RENÉE FLEMING

Born: Indiana, Pennsylvania, 14 February 1959

Genre: Classical

Renée Fleming is one of the most versatile and engaging sopranos of the late twentieth and early twenty-first centuries. With a middleweight voice and extended vocal range, she has been able to roam freely over a wide expanse of musical styles and repertoire. Her voice is beautiful in the classic sense, and her dramatic sensibilities make her a favorite with audiences.

The daughter of two vocal teachers, she grew up listening to her parents discuss the art of singing every night at the dinner table. Fleming's parents encouraged her to sing at every turn, and provided plenty of opportunities for her. Deciding on a career in music education, she attended the State University of New York, Potsdam, where she also sang in a jazz trio.

Graduate studies at the Eastman School in Rochester, New York, and at the American Opera Center at the Juilliard School in New York City (1983–1987) helped cement her musical education and set her on a performing career. At Juilliard she began studying with acclaimed voice instructor Beverly Johnson, who helped guide her through her early career.

On her third try, she won the Metropolitan Opera National Council Auditions in 1988. That was also the year of her big break, singing the role of the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze de Figaro at the Houston Grand Opera. In 1989 she made her debuts at the New York City Opera as Mimi in La Boheme and at Covent Garden as Glauce in Cherubini's Medea, and in 1991 she made her debut at the Metropolitan Opera as the Countess in Le Nozze de Figaro. Since then she has been a regular at major opera houses and on concert stages all over the world.

In a profession that likes to typecast its performers, Fleming has resisted sticking to one area of the repertoire. Her early successes were made with Mozart and Richard Strauss, but she has performed and recorded extensively in both operatic and recital literature. A champion of new music, she sang the premieres of John Corigliano's The Ghosts of Versailles and the role of Blanche in André Previn's A Streetcar Named Desire at San Francisco Opera. In 1997 she was named Musical America's Vocalist of the Year.

A 1998 recording of Rusalka (one of the roles most identified with her) with Ben Heppner and the Czech Philharmonic Orchestra, conducted by Charles Mackerras, won wide acclaim, as well as a number of awards, including two Grammophone Awards. Another 1998 album, The Beautiful Voice, featuring the works of Gustave Charpentier, Charles Gounod, and Jules Massenet, won a Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance.

Her success has reached beyond the vocal world. She was named one of People magazine's Most Intriguing 25 People in 2000. She has been profiled in the New Yorker and on CBS's 60 Minutes, and was the subject of a Vogue photo shoot in 2001. She also appears in Rolex and Anne Klein ads.

Though her career did not start moving until she was almost thirty years old, Fleming connected quickly with audiences, becoming one of the most popular opera stars of the 1990s. Her success derives from the pure tonal beauty of her voice and her innate theatricality.

SELECTIVE DISCOGRAPHY:

Rusalka, with the Czech Philharmonic, conducted by Charles Mackerras (Polygram, 1998); The Beautiful Voice, with the English Chamber Orchestra, conducted by Jeffrey Tate (Polygram, 1998).

WEBSITE:

www.renee-fleming.com.

douglas mclennan

Renée Fleming 1959–, American soprano, b. Indiana, Pa. She studied at the State Univ. of New York, Potsdam (grad. 1981), Eastman School of Music, and Julliard's American Opera Center (1983–87). In 1986 she made her professional debut in Salzburg, Austria, in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, and has since performed at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala. With her velvety warm and rich voice, exquisite phrasing, interpretive power, broad repertoire, and classic beauty, Fleming has become one of America's most popular operatic singers.