5 posts tagged “renee fleming”
I spent last night dealing with an obscene phone caller (yes, another one) and several fairly annoying individuals while listening to everything that the Beatles ever recorded. This should take the taste out of my mouth:
1) Renee Fleming has a new CD out. It's a gooily Italian conglomeration of Puccini and his ilk--some far better known than others, all good. It's retailing in the $15-ish area in stores, and $10 in at least one online place (Barnes & Noble, last I looked).
2) Pie in the Sky series 2 will be arriving in stores on January 26, 2010. Still a ways off, but it's nice to know that the British series, which features a gourmet-cooking-would-be-retired detective, will continue to be released here.
I dropped off my car at the body shop a week ago today to have the bumper, headlight and front right panel replaced and the paint fixed due to that crash I had the day after Christmas. As I hadn't heard from them (and it had been a week), I called and asked for a timeframe on when it would be finished. Apparently they're having a hard time getting the new bumper in, so I won't get the car back 'til a week from Wednesday at the earliest. The guy apologized several times. I assured him that it wasn't a problem. Really. And I meant it.
Why, might you ask?
Well, it is true that I practically live out of my Geo. Need blank score paper? In the trunk. Granola bar for energy? Ditto. New cassette tapes to tape a practice session or lesson, some spare batteries (size AA or AAA) for the tape recorder, or some deoderant? Glove compartment. Heels for an unexpectedly dressier occasion? Floor behind the passenger seat. Mascara, lip balm, or earrings? Ashtray. Book to pass the time if i get somewhere early (hah!)? Back seat, passenger side. Notebook and pens of various colors for taking notes if I forget my school bag? Floor behind drivers seat. SEE WHAT I MEAN? I'm actually having to plan ahead and be somewhat organized. Egads.
However, there are...compensations.
I'm driving a rental at the moment. The rental is a 2008 Nissan Sentra (small four-door).
I ordinarily drive a 1995 Geo Prism named Aberforth (irritable, coarse exterior, comes through in the end. If you don't read Harry Potter, you won't get it.). While Aberforth gets from point A to point B (most of the time), it is VERY loud (particularly when I drive over 50 MPH), has only a cassette player (handy for lesson tapes, not much else), looks a bit grubby no matter how often I clean it (good gosh, anything should look clean after you STEAM it), manual locks/windows, and the heater and AC work only after about twenty minutes of driving. (note to self: get AC fixed by summer). Oh, yes, and I realized over the last week that the brakes need some SERIOUS work, judging by how quickly the rental stops versus how long it takes my Geo to do the same thing. But I digress.
So, this 2008 Nissan. Reeks of cigarette smoke (I have a bowl of vinegar sitting in there which is supposed to absorb the smoke smell), but otherwise a luxury vehicle, as far as I'm concerned.
You see, it has a CD player. I've been listening to Cosi Fan Tutte during my drives. This I could get used to. And when I tire of Cosi, I listen to Renee Fleming (incidentally, get her Diva CD. Brilliant.).
AND power locks/windows. I haven't been cranking the window up and down while driving, and I can TOUCH A BUTTON to lock the doors.
Even the cupholders are cool: they hold my water bottle AND my coffee travel mug perfectly.
Plus, it takes less than five minutes for the heater to go full blast or the AC to really kick in. (What can I say? Texas weather. I've used both in the last week.)
It stops the second you touch the brake. (Again, note to self: TAKE GEO STRAIGHT TO BRAKE PLACE WHEN IT GETS OUT OF THE BODY SHOP. THIS CAN"T BE GOOD.)
It has a very nice pickup. 0-60 in about 6 seconds. Yes, I tested that. :P What can I say? I was first in line at a stoplight where the speed limit is...slightly less than 60. :D
It's an automatic. It is also the first automatic I've driven that I've liked; I usually prefer a standard as I've found with the automatics that I've driven before that I think (listening to the engine) that I shift better than the automatic transmission. This one, no complaints. None. Whoever designed this transmission knew what they were doing. It sounds (and feels) beautiful.
In short, I'm getting very spoiled. Very, very spoiled. And enjoying every second of it.
Book: The Inner Voice
Author: Renee Fleming
Originally Published In: 2004
Rating: How much higher than five stars can one go?
Several weeks ago themaureencorps and shewhomustbeobeyed asked me what I wanted for Christmas. I gave them a list which basically said opera, opera, more opera, some music, some books, some prints. Obviously, this was a list from which they would choose a few things to get; I was just trying to make it easy. We do lists for each other around Christmas because while I know that themaureencorps will want DVDs, she has THOUSANDS of them already so I would otherwise have no idea what to get her and shewhomustbeobeyed has specific yet wideranging ideas (this year, I got her temporary tatoos and a new sweater). In my case, they admit to not knowing much about my kinds of books or music or art, so I give 'em a list.
Anywhoooo-where was I?
Oh, right.
Bear in mind that while I love classical music as a whole, I am still but a freshman, and really haven't familiarized myself with opera as much as some others have. I grew up in a household with NO exposure to opera beyond the Gilbert and Sullivan operettas (don't get me wrong, I still love G&S). So, aside from Pavarotti (childhood friend introduced me to him singing "Nessun Dorma" and I fell in love) I know almost nothing about opera or its singers except what I hear around me at school and read about in my spare minutes. I watch clips on YouTube and am slowly aquiring a CD collection. Right now I have some each of Joan Sutherland, Pavarotti, Kathleen Battle, Jessye Norman, Cecilia Bartoli; very wide ranging, but I'm still trying to figure out what I like and what's what and who's who in opera. This is a very fun time!
So, when asked what I wanted for Christmas, I threw some of the aforementioned names on a list, along with that of Renee Fleming. When themaureencorps and shewhomustbeobeyed found that Renee Fleming had written a book, they got me two of her CDs and the book (as well as some delightful Degas and Monet prints, but that's another post) for Christmas. (end of second digression)
I just finished reading the book.
Wow.
Wow.
WOW.
I think I'm still trying to process a great deal of it. But still---WOW.
She wrote that she wrote the book in part because she wanted a book like this when she started out as a singer. It is brilliant. Perfect. Exactly what I needed right now. And I'll be reereading this periodically.
She describes so many of the ideas (technical, emotional, performance, you name it) that I have or had been thinking about or ponder occasionally. This really is exactly what I needed. I only wish it had gone on longer, but she covered pretty much everything.
This book is not an autobiography of her so much as it is an autobiography of her voice and what singing is all about. It is humorous, supportive and gentle. She doesn't (thank you!) turn her life into a soap opera (oh, thank you so much!); instead, she touches on family stuff so far as it affects her voice, but doesn't air dirty laundry. In short (now that WOULD be a first) the book is broadening, amusing, and classy. She discusses things technical (mask singing, how to reach high notes, et all), businesslike (managers, for example), scholastic (her wonderful teachers through the years) and even relationships with directors/producers/actors/singers.
If you are considering studying classical voice, are interested in opera or classical singing, or need, as a singer, a boost of wisdom and humor--READ THIS BOOK. NOW. And I don't want to hear about how you don't have time to read anything. I (who am a firm believer in practicing, practicing a lot, and then practicing some more to the point of occasionally solfeging in my sleep) say that this is as important as practicing.
So, READ THIS!
