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From:  "Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
"Lloyd W. Hanson" <lloyd.hanson@n...>
Date:  Sat Aug 4, 2001  4:09 am
Subject:  Re: [vocalist] Renee Fleming at the Proms


Dear Linda:

Thank you for your review of the Proms concert featuring Renee
Fleming. It is a pleasure to read as complete a review as you gave
us, filled with your own ideas and opinions but not overflowing with
judgements or praise.

In recent recordings of Ms. Fleming I, too, have become concerned
with the "mannered" quality of her singing and the tendency to become
more important than the music she is performing. I bought her
Schubert CD and I have not been able to listen to all of it after
having it for more than 6 months. She not only badly distorts the
music but, in many cases, does not sing well. The accompanist
represents that school of Lieder singing which finds it necessary to
"show" us every musical nuance and emotional content. For me the
whole album is an example of over-kill.

I consider Renee Fleming as a real gift to the singing art and it is
my hope that she can find her way more clearly through the maze of
performance demands and recording mistakes.

Leontyne Price once said that the song recital "kept her honest". I
guess it is true.


--
Lloyd W. Hanson, DMA
Professor of Voice and Vocal Pedagogy, Emeritus
Director of Opera-Theatre, 1987-1997
School of Performing Arts
Northern Arizona University
Flagstaff, AZ



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