by Stephanie Manning
It’s too bad that Earth Day — April 22 — didn’t fall on a Tuesday this year. But the eve of Earth Day still felt like a fitting time to hear “Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene,” the program Renée Fleming recently brought to Tuesday Musical.
The superstar soprano’s current touring concert — based on her Grammy-winning album of the same name — is a product of her increasing connection to nature during the early days of the pandemic. Fleming’s visit to Akron’s E.J. Thomas Hall on April 21st brought out one of the biggest crowds in recent memory, greeting her with a celebrity welcome.
Although the album and the concert program share a title, only some of the original tracks were present, specifically Nico Muhly’s Endless Space and Kevin Puts’ Evening. Pieces by Edvard Grieg, Gabriel Fauré, and Franz Liszt were swapped for a more eclectic combination of genres, including Björk’s “All Is Full of Love” and Hazel Dickens’ “Pretty Bird.” Throughout, Fleming sang both with a handheld microphone, and unamplified.