Renee Fleming & Me
Hair colorist Michael Stinchcomb attended the opera 32 times last season. He idolizes this world class soprano Renee Fleming — but he wasn’t always an opera lover.
View ArticleRenee Fleming & Me
Hair colorist Michael Stinchcomb attended the opera 32 times last season. He idolizes this world class soprano Renee Fleming — but he wasn’t always an opera lover.(Originally aired: August 4, 2001)
View ArticleAndy Warhol, Fans, The Euro
We look at the enthusiastic subculture of fans. Kurt Andersen and his guest, rock critic Anthony DeCurtis, discover how the modern pop condition of being a fan can also be a slippery slope. And a...
View ArticleLeontyne Price’s A Program of Song
Mississippi in the 1920s produced some of our country’s greatest blues artists. It also produced one of our greatest operatic singers, soprano Leontyne Price. The bar she set for singers has remained...
View ArticleRenée Fleming’s Dark Hope
Soprano Renée Fleming is a certified opera star. She made her debut at the Met nearly two decades ago, sung in virtually every great opera house around the world and made dozens of recordings,...
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Opera's Weighty Debate: Does Size Really Matter?
Since I am an opera lover myself, I've enjoyed reading the related comments that have been posted here during Operatic October on WQXR. Along the way, there have been allusions to the ongoing "size...
View ArticleAnn Patchett's Journeys in Opera, from the Page to the Stage
"Bel Canto is something that seems both very blessed and very cursed,” said Ann Patchett, the author of perhaps the famous novel of our time featuring classical music. The 2001 novel, which has sold...
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The Pros and Cons of Returning to a Role
One of the many vexing issues that face general managers and artistic directors of opera companies is how to get the best from treasured singers but also present audiences with the best exponents of a...
View ArticleRenée Fleming
Renée Fleming's singing voice has been described as "double cream." She remembers being "jelly" at the end of her first rehearsal for her professional debut. In this episode, she talks about performing...
View ArticleDonizetti's Lucrezia Borgia
Almost 178 years after its premiere, the San Francisco Opera brings Donizetti’s Lucrezia Borgia to the stage as a vehicle for soprano Renée Fleming. A femme fatale, renowned for her ruthless pursuit of...
View ArticleThe Three Boldest - Yet Unknown - Tchaikovsky Heroines
Most opera lovers are familiar with Tatyana in Eugene Onegin and Lisa in The Queen of Spades, but Tchaikovsky also wrote some fabulous music for several other heroines in operas that aren’t heard very...
View ArticleOpera's Shining Soprano Renée Fleming
Opera superstar Renée Fleming, active at the Metropolitan Opera this season, will do a recital with Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall next month. A three-time Grammy winner, she was nominated this year for...
View ArticleRenée Fleming and Susan Graham Sing French Songs
Audio notice: Due to rights restrictions, two songs from the recital are unavailable. We regret the inconvenience.Soprano Renée Fleming and mezzo-soprano Susan Graham team up for a duo recital of...
View ArticleClassical Grammy Awards to Metropolitan Opera, San Francisco Symphony
The San Francisco Symphony, led by Michael Tilson Thomas, won the Grammy for Best Orchestral Performance on Sunday for its album of John Adams's Harmonielehre and Short Ride in a Fast Machine.The...
View ArticleOn the Music: Eight Singers, One Song
True lovers of the unamplified singing voice (and that means you, dear reader) have long known that there are boundless pleasures to be had at vocal recitals, at least when the artist doing the singing...
View ArticleRenée Fleming's Perspectives
Soprano Renée Fleming discusses “Vienna: Windows to Modernity,” the final concert in her Perspecitives series at Carnegie Hall on May 4. The concert is a tribute to the music of the turn of the 20th...
View ArticleVideo: Obama Presents National Medal of the Arts to Renée Fleming, Tony Kushner
President Obama is to present the National Medal of Arts to 12 recipients including soprano Renée Fleming during a White House ceremony on Wednesday at 2 pm.Among the other recipients of the medal are...
