Come back the five and dime, Renee Fleming, Renee Fleming.

Renee Fleming has jumped ship.

I don't know what to think. I love Renee. She's the undisputed queen of American opera, possibly the most beloved working operatic soprano in the world right now. Her rendition of Rusalka's song to the moon is enough to make you want to claw your ears off so that no further sub-optimal sounds can spoil the memory of it. So when I heard that she was making a pop album, I was wary.

It's not bad. Her voice is nicely suited to the lower registers... slightly breathy, supple, and a little chocolate-y. She managed to take the steel out of the sound without mucking it up, which is a very hard thing to do. Other singers have tried and failed spectacularly... see Jessye Norman and Sylvia McNair's attempts as evidence. But the songs... meh. I just don't care for them. They're a titch trite, whereas Renee's voice is anything but. I like her relaxed approach, though. It's a bit Sade-esque. Perhaps she'd be more successful if she chose different literature, such as samba or bossnova, which might compliment her voice a bit better. But then she'd always be nipping at the heels of Sade, who in turn nips at the heels of Astrid Gilberto, etc etc.

Renee did a jazz recording once, so this isn't a new thing for her to venture outside opera. That wasn't so great either, as she just sounded a little too metered and controlled. It had nothing to do with her voice, which was again warm and luscious. Maybe it was the instrumentation, or perhaps it was a rhythmic thing... too controlled, not relaxed/swingy enough. If she got some coaching and learned how to make the meters of jazz/swing work for her, then perhaps she could pull off an Ella-Fitzerald-without-the-scat-singing kind of thing. (White people should never scat. I've never seen it work, not once.)

So all in all it's a good effort. It's just not special, and that makes me sad because Renee's voice truly IS special.

Unspeakable hotness: Rene

Unspeakable hotness is the theme today. DNA magazine featured this inked Brazilian pro soccer player named Rene, and I almost blacked out. This mellow, quiet, mild-mannered Papi has played soccer all over the world and is now coaching somewhere in the US. Does DNA mention where in the US? Irritatingly, no. Dudes like this are the reason why square cut swimsuits were invented.

The beautiful photographs are by Andy Armano (www.andyarmano.com), a very talented (and very fortunate) photographer in South Beach.

Diva Thursdays: Renee Fleming

American full-lyric soprano Renee Fleming is arguably the prima donna of the American operatic stage today. Unlike some other singers whose fame is based on demanding behaviors, obesity, or paparazzo-encouraging bacchanals, Ms. Fleming's celebrity rests securely on one simple thing... the utter beauty of her voice. I know, I know. Not too exciting... we'd much rather see her showing us her taco while exiting a cab in midtown. But isn't it refreshing to see someone who is famous for something that is actually related to her talents and profession?


Born in Indiana, Pennsylvania to two singing teachers, she grew up in Rochester, New York (where my grandmother lived for many years).

Fleming's first major break came in 1988 when she sang the Countess in Mozart's La Nozze di Figaro at the Houston Grand Opera, a role she has sung many times since to resounding success. She debuted in 1989 with the NYC Opera and Royal Opera, Covent Garden (London), followed by her Metropolitan Opera debut in 1991.


In addition to the standard operatic repertoire, she performs new music, Broadway show tunes, and other popular genres. Fleming has originated the roles of Rosina, Mme de Tourvel, and Blanche DuBois in, respectively, the world premières of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles at the Met, Conrad Susa's Dangerous Liaisons with the San Francisco Opers, and Andre Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire (also in San Francisco).


I have friends who have nit-picky thoughts about all the "scooping" that La Fleming does when she sings, but I have to say... with a voice that beautiful, I really don't care about the scooping. If I want crystalline bell-like tones that leave me cold, I'll listen to Sylvia McNair's Gershwin album (I'm not linking to it because I don't want to encourage that sort of thing).


Enjoy this performance of Rusalka's Song to the Moon from Antonin Dvorak's Rusalka. It's one of the arias that is intimately associated with Fleming, and here we see why. Lovely...