Bel Canto > Reviews (1)

Bel Canto - she sure can belto

If there is any area in classical music which polarises opinion more than singers and singing, then I have yet to come across it. I've been in opera performances where the conductor has had to halt the show after an aria, because of one portion of the audience booing the singer, whilst the other tried to drown out their boos with cheers... Or I remember another occasion in a very elite Viennese concert-hall where two very well dressed gentlemen came to blows after one made "an insulting remark" about the other's favourite soprano. People can get pretty vocal and worse about their favourite or least favourite vocalists.

I think the other big problem is that a singer can be great in some repertoire but then take a nose-dive in other areas and this is one factor in this particular CD. The human voice is such a personal thing that I think it is only to be expected that one man's meat is another man's poison.

So what exactly IS "Bel Canto" - which is the title of this particular CD featuring renowned American soprano Renée Fleming? Simply put: Bel canto is the Italian term for "beautiful singing", but it is specifically applied towards a vocal technique which first developed in the 17th century in Italy and continued to develop towards a peak in the 19th century with many bel canto operas by composers such as Bellini, Rossini and Donizetti - all of whom feature on this CD. It is a very technically based way of singing, where the singer was ideally supposed to have a perfect evenness throughout their range of notes, but most importantly, the ability to use extensive ornamentation (or decoration) as part of and in addition to the melody. This frequently exceedingly florid flow of notes has made the genre famous for its use for highly over-emotional, frequently hysterical and often totally utterly barking (singing...?) mad heroines - a type very common in bel canto period operas! When the emotions are overflowing, when your life has fallen apart (or indeed together,) there's nothing like a bit of over-the-top bel canto to express all these over-the-top feelings. Some of the most famous 20th century bel canto sopranos were Joan Sutherland, the inimitable Maria Callas and Montserrat Caballé. Interestingly, Reneé Fleming has never really been regarded as a true bel canto soprano, which is one reason why this CD has received such divided opinions.

It is probably easiest to describe the essence of this disc with the following small example: In a German opera, one might sing the phrase -
I hate you with the notes
A B C a simple melodic line which can be full of musical expression in itself.
But in bel canto, you are going to find this kind of phrase:
I hate you
ACBDCEDFG# AGFEDCBA A C E A C E A with lots of ornamentation... fast runs, arpeggios, you name it - these singers will do it. It is a real virtuosic tour de force.

Performers:

Renée Fleming is the soprano soloist on this disc. She was born in 1959 in America and has developed a world class career singing at the major world opera houses, enjoying a particularly close relationship with the Metropolitan Opera in New York.

Her voice is regarded as mainly lyrical, and her biggest successes have been in works from that part of the operatic repertoire, such as "Der Rosenkavalier" by Richard Strauss and various Mozart roles. Away from classical her voice was heard in the Lord of the Rings film, "The Return of the King".

Conductor, orchestra and chorus:

The conductor on this CD is Patrick Summers who is Music Director of Houston Grand Opera in the USA. The Orchestra of St Luke's is based in New York and is a highly versatile group playing everything from chamber music to contemporary orchestral pieces. As the chorus on the CD, record company Decca have gone for an authentic Italian sound with the excellent Coro Maggio Musicale Fiorentino from Florence, Italy.

The music and performances:

Firstly I have to say that much of the music on this CD was completely new to me, so this is a great choice if you are wanting to get an introduction into the genre of bel canto Italian opera in the early 19th century then this is as good a place to start as any.

Tracks 1-3 - Vincenzo Bellini, (1801-1835) "La sonnambula", Scena ed Aria finale, Act 2.

In this aria slightly dotty heroine Armina is out sleepwalking as usual and sings dreamily away as she balances precariously over a stream. She sings of her true love, proving that she didn't really set out to seduce another male aristocrat earlier in the opera and when woken by the local village maidens bursts into a very virtuosic finale, (which goes to prove the medical advice you shouldn't waken people who are sleepwalking.)

Unfortunately although it is placed first on the disc as an obvious real curtain-opener due to its renowned status in the bel canto repertoire, it doesn't fulfil this role at all in my opinion. There is a lot of emotional musing from the soprano at the start of the extract and Ms Fleming's big luscious tone really obscures the Italian words, making it hard to judge either what she is singing about, or what her character's emotions at that point really are. It was said that a first class bel canto singer should be able to sing in front of a candle without blowing it out - however in this case, Ms Fleming would easily extinguish all the candles on a centenarian's birthday cake with ease! Once the aria itself gets going, the vocal acrobatics are indeed impressive, yet for me they leave me emotionally cold and uninvolved. The orchestra and chorus certainly demonstrate right from the start that they are excellent partners to Ms Fleming, with precise and well phrased playing, never overwhelming her voice and with conductor Summers following her erratic distortions in tempi perfectly.

Tracks 4-6: Gaetano Donizetti (1797-1848) - "Maria Padilla" Scena e cavatina, Act 1

Heroine Maria is recounting to her maid Ines - sung well by Kristine Jepson - how a dream told her that her lover would return and offer her a throne. What is it about sopranos and dreams? Do they all eat too much cheese before bedtime? Ines thinks her mistress is going crazy when she gets very over-excited at the arrival of a certain "Mendez" but doesn't realise that boyfriend Mendez is in fact a Prince...

