Renée Fleming and Cecilia Bartoli
These female contralto, mezzo-soprano and soprano voices include Janet Baker and some of opera's best.
Aug 27, 2006
If you are looking for a few good female classical music singers, here are a few choice options to get you started. Albums were chosen based on variety, significance, or recent release.
Renée Fleming: Love Sublime, released this June, is a collaboration with Brad Mehldau. Her Signatures album is a good introduction to her soprano voice, as it offers a variety of operatic staples including "Summertime" from Porgy and Bess, "Casta Diva" from Norma, and "O Mio Babbino Caro" from Gianni Schicchi.
In her album cover shots, Ms. Fleming recaptures the glamour of the time when opera singers were the celebrities of the day. She has also released several DVDs to complement her audio albums.
Cecilia Bartoli: This Italian mezzo-soprano takes a scholarly approach to her music, exploring the historical significance behind the works that she performs. Her Salieri album tries to debunk some of the negative mythology surrounding Mozart's contemporary through a fresh look at Salieri's opera arias.
In 2001, Ms. Bartoli won a Grammy for The Vivaldi Album which focuses on the composer's operatic selections. In July 2006, her album Operatic Prohibita received the Echo Award in classical music for Best Female Singer of the Year.
Janet Baker: The Very Best of Janet Baker is a double disc album that draws from oratorio, song sets, and individual art songs (but no operatic selections) fitting her rich contralto, mezzo-soprano voice. She has also recorded Purcell's opera Dido and Aeneas in which she sings the role of Dido.
