CD-Charts Position 1
Average Rating:

Tchaikovsky - Eugene Onegin / Fleming, Vargas, Hvorostovsky, Gergiev, Carsen [Metropolitan Opera 2007]

starring: Renee Fleming, Ramon Vargas, Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Valery Gergiev, Jean-Paul Fouchecourt
directed by: Brian Large, Robert Carsen

Release Date December 18, 2007
I dare to say that this production was the MET last year major achievement. Even though a stupendous singers set was gathered for this performance it did not necessarily guarantee it's amazing success. This dreamed cast is formed by three of the most talented singers of our time: Dmitri Hvorostovsky, Renée Flemming and Ramón Vargas.

The staging is minimalist however absolutely accurate and tasty. By adding different intelligent elements the drama flows both naturally and flawlessly, in other words impeccable. The Russian Maestro Valery Gergiev conducted the MET orchestra with full commitment and passion.
The Siberian baritone Dmitri Hvorsotovsky is enormous as Onegin completely understanding the character and making it ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 2
Average Rating:

Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason (Widescreen Edition)

starring: Renée Zellweger, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, James Faulkner, Celia Imrie
directed by: Beeban Kidron

Release Date March 22, 2005
this was an okay movie, it was a little better than the first, but it wasn't bad.

CD-Charts Position 3
Average Rating:

Verdi - La Traviata

starring: Renee Fleming, Rolando Villazon, Renato Bruson, James Conlon, Ania Alkimova
directed by: Marta Domingo

Release Date October 30, 2007
The part for Violetta, a beautiful young woman, is actually played by a beautiful young woman. Renee Fleming is perfect in the role. All the other parts are filled with the perfect singer to play them as well.

This may be the most perfect production possible, so revel in the glorious music and savor the delicious melodrama.

CD-Charts Position 4
Average Rating:

Verdi - Otello / Domingo, Fleming, Morris, Croft, Levine, Moshinsky, Metropolitan Opera

starring: Plácido Domingo, Renée Fleming, James Morris (IX), Jane Bunnell, Richard Croft (II)
directed by: Brian Large

Release Date April 13, 2004
I wanted Placido Domingo singing "Otello" and I am extremely pleased with this DVD. The DVD arrived quickly and in perfect shape.

CD-Charts Position 5
Average Rating:

Bridget Jones - The Edge of Reason (Full Screen Edition)

starring: Renée Zellweger, Gemma Jones, Jim Broadbent, James Faulkner, Celia Imrie
directed by: Beeban Kidron

Release Date March 22, 2005
this was an okay movie, it was a little better than the first, but it wasn't bad.

CD-Charts Position 6
Average Rating:

Strauss: Arabella

starring: Renee Fleming, Morten Frank Larsen, Julia Kleiter, Johan Weigel, Zurich Opera House Chorus & Orchestra
directed by: Gotz Friedrich

Release Date July 08, 2008
This new release of "Arabella" with Renée Fleming is not just a treat for all Richard Strauss lovers but for all lovers of great singing and acting.
Among all the singers I would point out the revelation of Julia Kleiter as a radiant Zdenka. Her portrait of Arabella's sister is at the same time innocent and full of passion and her voice is unbelievably pure, crystal-clear, a real Mozartian and Straussian singer. I am sure Ms Kleiter will become a great soprano star in this repertoire in the near future.
Morten Frank Larsen, called at the last minute to replace Thomas Hampson, gives a fully believable Mandryka, physically attractive, proud and arrogant as any good Mandryka should be, with a powerful baritone voice only marred by a slight wobble ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 7
Average Rating:

Mozart - Le nozze di Figaro (The Marriage of Figaro) / Haitink, Finley, Hagley, Fleming, Glyndebourne Festival Opera

starring: Gerald Finley, Alison Hagley, Renée Fleming, Andreas Schmidt, Mandred Röhrl
directed by: Derek Bailey

Release Date September 16, 2003
Must the role of Cherubino ALWAYS be sung by a woman? I ask in ignorance: Why must this be so? I found this character impossible to accept, and for me the woman who sang the role ruined every scene she was in. I could only see a woman dressed as a man and pretending to be a man, and a willing suspension of disbelief simply would not set in.

CD-Charts Position 8
Average Rating:

Massenet - Manon / Fleming, Alvarez, Vernhes, Chaignaud, Lopez-Cobos, Paris Opera

starring: Renée Fleming, Marcelo Alvarez, Jean-Luc Chaignaud, Michel Sénéchal, Alain Vernhes

Release Date October 21, 2003
Pour Renée Fleming, il s'agissait sans doute d'un "challenge" : chanter Manon, en Français of course, et à l'Opéra de Paris! Challenge réussi...qui pourrait résister à l'une des plus belles femmes au monde, dont la voix irradie et enchante?
Curieusement, Manon est devenue la coqueluche des grandes maisons d'opéra, et les chanteuses d'aujourd'hui (Dessay et Netrebko, entre autres) aiment se l'approprier. C'est très bien, car l'opéra possède beaucoup plus de charmes que sa rivale puccinienne, trop brutale à mon goût.
La production française se veut plus intimiste qu'à Vienne ou Barcelone, avec de beaux cadrages qui se resserrent ou s'élargissent, comme des plans cinématographiques, évoquant aussi bien Watteau que Choderlos de Laclos ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 9
Average Rating:

Dvorak - Rusalka / Robert Carsen, James Conlon - Fleming, Urbanova, Diadkova, Larin, Opéra de Paris

starring: Franz Hawalata, Renée Fleming, Sergei Larin, James Conlon, Eva Urbanova

Release Date February 17, 2004
Thanks to movies and TV there are thousands of people who know the soprano's aris from the first act. I wonder how many people who have bought a CD of the complete opera were able to keep at the entire score. Certainly it pays off with repeated listenings but Dvorak's own assessment of this gifts for the stage were probably correct: he was not a natural born opera composer.

I had a CD of the opera but truth to tell I was rarely inspired to take it down and listen to it. With the death of Larin I thought perhaps I have unfairly ignored the work, afteall even the Met has seen fit to mount it--probably because of Fleming. The Carsen production doesn't do the work any favors, but is not offputting to me, and I find it more acceptable than his Paris Opera ... Read More:

CD-Charts Position 10
Average Rating:

Metropolitan Opera Gala - James Levine's 25th Anniversary

starring: Renee Fleming, Deborah Voigt, Karita Mattila, Roberto Alagna, Thomas Hampson

Release Date November 22, 2005
This is a magnificent presentation, so many artists and such terrific performances from all of them, the pity of it is that there have been so many other fabulous performances that have been left out, I have the original VCR issue and there are far more arias and duets than there are on the two DVD's, the magnificent aria from Jessye Norman is missing and so is Alfredo Kraus's fantastic rendition of Pourquoi me reveiller among others. I would prefer to pay a bit extra for a 3 DVD set to get the missing items. The original concert went for something like 6 hours, why can't we have it all?