Track Listing

1. Ave Maria
2. Jesu bleibet meine Freude
3. Dank sei dir, Herr
4. Ave Maria, D839
5. Laudamus te
6. Panis Angelicus
7. Air: "He shall feed his Flock"
8. Simple Song
9. Pie Jesu
10. Domine Deus
11. Laudate Dominum omnes gentes
12. Air: Rejoice greatly, o daughter of Zion
13. Abends will ich schlafen gehn
14. L'Adieu des bergers
15. Mariä Wiegenlied, Op.76/52
16. Amazing Grace

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #6739 in Music
• Released on: 2005-09-27
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .23 pounds

Album Description
Renee Fleming, Sacred Songs

Amazon.com
This lovely CD features Renée Fleming singing religious music in an unaffected, lovely manner. Many favorites are here: both the Bach/Gounod and Schubert versions of "Ave Maria," each offered with long breaths and soft tone; "Rejoice Greatly" from Messiah, delivered with virtuosity and gleaming sound, and "He Shall Feed His Flock," also from Messiah, sung in a smooth, laid-back manner. Bits of the Fauré Requiem and Poulenc Gloria are welcome, as is the gorgeous "L'Adieu des Bergers" from L'Enfance du Christ. In the prayer from Humperdinck's Hansel und Gretel, Fleming is joined by the splendid Susan Graham, and a version of "Amazing Grace" features Mark O'Connor on violin. Two excerpts from Mozart's Mass in C Minor, pieces by Reger and Franck, and a few surprises round out this devotional CD. --Robert Levine

Customer Reviews

Despite a couple of misses, a compelling album
As a voice and choral instructor, I have always been intrigued by artists who attempt music for which they are not primarily known. Renee Fleming is a superb operatic soprano. She had fun with "Haunted Heart", though I found some of the arrangements to be trite and at times totally out of the original style; it was literally saved by the final "Hard Times Come Again No More".
So I am doubly delighted with this album. Certainly, every one of these pieces has been recorded by a plethora of artists, and yes a couple of the arrangements are saccharine (I do agree that the addition of the flute in "Panis Angelicus" is superfluous and detracts from the beauty of the Franck piece),
but I think the Handel "Dank Sei Dir Herr" is breathtaking and most of the album is truly wonderful. Susan Graham is another of my favorite singers and the duet from "Hansel and Gretel" is
memorable. As for its being too heavy, the Humperdinck orchestration for "Hansel and Gretel" is as thick as anything Wagner ever wrote.
As for "Amazing Grace", which so many have trashed, this arrangement shows the folk quality of it, and I find nothing objectionable in Mark O'Connor's violin playing. The hymn itself has been played to death and is one of the favorite hymns of many people world-wide; I feel that she does it justice.
It is an album that I will listen to often...with some reservations but the whole a fine effort.

Simple Gifts
Though the title of this newest release from the prodigious output of Renee Fleming may suggest a recording of hymns and down-home revival songs, nothing could be further from the truth. This collection of sixteen works is gleaned from sacred music through the centuries and gives Fleming the opportunity to include in her recorded repertoire works she might otherwise not have had the opportunity to sing. While those who appreciate her gifts as a musician will treasure this very straightforward approach to some beautiful excerpts, there will be the usual detractors who find Fleming's glamour on the stage non-transferable to the CD. And it would be a shame to pass this recital by on that premise.

Fleming is in fine voice, free of mannerisms, and elegant in phrasing in a wide range of works by Handel ('Rejoice greatly', 'He shall feed his flock'), Bach ('Herz und Mund und Tat und Leben'), both Gounod's and Schubert's 'Ave Maria', Mozart ('Laudate dominum' from the Solemn Vespers and 'Laudamus te' from the Great Mass), Bernstein's Mass ('A Simple Song'), Fauré ('Pie Jesu'), Poulenc ('Domine Deus' from the Gloria), Franck ('Panis Angelicus'), and other composers. She even includes the 'Evening Prayer' from Humperdinck's 'Hänsel und Gretel' with exquisite surprise gift of support from Susan Graham.

The recital is conducted by Andreas Delfs with the Royal Philharmonic Orchestra. Far from being a crossover ploy this album is a collection of beautiful music beautifully sung. Grady Harp, September 05

Lovely recording
Finally a recording that is as stunning as her luminous Handel Album! Brava Renee!