Product Description This recital is Renée Fleming's very personal homage to "Fin de Siècle" Vienna. At the turn of the last century, the capital of the Austrian Empire was also one of the cultural centres for the fine arts and, in particular, for music. The city of Haydn, Mozart and Beethoven, a "melting pot" of cultures and musical traditions, attracted gifted musicians and composers alike and provided the perfect soil for much of the greatest music of that time. With this selection of works by Hugo Wolf (1860-1903) and Gustav Mahler (1860-1911), combined with more progressive songs by Alexander Zemlinsky (1871-1942), Arnold Schoenberg (1874-1951) and Erich Wolfgang Korngold (1897-1957), Renée Fleming presents to us the full variety of this unique epoch. The venue of her recital with Maciej Pikulski at the piano is, of course, the Golden Hall of the Musikverein Vienna. Review "In an age of instant gratification and overnight (YouTube) success, enduring artists like Renée Fleming are a rare breed. The singer, currently in her mid-50s, epitomizes the slow-burn. At the age when many sopranos are considering retirement, Fleming is in peak form, defying any tarnishing of the upper register as well as the visual impact of middle age." --Robert Tomas, The Whole Note, December 2014"It takes moxie for an American singer--no matter how big a superstar--to present a Viennese-themed liederabend at Vienna's Musikverein. Recitals of this nature suit the current state of Fleming's voice...and makes her better suited to intimate evenings such as this one." --Opera News, February 2015
R**L
A thoroughly enjoyable lovely recital
I thoroughly enjoyed this lovely recital. Renee Fleming presents an intelligent selection of Viennese Fin de Siecle lieder from the cute light fare in the beginning to balance the heavier selections in the middle. I think the Korngold selections are my favorite and she sings the meltingly lovely "Marietta's Lied" in encore. I had not heard the Zemlinsky selections previously and found them rather dark and grim but Ms. Fleming got into the drama of their forboding subject and pulled them off well. Other reviewers have wondered at her selection of Gershwin's Summertime as the final encore but I thought it a nice light happy ending after the heavy emotional pull of the latter selections in the program. Overall a wonderful performance by Ms. Fleming. Her presence on stage is magnetic and she really works to engage her audience. What could be batter than her golden voice in the Golden Hall at the Musikverein! Well worth purchasing for any fan of Ms. Fleming's.
C**.
Four Stars
Yes received in a timely manner just what I expected thank you
D**H
The selections were not to my taste but a fine performance
The program material was not to my taste, though it was well sung. The video images were clear, the sound was fine.
R**S
Five Stars
She is wonderful as usual - sublime in recital
C**Y
Stunning
Just simply stunning!
A**H
Historically important and a performance of perfection!
A fantastic recital! It is worth having for the Zemlinsky and Korngold alone, but the entire program is wonderful. It is great to have the wonderful often forgotten music of the era represented in such a perfect historically important recital. And, to have them performed to perfection will guarantee they last. Perhaps this will help get the Korngold songs more success and have them get heard by more and more audiences. They deserve so much more than history and World War II allowed.
S**E
An unrivalled lieder recital in the prestigious setting of Great Hall of Musikverein, Vienna
The great soprano, Dame Elisabeth Schwarzkopf once said: "When you go and hear a lieder recital, you should leave a different person than you were before it began". For me, after watching Renee Fleming's concert titled 'Vienna at the Turn of the 20th century' in the most sumptuous setting of the Great Hall of Musikverein, well known for its best acoustics, her glorious voice definitely lifted me up and put me down in a beautiful bygone age. It was the best thing that I had ever done at the new year's eve to watch this concert on DVD. It will always remain in my memory as long as I live. Her performance of Korngold's lieder ('Was du mir bist') took my breath away. It's so natural, so poetic and so effortlessly beautiful like watching the afterglow of sunset.
T**M
Glorious
I bought this for my daughter, a singer. She was delighted to find that she had heard Renee sing much of this repertoire in a London concert.
A**I
Five Stars
Fantastic!
M**N
Five Stars
A great xmas present for a differcult Dad !
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