Prom 61 - 30.08.17: Renée Fleming sings Strauss

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

19:00 Wednesday 30 August 2017
Royal Albert Hall

Andrea Tarred: Liguria UK première
Samuel Barber: Knoxville: Summer of 1915, Op 24
Richard Strauss: Daphne – Transformation Scene, 'Ich komme – ich komme'
Carl Nielsen: Symphony No 2 'The Four Temperaments'


Renée Fleming soprano
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Sakari Oramo

American soprano Renée Fleming returns to join Sakari Oramo and the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra for the shimmering 'transformation' music that closes Richard Strauss's opera Daphne, and Samuel Barber's Knoxville: Summer of 1915, a nostalgic portrait of the America of a simpler age.
The RSPO also brings music by its Swedish compatriot Andrea Tarrodi - Liguria, a vivid musical 'walking tour' through Italian fishing villages as well as Nielsen's Second Symphony, 'The Four Temperaments', whose four movements offer different character portraits, from a choleric opening Allegro to a melancholic slow movement.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

Renée Fleming is one of those singers who somehow lives up to the hype.

[Stanfordian]

Renée Fleming is one of those singers who somehow lives up to the hype.

Especially suited to Richard Strauss' opulent soundworld.

[Richard Tarleton]

Especially suited to Richard Strauss' opulent soundworld.

She has a sweet tooth - one of your 5-a day, definitely

[bluestateprommer]

Andrea Tarrodi's Liguria just finished. I get the feeling that she intended this as kind of an Italian seaside village version of Fontane di Roma. While it has the watery-like shimmer of a musical depiction of the Cinque Terre villages, it certainly doesn't have the big tunes that Respighi commanded. But on its own terms, it's a nice, audience-friendly opener, and actually reminded me quite a bit of Grace-Evangeline Mason's work from earlier this year, RIVER, except that AT's is honestly the much better work.

For anyone who wants to read up a bit on Renee Fleming, you might like this NYT article:

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/04/05/arts/music/the-diva-departs-renee-flemings-farewell-to-opera.html

Here's the text for Knoxville: Summer of 1915:

"We are talking now of summer evenings in Knoxville Tennessee in that time that I lived there so successfully disguised to myself as a child.

...It has become that time of evening when people sit on their porches, rocking gently and talking gently and watching the street and the standing up into their sphere of possession of the trees, of birds' hung havens, hangars. People go by; things go by. A horse, drawing a buggy, breaking his hollow iron music on the asphalt; a loud auto; a quiet auto; people in pairs, not in a hurry, scuffling, switching their weight of aestival body, talking casually, the taste hovering over them of vanilla, strawberry, pasteboard and starched milk, the image upon them of lovers and horsemen, squared with clowns in hueless amber.

A streetcar raising its iron moan; stopping, belling and starting; stertorous; rousing and raising again its iron increasing moan and swimming its gold windows and straw seats on past and past and past, the bleak spark crackling and cursing above it like a small malignant spirit set to dog its tracks; the iron whine rises on rising speed; still risen, faints; halts; the faint stinging bell; rises again, still fainter, fainting, lifting, lifts, faints foregone: forgotten. Now is the night one blue dew.

Now is the night one blue dew, my father has drained, he has coiled the hose.

Low on the length of lawns, a frailing of fire who breathes....

Parents on porches: rock and rock. From damp strings morning glories hang their ancient faces.

The dry and exalted noise of the locusts from all the air at once enchants my eardrums.

On the rough wet grass of the back yard my father and mother have spread quilts. We all lie there, my mother, my father, my uncle, my aunt, and I too am lying there....They are not talking much, and the talk is quiet, of nothing in particular, of nothing at all. The stars are wide and alive, they seem each like a smile of great sweetness, and they seem very near. All my people are larger bodies than mine,...with voices gentle and meaningless like the voices of sleeping birds. One is an artist, he is living at home. One is a musician, she is living at home. One is my mother who is good to me. One is my father who is good to me. By some chance, here they are, all on this earth; and who shall ever tell the sorrow of being on this earth, lying, on quilts, on the grass, in a summer evening, among the sounds of the night. May God bless my people, my uncle, my aunt, my mother, my good father, oh, remember them kindly in their time of trouble; and in the hour of their taking away.

