vocal discomfort.......

ok, so...in my spare non-bricklaying moments i enjoy perusing the nytimes and the washington post and the like........anf this evening i happened upon a review of the bsoton pops summer series at tanglewood...mostly mozart, with the requiem and the jupiter symphony as the centerpieces.....and the following paragraph caught my eye.......The other odd interpolation in the weekend, opening the Friday program, was the extended concert aria “Ch’io mi scordi di te ... Non temer amato bene,” which is not often performed because it calls for a solo pianist as well as a wide-ranging female voice. But it received considerable attention in January in connection with an internationally televised concert on Mozart’s birthday in his hometown, Salzburg, Austria. The soprano Renée Fleming, who was to sing the piece with Riccardo Muti conducting the Vienna Philharmonic and the pianist Mitsuko Uchida, withdrew late in the game because of vocal discomfort with the piece and was replaced by the mezzo-soprano Cecilia Bartoli.....vocal discomfort......isn;t that a kinder/gentler way of saying that renee fleming couldn't/wouldn't/shouldn't sing the piece?.......heck. i have vocal discomfort most sunday mornings trying to wring my vocal chords around 200 year old verses......but i draw the line at standing up and refusing to sing because i won't do the lines justice.......and so renee fleming, she who accepts major reimbursement as an opera star for wearing goods such as jewels and watches.......draws the line at mozart's requiem.......is she saying.....'he was just too good for me?'.......or does she really mean.......'y'all arent't paying me enough to take vocal risks'.....the jupiter symphony is one of my favorites.....very bold and emphatic....good thing renee's services weren't needed for that piece.....they'd still be in negotiations.......