Photo by Decca Timothy White
Renée Fleming is the most famous American opera diva since the heyday of Beverly Sills. She has long since reached a level of wider media notoriety beyond the opera house. It was no wonder that a large, diverse, adoring audience attended her concert with the Milwaukee Symphony Orchestra (MSO) last Thursday evening.
Fleming performs recitals and concerts more than opera roles these days. Many of her appearances are primarily of substantial repertoire. The concert with the MSO was a mash up mix of material only a diva soprano could come up with. The substance came largely before intermission. Three times now I have heard Fleming sing Samuel Barber’s great setting of James Agee’s text, Knoxville: Summer of 1915. Fleming clearly loves this nostalgic and philosophical piece; it suits her voice and talents perfectly. She made special effort to communicate the colorful, heartbreaking words.
The rest of her selections included George and Ira Gershwin’s “Summertime,” some old-fashioned Italian favorites, two Giacomo Puccini arias, three songs from The King and I, and an audience sing-along in “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady. The audience certainly enjoyed it all, and Fleming performed with style and glorious voice. I have to admit that it did seem to me that it became a bit vocally indulgent. The slowness of Puccini’s “O mio babbino caro” (from Gianni Schicchi) was so exaggerated that it was just short of a caricature of itself. Still, no one could deny the beauty of that remarkable, distinctive, velvety voice.
Stay on top of the news of the day
Subscribe to our free, daily e-newsletter to get Milwaukee's latest local news, restaurants, music, arts and entertainment and events delivered right to your inbox every weekday, plus a bonus Week in Review email on Saturdays.
Asher Fisch is one of the most impressive guest conductors to appear with MSO in recent seasons. He gracefully followed some very individual phrasing and tempos Fleming took, keeping the orchestra in sync in the wide variety of many pieces. Fisch and the musicians performed a few things without Fleming. There was ease and sweet lightness in three movements from Felix Mendelssohn’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. The phrase and sound bloomed in the Intermezzo from Puccini’s Manon Lescaut, and lively energy filled out Leonard Bernstein’s Overture to Candide. This was a great deal of music to rehearse last week, in addition to the weekend concert of Giuseppe Verdi’s Requiem.
