Renée Fleming
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Renée Fleming, (born Valentine's Day, February 14, 1959), is an American soprano opera and jazz singer. She is generally considered to be one of the world's leading lyric sopranos. Her beauty of tone and stage presence are much sought-after in most of the major opera houses and concert halls of the world.
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[edit] Background
She was born in Indiana, Pennsylvania, and grew up in Rochester, New York. Both her parents are voice teachers.
Fleming's first major break came in 1988 when she sang the Countess in The Marriage of Figaro at the Houston Grand Opera. In 1989, she made debuts with the New York City Opera and the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden. In 1991, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut. In 1997, Fleming sang her first Manon at the Opéra Bastille to glowing reviews.
As a youngster, Fleming enjoyed popular music and admired the talent of Joni Mitchell and others. In addition to the standard operatic repertoire, she performs new music, Broadway show tunes, and other popular genres.
Fleming sang in the world première of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles with the Metropolitan Opera, in the Lyric Opera of Chicago's first performances of Floyd's Susannah, and as Blanche in the world première of André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire, with the San Francisco Opera.
[edit] Education
She studied music education at the Crane School of Music at the State University of New York at Potsdam. While at SUNY-Potsdam, she took up singing with a jazz trio in an off-campus bar. The jazz saxophonist Illinois Jacquet invited her on tour with his big band, but she chose instead to continue with graduate studies at the University of Rochester's Eastman School of Music and Juilliard.
[edit] Popular music recordings
Fleming has released a number of popular music recordings on the Polygram and Decca labels. She also appears on the soundtrack of the 2003 film The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King in which she sings in Sindarin, she also did a duet with Michael Bolton in "O Soave Fanciulla" which was released on Michael Bolton's Album My Secret Passion
In addition to her outstanding professional career, Fleming also has a great sense of humor. She appeared on the children's show "Sesame Street" where she sang a very lively rendition of "Caro nome" from Rigoletto, replacing the traditional words with some intended to help children learn to count forwards to and backwards from five.
[edit] Partial discography
- Strauss Four Last Songs RCA 1996
- Mozart Arias Decca 1996
- Schubert Lieder Decca 1997
- Signatures Opera arias By Mozart, Verdi, Britten, Strauss, w. Georg Solti, Decca 1997
- The Beautiful Voice Decca 1998
- I Want Magic American Opera Arias, Decca 1998
- Star Crossed Lovers Duets with Plácido Domingo, Decca 1999
- Strauss Heroines Decca 1999
- Renée Fleming Decca 2001
- Night Songs Lieder by Debussy, Fauré, Marx, Strauss, Rachmaninov, Decca 2001
- Bel Canto Arias by Donizetti, Bellini, Rossini, Decca 2002
- Under the Stars Broadway Duets with Bryn Terfel, Decca 2003
- By Request Decca 2003
- Requiem Philips 2004
- Haunted Heart Decca 2005
- Sacred Songs Decca 2005
- Homage - The Age of the Diva Decca 2006
[edit] References
- Fleming, Renée, The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer, New York: Viking, 2004. Described by Fleming as the "autobiography" of her voice.
