Fleming, Renée

Fleming, Renée gifted American soprano; b. In-diana, Pa., Feb. 14, 1959. She received vocal training in N.Y. After winning a Metropolitan Opera Audition in 1988, she made her debut at London’s Covent Garden as Dirce in Cherubini’s Médée in 1989. In 1990 she received the Richard Tucker Award, and also took the Grand Prix in the Belgian singing competition. Following engagements as Dvo?ak’s Rusalka at the Houston Grand Opera and the Seattle Opera, she made her Metropolitan Opera debut in N.Y. as Mozart’s Countess on March 16, 1991, which role she also sang at the Teatro Colon in Buenos Aires. On Dec. 19, 1991, she appeared as Rosina in the premiere of Corigliano’s The Ghosts of Versailles at the Metropolitan Opera, returning in subsequent sea-sons to sing Mozart’s Countess and Pamina, and Desdemona. In 1992 she returned to Covent Garden as Rossini’s Mme. de Folleville, sang Mozart’s Donna Elvira at Milan’s La Scala and his Fiordiligi at the Geneva Opera and the Glyndebourne Festival, and appeared as Mimi at the opening of the new Bath and Wessex Opera. She made her N.Y. recital debut at Alice Tully Hall on March 29, 1993. In Aug. 1993 she was the soloist in Barber’s Knoxville: Summer of 1915 at the opening of the new concert hall in Aspen, Colo. In Oct. 1993 she sang the title role in the revival of Floyd’s Susannah at the Chicago Lyric Opera. She appeared as Mozart’s Countess at the opening of the new opera theater at the Glyndebourne Festival on May 28, 1994. On Sept. 10, 1994, she sang Mme. de Tourvel in the premiere of Susa’s The Dangerous Liaisons at the San Francisco Opera. In 1995 she appeared as Rusalka at the San Diego Opera and at the San Francisco Opera, and sang Desdemona at the Metropolitan Opera. She returned to the Metropolitan Opera in 1997 as Gounod’s Marguerite and as Manon, the latter role being one she also portrayed that year in Paris at the Opera de la Bastille. After singing Arabella in Houston and Lucrezia Borgia at La Scala in 1998, she created Previn’s Blanche in A Streetcar Named Desire in San Francisco (Sept. 19, 1998). She appeared in recital at N.Y/s Carnegie Hall in 1999. As a concert and oratorio artist, Fleming had many engagements in North America and Europe. Among her other outstanding operatic roles are Rossini’s Armida, Tatiana, the Marschallin, Salome, Jenufa, and Ellen in Peter Grimes.

—Nicolas Slonimsky/Laura Kuhn/Dennis McIntire