Renee Fleming: Distant Light

“The most sheerly beautiful soprano voice on the planet” - Ivan Hewett, Daily Telegraph. February 2016 ‘Distant Light’ is Renée Fleming’s first foray into the hypnotic world of Scandinavian music. For her first new studio album in three years she has chosen to inspire and provoke with a daring mix of music. The title comes from a poem in a new song cycle dedicated to Renée and here receiving its world premiere recording: Anders Hillborg’s ‘The Strand Settings’. ‘Distant Light’ also evokes the world of summer evenings in Tennessee which is the setting for Samuel Barber’s masterpiece ‘Knoxville: Summer of 1915’. This is new to Renée’s discography and one of her most requested pieces: perfect repertoire for America’s “reigning diva” (Washington Post). Renée couples this with three songs by Björk in specially commissioned orchestrations by the brilliant Swedish composer and arranger Hans Ek, recorded here for the first time. Why Björk? Both she and Renée are recipients of Sweden’s Polar Music Prize. Both dare to be original. In the fascinating booklet interview Renée talks about her admiration for Björk: “Her originality is breathtaking. She just blazes her own path forward”. Renée chooses the songs which mean the most to her personally and musically.

Tracks

1~1~Barber - Knoxville: Summer Of 1915, Op.24
1~2~Anders Hillborg - The Strand Settings
1~3~Björk - VIrus (Arr. Hans Ek)
1~4~Björk - Joga (Arr. Hans Ek)
1~5~Björk - All Is Full Of Love (Arr. Hans Ek)

Details

Format: CD
Artist: Renee Fleming, Royal Stockholm Philharmonic Orchestra, Sakari Oramo
Release Date: 03 February 2017
Genre: Classical Music
Label: DECCA - IMPORTS
Distributor: Universal Music