Opera Arias: Fleming(S)Mackerras / Lpo

Some will tell you less is more, but this disc will have none of that, offering only more and more, more great arias, more touching drama, more beautiful melodies and more radiant singing from Renee Fleming. Far from a mere collection of showpieces, all the arias in this collection seem to have been chosen for a certain rapt, prayerful quality, each containing a character's secret hopes or fears, whether it is Puccini's Butterfly dreaming of impossible happiness, Catalani's Wally almost blissfully resigning herself to a sad fate, or Bellini's Norma praying to the moon for peace. Fleming, well beyond making wonderful music in these moments, seems to capture their inner spirits in a way that is both passionate and humane. Sir Charles Mackerras' accompaniments are sensitive and superbly detailed and, if you like the glamour shots of La Fleming on the cover there are more of those on the inside, too.