Guilty Pleasures Renée Fleming

• 1 1. Villanelle 02:12
• 2 Phidylé 06:03
• 3 Ombra di nube 03:31
• 4 5. Nana. Tranquillo 01:41
• 5 6. Canción. Calma e sostenuto 01:10
• 6 Undina’s Aria 03:58
• 7 Sumerki (Twilight), Op.21, No.3 02:18
• 8 Les Filles de Cadix 03:28
• 9 Sous le dôme épais (Flower Duet) 03:51
• 10 7. La Delaissado 05:31
• 11 13. Malurous qu'o uno Fenno 01:32
• 12 Za Stíhlou Gazelou 04:45
• 13 Lullaby 04:09
• 14 Frag’ mich oft, woran’s denn wohl liegt 03:28
• 15 5. Träume 'Sag', welch wunderbare Träume 04:33
• 16 Once there was a golden bird 05:42
• 17 Danny Boy 04:45
• Total Runtime 01:02:37

Info for Guilty Pleasures

'Guilty Pleasures is an album of sheer indulgence: the beautiful voice of Renée Fleming in a new and very personal selection of songs and arias featuring a feast of music, much of which we might never hear her sing on stage. For our pleasure she has chosen to record many famous arias from roles which are not normally associated with her repertoire: romantic highlights from operas by Dvorak, Smetana and Tchaikovsky among many others.'

Two twentieth-century American composers offer the chance for Fleming to sing in her native tongue –the Irish folksong Danny Boy and John Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles.

Susan Graham joins Renée for the celebrated Flower Duet from Lakmé.

Sebastian Lang-Lessing conducts the Philharmonia Orchestra in a programme that ranges from Berlioz via Tchaikovsky, Dvořák, Smetana, Wagner and Rachmaninov to Canteloube, Delibes and Massenet.

It's an album full of goodies . . . designed both to showcase Fleming's voracious appetite for all kinds of music and to appeal to the widest possible audience. Fleming has managed to preserve the quality of the loveliest voice among the world's top sopranos these past 20 years. Indeed, she might easily be described as a guilty pleasure herself.' (Hugh Canning, The Times)

Renée Fleming, soprano
Philharmonia Orchestra
Sebastian Lang-Lessing, conductor

Recording Location: All Hallows Church, Gospel Oak, London, 5–9 August 2012
Executive Producers: Ben Pateman; Dominic Fyfe
Recording Producer: David Frost
Recording Engineers: Mike Hatch; Tim Martyn
Assistant Engineers: Brett Cox; George Pierson; Brian Losch
Editing & Mixing: David Frost
Mastering Engineer: Silas Brown

Renée Fleming
One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. At a White House ceremony in July of this year, the President awarded Ms. Fleming the National Medal of Arts, America's highest honor for an individual artist. Known as “the people’s diva” and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other musical forms and media. Over the past few seasons, Ms. Fleming has hosted a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series for movie theaters and television, and Live From Lincoln Center on PBS.

As a musical statesman, Renée Fleming has been sought after on numerous distinguished occasions, from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to performances in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. In January 2009, Ms. Fleming was featured in the televised We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert for President Obama. In 2012, in an historic first, Ms. Fleming sang on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee Concert for HM Queen Elizabeth II. Ms. Fleming has also performed for the United States Supreme Court and, in November 2009, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s “Velvet Revolution” at the invitation of Václav Havel. An additional distinction was bestowed in 2008 when, breaking a precedent, Ms. Fleming became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala.

In 2012, Renée Fleming added a new role to her repertoire, Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, at Baden-Baden in a new production by Philippe Arlaud, conducted by Christian Thielemann. She appeared in the title role of Arabella in a new production at the Paris Opera, conducted by Philippe Jordan. Her Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, under the baton of Constantin Trinks, was seen at the Munich Opernfestspiele. Renée began the 2012-13 season as Desdemona in Otello at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, and broadcast around the world via the MET Opera Live in HD. 2013 will find her at Carnegie Hall and Lyric Opera of Chicago in André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, playing Blanche DuBois, a role she created in the world premiere. In June of 2013, she returns to Vienna as the Countess in Strauss's Cappriccio, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach .

Renée's busy concert calendar this year has included galas at the San Diego Opera, Providence Performing Arts Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, as well as appearances with the Seattle, Vancouver, Oregon, Colorado, San Antonio, Baltimore, and Cincinnati Symphony orchestras and the Santiago Philharmonic. Renée began the 2012-13 season singing for the inaugural concerts of Christian Thielemann as principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her 2012-13 recital schedule includes Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Quito, Bogota, Guayaquil, Paris, Geneva, London, Vienna, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Taipei. A January 2013 duo recital tour with Renée's friend, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, includes San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palm Desert, Chicago, New York and Boston. For more, visit: www.reneefleming.com

Booklet for Guilty Pleasures