Recordings

Ever so slowly working its way beyond the fringe, Dvorak’s best-known opera arrives in its first stellar recording. Fleming’s growing celebrity and Heppner’s reputation as the heldentenor of choice will likely draw a whole new audience for this sentimental fairy tale of a water sprite longing for human love. “Rusalka” is best known for the exquisite soprano aria “Song to the Moon,” which Fleming sings with splendid surety. But it also contains some of Dvorak’s finest nature illustrations in music, even if the libretto does get a bit cloying. The performance is almost as fine as it should be--Fleming owns the title role; Heppner is impressive when he is allowed to sing out; Zajick, too, except that is all she does. Mackerras can be surprisingly draggy; he can also be vivid.

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