Sitting tonight in Zellerbach Hall in the People's Republic of Berserkly
(more anon), I had this feeling coming on, see.  Where have I heard this
before?

On stage:  Renee Fleming in recital.  But this was not the San Francisco
Countess ('91 "Nozze") or Madame de Tourvel ("Dangerous Liaisons") or
Rusalka or the "Herodiade" Salome, definitely not the "Streetcar" Blanche,
and sure as heck not the singer booed by some idiots in La Scala.

This is, let's see...  a gorgeous, full, sustained, consistently supported
voice, every note met head-on, intelligence, musicality...  yes, and
something else.  Maybe...? Nah, that's not right.

And then the Richard Strauss set rolled about and there was no more doubt.
In the back of my head, now forcefully rolling to the fore unspooled a 1970
Vienna recital.  Elisabeth Schwarzkopf.

Not completely, to be sure.  Fleming doesn't have the silvery, shimmering
sheen that enchants or irritates Schwarzkopf audiences (I am of the former
group).  There is still something holding back Fleming from that last
impossible step into greatness -- I think it's more of a psychological than
artistic obstacle.  It's something "enervated," low energy, soft (without
the steel under Schwarzkopf's softness).

But everything else clicks:  it's the big projection, the flexibility and
charm in the voice, the sheer beauty of the sound.  This is something
fabulous -- and it will get better.

The Strauss set -- "Einerlei," "Ich trage meine Minne," "All' main
Gedanken," "Epheu," "Ich libe dich" -- was wonderful, but not the highlight
of the evening.  That came during six Debussy "Ariettes oubliees," all in
utterly charming, perfect interpretation.  Barber's "Nuvoletta" was just a
tad too cute, but the first half of the evening was programmed so that it
was both clever and substantial.

The theme of Goethe heroines -- Suleika, Gretchen and Mignon -- was
explored through songs about the three by Schubert, Glinka (in German
yet), Liszt, Mendelssohn and Wolf.  Fleming and the excellent unobtrusive,
supportive accomanist, Helen Yorke, were together in a "really big finish,"
with a grand performance of the Wolf "Kennst du das Land."

Fleming -- looking good in a rust-and-burgundy Gianfranco Ferre creation
(although *I* would have used a diagonal separation instead of a line
straight down front) -- is famous for her generous encores, and that's
where the city of Berkeley comes in.

Signs have gone up everywhere around Zellerbach, warning that cars parked
Friday or Saturday night after 10 will be towed -- this is an attempt to
reduce or eliminate the clutter of people at night walking around.  While
I ran out to move the car, Fleming has gone through three or four encores.
I came back just in time for (our own) Jake Heggie's "I Shall Not Live in
Vain" (to the Dickinson poem), in a superb interpretation, and then the
Ellington "It Don't Mean a Thing," something betwixt charming and cute,
depending on one's view (mine was of the latter).

Bottom line:  a great voice, a good singer, an artist still in the process
of becoming.  Much too good for La Scala.

Janos Gereben <[log in to unmask]>