Track Listing

1. Puccini: O mio babbino caro - Gianni Schicchi
2. Puccini: Un bel di vedremo - Madame Butterfly
3. Puccini: Quando men vo - Musetta's waltz - La Boheme
4. Puccini compl. Alfano: Signore, ascolta - Turandot
5. Leoncavallo: Stridono lassu - I Pagliacci
6. Cilea: Io son l'umile ancella - Adriana Lecouvreur
7. Catalani: Ebben? Ne adnro lontana - La Wally
8. Massenet: Je suis encore etourdie - Manon
9. Massenet: Adieu notre petite table - Manon
10. Bizet: Micaela's aria - Carmen
11. Gounod: Je veux vivre - Romeo & Juliette
12. Verdi: come in quest'ora bruna - Simon Boccanegra
13. Bellini: Casta Diva - Norma
14. Verdi: Bolero - Les Vepres Siciliennes

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #4781 in Music
• Released on: 2000-10-10
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .20 pounds

From Amazon.co.uk
Renée Fleming's previous three recital discs for Decca (Mozart Arias, Opera Scenes and Strauss Heroines) had some kind of name other than her own on the cover. This one doesn't bother, which leaves you in no doubt that the whole thing is about the lady herself: glossily packaged to fill the gap in the sleekly glamorous super-diva market that Kiri te Kanawa stands poised to leave as age creeps up on her. Fleming in fact has more to offer than Dame Kiri ever did. She's the compleat soprano, with a warm, rich sound, a stunning upper range, dramatic presence and a good line in embellishment. And with this disc you get it all and more. The repertory is standard: 19th- and early 20th-century opera arias, mostly verismo but with Verdi, Bizet, Massenet and a spotlit "Casta Diva" from Bellini. And it comes with dazzling style. She may not quite suggest the vulnerability you look for in a Liù, a Butterfly or a Lauretta, but the elegance, security and musicality is undeniable. With silken sound in the accompaniments, this disc is designed to sell you Ms Fleming as the most accomplished female voice of the moment. It succeeds. --Michael White

Amazon.com essential recording
Surely, Renée Fleming has one of the most beautiful voices to be heard anywhere today. It combines velvety warmth, creamy richness, soaring radiance, and flawless purity, and seems to flow out without effort, every tone impeccably centered and in tune, capable of almost too much variety of color and nuance. Fleming's breath control is incredible; she can spin out long, arching phrases and build up climaxes with thrilling intensity. The program of this recital displays Fleming's vocal and dramatic gifts to full advantage, and includes both familiar and lesser-known arias from Italian and French operas. Although some of these are not in her repertoire, she clearly feels close to them. The three opening Puccini favorites from Gianni Schicchi, Madama Butterfly, and La Bohème are a bit fussy and over-inflected, hardly suited to the characters' simplicity; but, from then on, Fleming seems completely at one with both her tragic and her lighthearted heroines. She captures their warm inwardness, rapture, passion, ecstasy, and desperation; darkening and lightening her voice at will. Her top notes soar gloriously, her trills laugh. The orchestra is splendid, supporting her all the way and sounding wonderful. --Edith Eisler

Chronique amazon.fr
Son nom, tout simplement : tel est le titre du dernier album de la divine soprano américaine, accompagnée par la baguette délicate de Sir Charles Mackerras. Après une intégrale de Thaïs de Massenet, Renée Fleming a choisi de nous montrer l'incroyable diversité de son talent, à travers quatorze airs d'opéras célèbres, piochés dans le répertoire italien et français, des vocalises de la Juliette (Roméo et Juliette) de Gounod à l'attente passionnée de la Cio-Cio San (Madame Butterfly) de Puccini. Massenet, Verdi, Puccini, Cilea, Leoncavallo, Catalani, Bellini, Gounod : rien ne semble résister à son timbre charnel, immédiatement reconnaissable (caractéristique, devenue rare, des grands chanteurs), à son étendue vocale étonnante, à son souffle infini et à ses aigus sans faiblesse. Que ceux qui lui reprochent un style aseptisé, écoutent "Adieu ma petite table" (Manon de Massenet). Cet air, souvent larmoyant, est ici entonné avec une simplicité bouleversante. Le miracle d'une telle voix ? Une assurance qui n'oublie jamais sa vulnérabilité. L'émotion à fleur de lèvres  --Franck Erikson