Here’s a singer who has reached complete maturity as a singer and artist, revelling in her vocal and interpretative powers. To the warm and vibrant voice is added an imagination that places Fleming in the first rank among today’s lyric sopranos.
The eclectic, ambitious choice of programme allows us to hear every aspect of her art. Her Countess Almaviva is already a known quantity; in every other role she presents a new facet of herself, portraying each character as an individual, which ultimately is the reason the disc is so satisfying. She is exactly the impulsive Tatyana, the girl’s unreasoned ardour pouring out here in a stream of richly varied tone and feeling. Desdemona’s Willow song is full of foreboding, also full of lovely singing, the repeated “Cantiamo” voiced with precision of tone and timing, notes fined away with the utmost sensitivity while the “Ave Maria” is hushed and, well, prayerful. Then I doubt if Ellen Orford’s Embroidery aria has ever been sung so beautifully, the high B flat and A flat on “Now” taken perfectly pianissimo after the forte A.
These scenes benefit enormously from being placed in context, allowing Fleming to fit into the relevant situation. Diadkova is an idiomatic, responsive Filipyevna and one young enough to avoid the harsh tone often heard in the role, and she makes the most of Emilia’s few phrases. Summers is a wise and experienced Balstrode.
Lovelorn Rusalka appeals to the moon with her whole being, an inward, supple performance. Daphne’s final moments as she transmutes herself into a tree are sung with just the right ecstatic gleam in the tone, rivalling any predecessor in this difficult solo. All in all, Fleming lays claim here to Te Kanawa territory, and proves a worthy successor. More than Dame Kiri, she identifies with each character and moulds her voice to the woman in question. If there is a criticism it would be that diction could be clearer, but even here she improves on her immediate predecessors.
For Sir Georg this is obviously a labour of love, nowhere more so than in the postlude to Daphne, most sensuously done. In the pieces from Onegin and Rusalka, his speeds are on the slow side, the accompaniment to the Tchaikovsky lacking the needed impetuous touch. Elsewhere he and the LSO provide worthy support for their superb soloist. The recording is faultless, capturing voice and orchestra in ideal balance.'