Christmas In New York Renée Fleming

• 1Winter Wonderland03:50
• 2Have Yourself A Merry Little Christmas03:35
• 3Silver Bells03:07
• 4Merry Christmas, Darling05:36
• 5The Christmas Waltz03:19
• 6Who Knows Where The Time Goes04:26
• 7Sleigh Ride05:17
• 8Snowbound06:28
• 9In The Bleak Midwinter03:46
• 10Central Park Serenade04:12
• 11The Man With The Bag02:40
• 12Love And Hard Times04:46
• 13Still, Still, Still05:16
• 14New York Tendaberry07:19
• Total Runtime01:03:37

Info for Christmas In New York

American soprano Renee Fleming's first-ever holiday album celebrates the beloved and iconic Christmas season in New York City. From the holiday windows lining 5th Avenue to the red and green-lit spire of the Empire State Building, the essence of the city at the most wonderful time of year is captured on Christmas in New York. Pop, Broadway and jazz greats Chris Botti, Kurt Elling, Wynton Marsalis, Brad Mehldau, Kelli O Hara, Gregory Porter and Rufus Wainwright join Renée as she lends her sublime voice to hits like 'Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas,' 'Silver Bells' and other gems, including 'Central Park Serenade' a brand new duet by songwriting legend Diane Warren. In total, Renee Fleming and her guests have won 16 Grammy awards across multiple categories.

Renee Fleming's lush vocals, elegant persona, and intimate delivery of holiday classics make this album the perfect soundtrack for holiday parties, and a gift that will delight anyone who loves music.

An exclusive recording artist with Decca since 1995, Renee Fleming is known around the globe as a classical singer with a voice as warm and rich as a fine single malt, (The Times, London), and a career that has ranged from the stages of world's greatest opera houses to concerts and recordings of jazz, the American songbook, movie soundtracks and indie rock. In February 2014, Renee Fleming became the first classical singer in history to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl, which was enjoyed by more than 111.5 million viewers in the US.

„As a genre, holiday music has an entirely different alignment than most, being song- and theme-driven, and any approach, from pop, rock, country, blues, and jazz to new age and classical, will work. And since it is also seasonal, and therefore shared by all, it's the ultimate crossover genre, a kind of jointly shared catalog of songs full of ready-made motifs and themes, and in the case of Christmas music, a unified hope for joy and peace on earth. What soprano Renée Fleming has done with the David Frost-produced Christmas in New York, her first holiday album, is add place to the mix. Conjuring moments of a wintery carriage ride through Central Park, twinkling lights, and bright fallen snow on 5th Avenue, Rockefeller Center aglow, and chestnuts roasting on every corner, Fleming's first Christmas album, although tracked in the studio, flows and unfolds like a limited-run seasonal Broadway stage tribute to the city, complete with a host of guests like Kelli O'Hara, Rufus Wainwright, Gregory Porter, Brad Mehldau, and Wynton Marsalis. There's a gentle, jazzy, folky crossover pop feel to things, with Fleming's beautiful voice showing endless little stylistic variations from track to track, from the opening 'Winter Wonderland,' which features Marsalis-led horns, through the country-folk-tinged 'Silver Bells' (a duet with O'Hara), and then closing things out in a nice story arc with the Christmas lullaby 'Still, Still, Still,' a duet with Kurt Elling. The curveball here, and one of the best tracks, is a gorgeous and hushed version of Sandy Denny's 'Who Knows Where the Time Goes' (featuring Mehldau), which shows just how versatile this timeless song (which one would not, at first, think of as a Christmas song) is, and in Fleming's hands, it sums up the rush and glow, hurry and flow and emotional pull of a Christmas season in New York City. Look for this set to become a seasonal favorite.“ (Steve Leggett)

Recorded at Avatar Studios, New York City; MSR Studios, New York City
Produced by David Frost

Renée Fleming
One of the most beloved and celebrated musical ambassadors of our time, soprano Renée Fleming captivates audiences with her sumptuous voice, consummate artistry, and compelling stage presence. At a White House ceremony in July of this year, the President awarded Ms. Fleming the National Medal of Arts, America's highest honor for an individual artist. Known as “the people’s diva” and winner of the 2013 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Solo, she continues to grace the world’s greatest opera stages and concert halls, now extending her reach to include other musical forms and media. Over the past few seasons, Ms. Fleming has hosted a wide variety of television and radio broadcasts, including the Metropolitan Opera’s Live in HD series for movie theaters and television, and Live From Lincoln Center on PBS.

As a musical statesman, Renée Fleming has been sought after on numerous distinguished occasions, from the 2006 Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to performances in Beijing during the 2008 Olympic Games. In January 2009, Ms. Fleming was featured in the televised We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial concert for President Obama. In 2012, in an historic first, Ms. Fleming sang on the balcony of Buckingham Palace in the Diamond Jubilee Concert for HM Queen Elizabeth II. Ms. Fleming has also performed for the United States Supreme Court and, in November 2009, celebrated the 20th anniversary of the Czech Republic’s “Velvet Revolution” at the invitation of Václav Havel. An additional distinction was bestowed in 2008 when, breaking a precedent, Ms. Fleming became the first woman in the 125-year history of the Metropolitan Opera to solo headline an opening night gala.

In 2012, Renée Fleming added a new role to her repertoire, Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos, at Baden-Baden in a new production by Philippe Arlaud, conducted by Christian Thielemann. She appeared in the title role of Arabella in a new production at the Paris Opera, conducted by Philippe Jordan. Her Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, under the baton of Constantin Trinks, was seen at the Munich Opernfestspiele. Renée began the 2012-13 season as Desdemona in Otello at the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Semyon Bychkov, and broadcast around the world via the MET Opera Live in HD. 2013 will find her at Carnegie Hall and Lyric Opera of Chicago in André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, playing Blanche DuBois, a role she created in the world premiere. In June of 2013, she returns to Vienna as the Countess in Strauss's Cappriccio, conducted by Christoph Eschenbach .

Renée's busy concert calendar this year has included galas at the San Diego Opera, Providence Performing Arts Center, and the New Jersey Performing Arts Center, as well as appearances with the Seattle, Vancouver, Oregon, Colorado, San Antonio, Baltimore, and Cincinnati Symphony orchestras and the Santiago Philharmonic. Renée began the 2012-13 season singing for the inaugural concerts of Christian Thielemann as principal conductor of the Staatskapelle Dresden and Yannick Nézet-Séguin as Music Director of the Philadelphia Orchestra. Her 2012-13 recital schedule includes Rio de Janeiro, São Paulo, Buenos Aires, Quito, Bogota, Guayaquil, Paris, Geneva, London, Vienna, Hong Kong, Beijing, Guangzhou, and Taipei. A January 2013 duo recital tour with Renée's friend, mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, includes San Francisco, Los Angeles, Palm Desert, Chicago, New York and Boston. For more, visit: www.reneefleming.com

Booklet for Christmas In New York