After a little I am taken in and put to bed. Sleep, soft smiling, draws me unto her: and those receive me, who quietly treat me, as one familiar and well-beloved in that home: but will not, oh, will not, not now, not ever; but will not ever tell me who I am."

[BBMmk2]

Lovely Barber!

[bluestateprommer]

Lovely Barber!

Indeed. The playing from the Royal Stockholm PO shows that Sakari Oramo is sustaining two orchestras at a high level. I thought that I heard a slightly "arch" timbre in RF's voice at the very start (not the sound of someone who grew up in the South - she's originally from Pennsylvania), but that settled down very quickly. Nice touch of RF and SO to add the encore, another Agee setting.

[cloughie]

Indeed. The playing from the Royal Stockholm PO shows that Sakari Oramo is sustaining two orchestras at a high level. I thought that I heard a slightly "arch" timbre in RF's voice at the very start (not the sound of someone who grew up in the South - she's originally from Pennsylvania), but that settled down very quickly. Nice touch of RF and SO to add the encore, another Agee setting.

Just caught a snatch - is there any composer who captured better rich orchestral textures and a soaring soprano?

[robk]

There is a quiet voice interruption half way through the fourth movement of the Nielsen Symphony. It was there on the concert sound stream and is also audible on iplayer. It lasts a couple of seconds. Could this have been an announcement in the hall, or something picked up from an intercom system?

[Brixton Dave]

The announcement you refer to was audible in the hall (not loudly) and seemed to be the system they use outside the auditorium to give the five minute warning - or to solicit trade in Proms memorabilia at door 6.

This was mere bagatelle compared to the lighting problems in Act 1 of La Clemenza de Tito on Monday. The soloists had to put up with spotlights abruptly turnng on and off them during arias for no apparent reason. Would have well put me off - though as the singers did their best to sing on regardless this would not have been evident at home.

[Lancashire Lass]

Renée Fleming is one of those singers who somehow lives up to the hype.

I bought the tickets on the strength of that hype, having never heard her live or even really listened to her much on the radio. I expected to be underwhelmed but instead I was blown away. Even in the cheap seats her filigree voice came through perfectly. And the two encores were good value for money, especially one of the Four Last Songs.

She has such self-effacing body language too -- I expected a lot of diva-ish histrionics, but she only did what was absolutely necessary and left her voice to do the talking.

[richardfinegold]

I bought the tickets on the strength of that hype, having never heard her live or even really listened to her much on the radio. I expected to be underwhelmed but instead I was blown away. Even in the cheap seats her filigree voice came through perfectly. And the two encores were good value for money, especially one of the Four Last Songs.

She has such self-effacing body language too -- I expected a lot of diva-ish histrionics, but she only did what was absolutely necessary and left her voice to do the talking.

I suppose it says something about contemporary life when Great Artists actually equal or exceed expectations. We are so used to being marketed to and lied to that we are surprised when we encounter the real thing

[Maclintick]

She has such self-effacing body language too -- I expected a lot of diva-ish histrionics, but she only did what was absolutely necessary and left her voice to do the talking.

Not sure why you'd expect "diva-ish histrionics". RF is a thoughtful, serious artist, and quite down-to-earth, actually.

[Barbirollians]

Snape had the Four Last Songs with Edward Gardner conducting tickets went like hot cakes and it was sold out in May. Great singer saw her sing Violetta at the ROH a few years back thought she might be a little old for the role but she was very good .

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

Not sure why you'd expect "diva-ish histrionics". RF is a thoughtful, serious artist, and quite down-to-earth, actually.

Indeed - but Lancashire Lass did say that this was her first encounter with RF. Given her (RF,'s not LL's - always best not to go there! ) prominence, it is not altogether unfair to perhaps expect the behaviour of her peers - you know, the "What do you mean, I can't take my rifle on your aeroplane??!! This is Political Correctness gone mad!", or ""I asked for Evian and you've given me Perrier; how can I possibly perform under these dreadful conditions?!" sort-of thing.

Delighted to hear that Ms Fleming has a Ferrier-esque down-to-earth attitude - which seems to be much more the norm these days.