Opera star Renée Fleming, Tony-nominated this past season for her performance as Nettie Fowler in Carousel, releases an album of showtunes with Decca Classics September 7.
The track list features a range of musical theatre songs, from standards of the 1930s to numbers from the Golden Age to contemporary favorites. Songs include “’Till There Was You” from The Music Man, “Something Wonderful” from The King and I, “Fable” from Adam Guettel’s The Light in the Piazza, and “So Big So Small” from Dear Evan Hansen.
The album also features Fleming dueting with Hamilton Tony winner Leslie Odom Jr. on an arrangement of Into the Woods’ “Children Will Listen” and South Pacific’s “You’ve Got to be Taught.”
“The great, classic Broadway musicals were central to my childhood. I sang Eliza Doolittle twice before I was even out of high school. This repertoire is so rich, and the sheer quality of the music is so high, that it’s been a joy to record these songs,” Fleming said in a statement. “And along with the growth of popular music, the sound of musical theatre has evolved over time. Composers like Jeanine Tesori, Pasek & Paul, and even popular music icons like Sting have enriched the genre. It’s a living art form, enjoying a real boom right now, and it was a thrill for me to be able to include phenomenal songs that are absolutely current.”Fleming collaborated on the album with music supervisor Rob Fisher and producer David Frost.
Broadway is not Fleming's first recorded exploration of music beyond the classical realm; her previous discography includes the 2005 jazz album Haunted Heart and 2010's collection of rock covers, Dark Hope.
See below for the complete track list.
1. Fable (The Light in the Piazza, Guettel)
2. Loneliness of Evening (South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein)
3. Children Will Listen/You’ve Got to be Taught (Into the Woods/South Pacific, Sondheim/Rogers & Hammerstein arr. Couglin) with guest star Leslie Odom Jr.
4. So Big So Small (Dear Evan Hansen, Pasek & Paul)
5. Something Wonderful (The King and I, Rodgers & Hammerstein)
6. Wonderful Guy (South Pacific, Rodgers & Hammerstein)
7. Lay Down Your Head (Violet, Tesori/Crawley)
8. Down in the Depths (on the Ninetieth Floor) (Red, Hot and Blue, Porter)
9. Love and Love Alone/Winter (The Visit, Kander/Ebb)
10. Dear Friend (She Loves Me, Bock/Harnick)
11. The Sound of Music (The Sound of Music, Rodgers & Hammerstein)
12. Unusual Way (Nine, Yeston)
13. Till There Was You (The Music Man, Wilson)
14. The Glamorous Life (A Little Night Music, Sondheim)
15. Tell Me on A Sunday (Song and Dance, Lloyd Webber/Black)
16. August Winds (The Last Ship, Sting)
17. All the Things You Are (Very Warm for May, Kern/Hammerstein)