Turn off the news and relax with some of opera's best romantic departures from reality. this week, Romeo and Juliette star at San Francisco, and at the Met, it's full-on Renee Fleming (her most famous roles are romantic ones).
At the weekend, we have a chance to see a production from SFO of Gounod's Romeo and Juliette, with two young stars who won huge praise for the performance.
San Francisco Opera is continuing their free live-screening, bless them. They screen Saturday at 10am Pacific (that’s 5am Melbourne time on Sunday) to Sunday at 11:59pm Pacific (7 am Monday in Melbourne).
This week, it's the opening night of their long ago 2019 season, Gounod’s Romeo and Juliet, starring young Met star Nadine Sierra and Samoan rising star, tenor Pene Pati. The critics were delighted. Here’s their love duet . and her ‘potion’ aria Detailed review here. An essay on that challenging 'potion' aria here . And another review here .
Renée Fleming Week at the Met
She never played the role in Gounod's opera, though Juliette's wonderful aria 'Je veux vivre' was a favourite concert item for Fleming. Listen here. We get a lot of early Fleming this week. Here's an interesting early interview to go with it.
A week of Renée roles is a roam through romantic opera and the Met is giving us this week some of her famous performances. Many have been screened earlier in the past year, but most deserve your attention. They include her beautiful and surprisingly plausible portrayal of Thais. And the superb production of Rosenkavelier we've seen and applauded several times. And Armida Rossini's sorceress described by Fleming in that interview, "she's all spitting fury, beginning to end! "
Here’s the program, in our dates:
Tuesday, January 12 Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro Starring Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Bryn Terfel, conducted by James Levine. From November 11, 1998.
Wednesday, January 13 Massenet’s Thaïs Starring Renée Fleming, Michael Schade, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Jesús López-Cobos. From December 20, 2008. As commented above, Renée makes the woman plausible – aided by the rock-solid presence and splendid baritone of Thomas Hampson.
Thursday, January 14 Strauss’Der Rosenkavalier Starring Renée Fleming, and Susan Graham, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen, and Kristinn Sigmundsson, conducted by Edo de Waart. From January 9, 2010. Not the version we've seen last year - Susan Graham is Octavian here. Bachtrack review here. NYTimes here.
Friday, January 15 Rossini’s Armida Starring Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Barry Banks, John Osborn, and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. From May 1, 2010. A rarely performed Rossini work with not only Fleming, but a lineup of top-notch tenors including Lawrence Brownlee, John Osborn, Barry Banks, and Kobie van Rensburg.
It's only 2010, but critics already comment on her fading vocal power.
Saturday, January 16 Strauss’Capriccio Starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From April 23, 2011.
Sunday 17th special is SFO's Romeo and Juliette - see above.
What a Sunday choice. From the Met, Sunday, January 17 Handel’s Rodelinda Starring Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Iestyn Davies, (two superb countertenors!) Joseph Kaiser, and Shenyang, conducted by Harry Bicket. From December 3, 2011.
And finally, the silver moon. Listen here to her aria.
Monday, January 17 Dvořák’s Rusalka Starring Renée Fleming, Emily Magee, Dolora Zajick, Piotr Beczala, and John Relyea, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin. From February 8, 2014. There's a nice interview here with her comments about why she loves this role.
Lyn, 12 January 2021