Negative Positive
Title: Mannered, unidiomatic singing
Review: Fleming is light years behind her great soprano predecessors. Fleming here sings a "Casta diva" that far pales in comparison to those of Caballé and Sutherland. It is far too studied. Instead of sounding like she is praying to the moon goddess, she sounds like she is afraid of her. Her "Ne andrò lontana" is unidiomatic. Her high E-natural at the end of the "I vespri siciliani" bolero is a tasteless interpolation. Her "Un bel dì" lacks girlish charm and happiness. When Butterfly sings of seeing Pinkerton coming up the hill, she is supposed to sound happy with anticipation. Fleming makes her sound like she would want to take a machete to Pinkerton or at least give him a good beat-down. She is clumsy at rolling the r's in the Italian arias.
Is the review positive or negative? 