Composer: Samuel Barber, Anders Hillborg, Björk Guðmundsdóttir
Performer: Renée Fleming
Orchestra: Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Conductor: Sakari Oramo
Audio CD
Number of Discs: 1
Format: FLAC (tracks)
Label: Decca
Release: 2017
Size: 946 MB
Recovery: +3%
Scan: yes
Samuel Barber:
01. Knoxville: Summer of 1915, op.24
Anders Hillborg: The Strand Settings
02. IBlack Sea
03. IIDark Harbor XX
04. IIIDark Harbor XXXV
05. IVDark Harbor XI
Björk Guðmundsdóttir: Arr. Hans Ek
06. Virus
07. Jóga
08. All Is Full of Love
Renée Fleming soprano
Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra
Sakari Oramo conductor
Emotional landscapes. This recurring phrase in Björk’s ecstatic song Jóga captures the common theme of the diverse repertoire Renée Fleming has chosen for this album. In planning her program with the Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra and their chief conductor Sakari Oramo, Fleming was working with musicians capable of rendering the subtlest textures and most profound moods. She chose works in which music and poetry create soundscapes, each evoking emotional states — nostalgia, unease, desire, joy — with cinematic clarity.
The pieces are also united by the idea of the singer as a generative force, involved not only in the performance of music, but at the outset, in its creation. The respective provenances reveal a performer as muse, inspiring composition; as curator, connecting composer, poet, and premiere; and as creator, writing the words and music herself.