I think this track would have made a much better opener for the CD, Ms Fleming seems more comfortable with the music and certainly I find the performance engages me from the start as a listener. Again, her voice copes with the amazing musical ornamentation with ease, but I'd still prefer a narrower tone just for the sake of vocal clarity.

Tracks 7-9 - Giacono Rossini (1792-1868) "Semiramide" Cavatina, Act 1:

Another far-fetched and rather controversial opera plot in which a murderous Queen discovers that her love for the hero Arsaces is incestuous, she is plagued with guilt for having murdered her husband and descending into madness, she hopes that with Arsaces' return it will be a happy end - you guessed, no it won't.

This is one of my favourite extracts on the disc, mainly because Rossini writes so well "in character" for his voices. The orchestration is also at his best, really underlining the menacing truth behind the plot. There's real drama here, and it comes over very well not only in Ms Fleming's performance but also in the work of the orchestra, with the traditional Rossini crescendo from quiet to loud and some excellent precise accompanying from conductor Mr Summers and his band.

Tracks 10-13 - Bellini - "I pirata" Scena ed Aria, Act 2:

In a 19th century "Pirates of the Caribbean" style opera, heroine Imogene finds herself in a bit of a pickle. Her lover Gualtiero - leader of the pirates (unfortunately there aren't many tenors who look like Johnny Depp) has killed her husband Ernesto, whom she still kind of loved as well. So it is no wonder we get a wonderful prima donna mad scene where Imogene comes on stage with her young son to a highly intense orchestral introduction and then tells her son to address his dying father with the "smile of innocence". The final blow to her sanity comes when the offstage chorus announces that Gualtiero is to be put to death. As her insanity takes over the vocal histrionics become more and more extreme.

This is my No. 1 favourite moment in the disc. The atmospheric music of the orchestral introduction is in a different musical league to anything else on the CD, and played with such intensity that one is transported immediately into the dramatic situation of the aria. There is an absolutely ravishingly sad cor anglais solo played by Melanie Feld (who rightly gets a credit in the CD brochure) and this is without a doubt top class orchestral accompaniment. Ms Fleming produces her best singing in this selection and it is a really riveting and convincing interpretation which certainly communicates the "madness" of the drama. Great listening.

Tracks 14-17 - Rossini - "Armida" Finale, Act 2:

Another stunning example of Rossini's writing for voice. Composed for the soprano who would later become his wife this is a pure appeal for love from the heroine, sorceress Armida to her would-be hero Rinaldo, where she tries to put a spell on him to make him exchange his weapons of war for garlands of love.

There is no doubt that this is beautifully sung by Ms Fleming from a technical point of view, and in her own inimitable style she certainly meets all the amazing virtuoso demands put on her voice by Rossini, but for me, her voice is simply not right for this kind of florid repertoire.

There is too much "width" to it for a better word and there are other sopranos around who can bring much more clarity of notes and words in their interpretations. Again the orchestra and conductor follow Ms Fleming's musical demands absolutely precisely, which I can tell you is difficult in this kind of repertoire!

Tracks 18-20 - Donizetti - "Lucrezia Borgia" - Rondo Finale Act 3:

A good traditional mad scene to end this interesting CD, Lucrezia has poisoned Gennaro, without realising that he is, in fact, her son. She begs him to take an antidote but he prefers to die with his friends and as a result Lucrezia descends into despair and madness.

My misgivings about Ms Fleming's vocal suitability for this music remain, yet I do have to say that she certainly milks every bit of drama and pathos from this music. Full of virtuosic demands on the voice her performance is certainly dramatic, and with the first rate orchestral accompaniment it is a rousing end to the CD.

CD Recording and Booklet:

The recording is pretty good with lots of clarity in the orchestral parts, though at times one feels that Ms Fleming is rather distant geographically from them. I have a feeling that she was recorded behind the orchestra as would happen in the opera house and whether one likes that effect or not is definitely personal taste. The general stereo sound quality is excellent as one would expect from Decca and you get more than 70 minutes of music which is pretty impressive.

Decca also have to be given a big three cheers for the absolutely brilliant CD booklet accompanying this disc. There is an interesting article by Fleming herself about her approach to this operatic genre, a rather gushing article by the conductor about how wonderful it was to work with La Diva Fleming! But best of all is a really detailed essay giving fascinating background into how these works were composed for particular singers, their history and some very interesting insight into the musical research process of getting back to the original musical ornamentation that would have been used in the early 19th century. It is a very well written article which would be of great interest to all keen opera fans wanting to learn more about this particular vocal genre. As is to be expected with Decca, there is a full English translation of all the Italian lyrics.

Conclusion:

I am giving this CD 3 stars probably rating it around 3.5 stars, because it is interesting repertoire not easily found anywhere else and many opera fans will want it for this reason alone. However, despite her amazing virtuosity, perfect intonation and wide emotional expression, Ms Fleming's voice is definitely not the ideal choice for such music, I'd be wanting to consider Cecilia Bartoli or others for a more authentic sound in this repertoire. There are times when Ms Fleming's little vocal idiosyncrasies start to get on my nerves and I wish I could follow her Italian without having to cling to the CD booklet. If you like opera and can pick this up cheap on Ebay or Amazon - where I've seen used copies for under a fiver, then do give it a go, but there are better Renée Fleming CDs out on the market which I hope to review at some point soon. So, don't pay full price for this but if you love vocal histrionics - go for it. Recommended with reservations.