina and as the fairy god mother in Cendrillon. Though the sound is often pretty, in house it has limited impact - I think because it’s such a covered sound (hence the seamless ness) it just can’t thrill live - it doesn’t hit you in the gut and is quite small. I remember reading in Fleming’s book that her vocal teacher warned against too much cover - that it should be used for certain effects, but not all the time - she said she returned from Germany and everyone said “what happened to you?” Which is obviously not what a young singer wants to hear!
The more I hear her early recordings the more this phenomenal musician impresses me. Amazing.
Albert Innaurato, the opera critic and playwright said that she was the most musically talented singer he had ever seen, able to reduce an orchestral score onto the piano at sight.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 ...its very obvious. Anna Moffo was a master musician and concert pianist also.
Jim Buxton interesting! She also had the most immaculate phrasing. So interesting.
And this is yet another reason why she is the greatest living soprano.
😂
Gosh, Fleming truly is a superb singer. What a voice.
Thanks for the comment. I quite agree. And I love your username - many Fleming Strauss live recordings on this channel including Rosenkavalier.
She had. By then.
This is a fantastic performance, indeed. Early Fleming was awesome!!
I wasn’t there, of course, but sounds like she deserved a better ovation than the audience was giving..
Denell Covington this was the dress rehearsal - she was a cover!
Great moments of opera what??? Wow, thanks for the info! Based on this I can’t even fathom..
Denell Covington what can’t you fathom?
Great moments of opera didn’t mean it in a negative way. I can’t fathom her as being a cover at all! All singers have go thru that phase, I guess
Denell Covington yes rather funny! She was covering June Anderson who was the American Queen of Bel canto in the late 80s/early 90s.
listen to how Brilliant and strong her voice is! This to me is her real true tone placement. Her trills are fabulously fast ! I always felt she colored her voice darker to sing more lyric roles....she still has a steady tone after 25 hard years of singing some of the most demanding roles....
Jim Buxton interesting. Glad you enjoyed it! I actually think she is lightening her voice to get through the demands of this aria. You can hear her singing Rusalka already in 1990 on TH-cam and it sounds perfectly natural. One of the features of a truly great voice though is the ability to change timbral quality for the repertoire. To me her voice stabilised fully and reached its highest ebb in the late 90s after her second child was born.
BRAVISSIMA
In her early years her coloratura and high notes were just wonderful. She is a great soprano and it annoys when "armchair experts" bitch about her. This La Sonnambula was wonderful ... her "Care Compagne" was out of this world. I also adore her in Rosmonda D'Inghilterra
Agreed. Let them bitch though. She is the one who had the astonishing career. Her achievements speak for themselves.
Great moments of opera Exactly. Not all singers are the same ... This judging one against the other is ridiculous. Renee is not Sutherland and vice versa! They had there ups and downs but they are all great artists ...
This is the best I've her her sing. But she has had a very bad technique for most of her career. It's not an "armcher expert" thing nor anything purely theoretical as this would imply, It's the factual truth.
@@Ignasimp
Some will never understand
I believe she was covering for June Anderson. Please correct me if I'm wrong.
ciociosan yes that is true. This was a cover run.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 Fleming was WAY better than June Andersen (in my opinion, anyway).
@@artdanks4846That would be a big ‘disagree’ from me.
@jenylogan1
Good to know! 👍😁 Both artists were/are definitely top notch! And I always appreciate how as individuals, we each have our own personal preferences. 😁👍
@@artdanks4846....anderson couldn't trill....Fleming trills like a bird !
Großartig!
How have I never heard this before?
Ladipo Kikelomo you have now! Feel free to share. :)
No one can sing that cadenza better than Sutherland. But, Sutherland could never sing the diminuendo! Fleming could have been the greatest bel canto singer of her time. Alas! She diverged.
Ali Offe perhaps, and her 1993 Armidas are maybe the best evidence for this (along with her 1998 Borgias). Her 93 Armida is certainly my favourite bel canto performance since Callas. Haven’t heard anyone contemporary who is the equal, let alone superior. However I think the voice was not big enough to sustain singing the most demanding assoluta roles on a callasian scale over an extended period. Instead she became the greatest Strauss and Massenet singer not just of her time, but of all time!
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 i definitely agree with you! In her repertoire, she is the greatest. As for bel canto, again you're right. However, we cannot know how her voice would have developed if she had followed that path. I would kill a Fleming Lucia, particularly the mad scene without the cadenza! I'll never forgive her for not having sung that. I'm also a sucker for her Casta Diva :)
Ali Offe her casta Diva with Mackerras is simply superb. She did consider singing Lucia but she said although the role is mostly middle voice, the modern expectation was to add all those interpolated Eb etc and she didn’t want to disappoint expectations. I agree it’s a real shame.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 I believe Callas went through the same thing with Lucia in late 50s. You might find this weird but Caballe is the only Lucia i listen to, after Callas. The childish innocence of her vocal line is just spectacular. There are surely flaws in her singing. But, she is Lucia! Fleming could have given us the perfect Lucia between Callas and Caballe, and drown us in endless beautiful sounds! She had everything for the role; trills, dynamics, chiaroscuro tones etc.
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 But wait. Didnt she had a range up to G6 ? She interpolated F6 in several arias. That aside, she does sings Eb6 at the finale or Lucrezia Borgia so I assume she has the note ? What was her vocal state like when she said she didnt want to disappoint expectations ?
Where is the rest of this performance? Would love to hear the first act aria
It’s on TH-cam somewhere, or at least used to be.
Too bad RF abandoned bel canto roles but who can blame her. She excelled at what she did.
Again, judgment from people who are in no way qualified to judge.
Just foolish dumb comments.
Very good coloratura, but her agility is a B+ or A- and Amina requires agility of a constant A+. There are some passages where I feel she's pulling her voice through the runs. I also feel like the final cadenza is incredibly manic...
Still a great recording of the fresh, ingenue Fleming voice.
jmiller05
agreed. She wasn't yet the finished product - but was humble enough to say that the cabalettas were never her strong suit (link in description above). This is still better than the vast majority of tin pot coloraturas that do it - Fleming is faithfully supporting all three registers here which already makes it 3 times harder, and there's no aspirates. But you do hear the effort. The final note let's you hear the size the voice. TBH the only Amina I love in the whole role is Callas which really makes the pool of singers for the role rather small.
HOWEVER! She repeated the unrepeatable Eb6 diminuendo, and I'm sure it was to be noticed by the voice mavens early in her career!
Great moments of opera The Eb6 diminuendo is indeed an incredible feat. Sutherland never could do it...
@@greatmomentsofopera7170 Have you heard Eglise Gutiérrez as Amina? What are your thoughts?
SSBMsounds I’ve actually heard her live in this role and on dvd. I remember being amazed by Gutierrez when she first appeared a few years ago in TH-cam clips - that gorgeous timbre, seamless, liquid sound, and lovely phrasing. Subsequently I have seen her live at the ROH as Amina and as the fairy god mother in Cendrillon. Though the sound is often pretty, in house it has limited impact - I think because it’s such a covered sound (hence the seamless ness) it just can’t thrill live - it doesn’t hit you in the gut and is quite small. I remember reading in Fleming’s book that her vocal teacher warned against too much cover - that it should be used for certain effects, but not all the time - she said she returned from Germany and everyone said “what happened to you?” Which is obviously not what a young singer wants to hear!
@@jmiller05 ...but she could transpose!