Wonderful news from the backstage of the Met has just reached Sieglinde's inbox! We've been informed that, in her dressing room after a stupendous Traviata last Saturday (which I attended, and would have gushed excessively about already, if not for that Druid priestess hogging the spotlight), Renee Fleming told her fans that she is preparing (still under negotiation?) to record an album of Strauss and Wagner arias, possibly with Maestro Christian Thielemann (!). Perhaps not trusting her ears, one fan asked "Strauss songs?" to which Renee replied "Not songs. BIG arias!" (Big? BIG! Big big? BIG BIG!)Not songs. BIG arias! Implying of course those beloved arias and scenes she's likely not essaying on stage in this lifetime. Isn't this exciting? "The Beautiful Voice: Big, Big, BIG Strauss and Wagner Edition." Thus in a fit of gassy inspiration (with much gratitude to a lunch of split pea soup), Sieglinde provides below, totally free of charge, the track listing of Renee's next Grammy Award winning CD, as she imagines it. (Decca, take note.)
Strauss
1. "Zweite brautnacht!" (Helena)
2. "Ist mein Liebster dahin" (FroSch)
3. Empress' Awakening Scene (FroSch)
4. Recognition Scene (Elektra)
5. Salome Final Scene
Wagner
6. Senta's Ballad (Hollander)
7. "Du bist der Lenz" (Walküre)
8. Elsa's Dream (Lohengrin)
9. Isolde's Narrative and Curse
10. Isolde's Liebestod