View ArticleLou Reed, Opera Duet Singer?
As tributes to the late Lou Reed continue, two videos highlighting his operatic side have resurfaced.One features the rocker singing beside Renee Fleming at a 2009 Prague concert commemorating the 20th...
View ArticleStar-Crossed
Remember that old candy commercial with the colliding snackers?“You got your peanut butter on my chocolate!""You got your chocolate in my peanut butter!"Just goes to show how some of the sweetest...
View ArticleRenée Fleming to Sing National Anthem at 2014 Super Bowl
The Super Bowl will have a touch of the operatic this year: Soprano Renée Fleming will sing the national anthem.The four-time Grammy winner will perform before the Denver Broncos and the Seattle...
View ArticleRenée Fleming Says She Won't Lip-Sync National Anthem
NEW YORK (AP) -- Renée Fleming says she only knows how to sing the national anthem one way: live.The 53-year-old opera singer will perform "The Star-Spangled Banner" at Sunday's Super Bowl. She said in...
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Renée Fleming Gives the Super Bowl an Operatic Opening
There were some doubts as to whether RenéeFleming was the right match for the Super Bowl national anthem. February weather can run havoc on a singer's voice, a tradition of lip-syncing runs deep in...
View ArticleDvorak's Rusalka
This Saturday at 1 pm, Renee Fleming, just back from her national anthem performance at the 2014 Super Bowl, stars as the lead character in the Metropolitan Opera broadcast of Rusalka. Rusalka is...
View ArticleValentine's Week Highlights on Operavore
• Listen to the Operavore streamTo celebrate Valentines Day, this week we're showcasing a series of full operas on the Operavore stream. At Operavore we have more than a few favorite love stories, many...
View ArticleAs 'Star-Spangled Banner' Turns 200, Five Unusual Classical Versions
This weekend marks the 200th anniversary of the poem that became the nation’s national anthem. The "Star-Spangled Banner" has never been easy to sing, and it has stirred some doubts over its historical...
View ArticleHow to Die at the Opera
Host Debbie Voigt raises the curtain on this new series by counting down her five favorite ways for sopranos to die at the opera. Artists including Natalie Dessay, Mirella Freni, Eva Marton and Voigt...
View ArticleDivas Who Dish
While working on her autobiography "Call Me Debbie," host Debbie Voigt was curious about how other singers dealt with telling their stories. How much did they reveal? What did they hide? Did they focus...
View ArticleChristmas in New York with Renée Fleming
Christmas in New York is the first-ever holiday release from America's favorite soprano, Renée Fleming. An internationally recognized vocalist, her work has allowed her the opportunity to travel around...
View ArticleSoprano Renée Fleming Set to Make Broadway Debut
Soprano Renée Fleming — who has triumphed in the worlds of opera, recording and the sports arena — is moving on to the Great White Way. Fleming will make her Broadway debut on the stage of the Longacre...
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Review: A Less than Merry Widow at the Metropolitan Opera
The Merry Widow was more sleepy than bubbly when its splashy new production opened New Year’s Eve at the Metropolitan Opera: Despite much well-intended (and sometimes successful) re-thinking of this...
View ArticleLehar's The Merry Widow
Join us today at 1 pm to hear the Metropolitan Opera’s new production of Lehar’s The Merry Widow. The 1905 operetta revolves around the recently widowed Hanna and the noblemen trying to keep her...
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Five Buzz-Worthy Debuts and Premieres in the Next 12 Months
We’ve combed through the last half of the 2014–15 season and announcements for the 2015–16 one, to find five of the most anticipated debuts and premieres coming to New York City over the next 12...
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Top Five Infamous Cases of Stage Fright
The new documentary “Seymour: An Introduction” looks at the life of the piano teacher Seymour Bernstein, who, afflicted by crippling stage fright, abandoned a promising performance career for one out...
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Renée Fleming Sends Up Opera World in 'Living on Love'
I never get tired of going backstage at a Broadway theater and this was no different. It always feels like special access. Today’s assignment: go backstage and record an interview with soprano Renée...
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Review: Renée Fleming Makes Broadway Debut as Vain Diva in 'Living on Love'
Already, the Broadway show Living on Love has given Renée Fleming followers much to get used to. First performance and opening night aren't the same thing and are separated by weeks. (It's the preview...
View ArticleStrauss's 'Capriccio' from the Lyric Opera of Chicago
Join us today at 1 pm for Richard Strauss's Capriccio from the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Soprano Renée Fleming, who is a creative consultant for the company, sings the lead of Countess Madeleine, one of...
View ArticleLyric Presents Premiere Production of 'Bel Canto'
Ann Patchett’s best-selling novel, Bel Canto, about an American opera diva who becomes entangled in an international crisis, has been adapted into an opera by composer Jimmy López and Pulitzer...
View ArticleRenée Fleming and Thomas Hampson Star in 'The Merry Widow'
Tune in Saturday at 1 pm to hear Renée Fleming star in Susan Stroman's production of Franz Lehár's The Merry Widow. Joining her are baritone Thomas Hampson, as her former flame Count Danilo, and Heidi...
View Article6 US Political Campaigns Set to Classical Music
Since the days of George Washington, who campaigned with the ditty "God Save Great Washington" set to the tune of "God Save the Queen," American candidates have harnessed the power of music to stir the...
View ArticleAngel Olsen, Sheldon Harnick, & The Science of Singing
On this week’s show, the art and science of singing. At the age of 92, Broadway lyricist Sheldon Harnick hasn’t lost any of the wit and insight that helped him write “Fiddler on the Roof.” Also, we...
View ArticleThe Science of Singing
When you hear a singer like the late Whitney Houston belt out a song like “I Will Always Love You,” you’re listening to a marvel of vocal skill. But there’s no anatomical difference between her vocal...
View Article#3940: Music Inspired by the Natural World
Listen to works inspired by the natural world like birds and insects to overwhelmingly larger ecologically-minded works on the scale of oceans. Plus, there’s music conceived of while considering...
View ArticleWhen the Voice Is the Starring Instrument
The viola, some say, is the instrument that is closest to the human voice. Mostly those people are violists. Fans of the cello claim that it is the instrument most like the human voice. In India,...
View ArticleA Metropolitan Opera Spring Highlights Sneak Peek with Renée Fleming
At 7 pm on Thursday, March 23, join us in The Greene Space at WQXR for an evening with the Metropolitan Opera.Hear Met Opera superstar Renée Fleming and director Robert Carsen in conversation about the...
View ArticleReview: Richard Strauss' 'Der Rosenkavalier' at The Met Opera
So personal is the relationship between Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier and its admirers that the arrival of a new production at the Metropolitan Opera is like having your living room redecorated....
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Saying farewell to some opera roles, Renée Fleming has career high notes...
Watch VideoJUDY WOODRUFF: And, finally, a little change of pace.Opera lovers let out a collective gasp recently when a New York Times profile of renowned soprano Renee Fleming suggested her current...
View Article'Der Rosenkavalier,' a Strauss Classic, Is Your Final Met Opera Radio...
This is a bittersweet weekend for two reasons. It’s the final Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast of the year, and it’s Renée Fleming’s final performance before stepping away from several roles that...
View ArticleRenée Fleming: An Artist of Her Time
I made notes for this article before one appeared in The New York Times implying that Renée Fleming was retiring from opera. I recall that, more than a year ago, she said she planned to put her famous...
View ArticleThe Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Grand Finals Concert
This week's episode of Saturday at the Opera features a special broadcast of The Metropolitan Opera’s National Council Grand Finals Concert. The Finals Concert took place on March 19th with Maestro...
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