Renée Fleming: The Grace Kelly of Opera (also "La Regina del Metropolitan")

 

Renée Fleming gave a big-a$$ interview to Corriere della Sera the other day (online here). "Renée Fleming, la Grace Kelly della lirica" and "La regina del Metropolitan" is how the American soprano was described -- couched as an iconic figure that Hitchcock would have loved: "Blond and sweet, the face of an angel with an icy glance, markedly elegant in the most fabulous clothes with an intense sensuality hidden behind aristocratic mannerisms." Curtsey to the Queen, plebs!

She spoke about her latest CD, Dark Hope, and some of her past roles. She remembers her La Scala premiere in 1993 as Donna Elvira in Don Giovanni which exited to great applause. But in 1996 she returned to boos for Lucrezia Borgia. What does she have to say about that: "Yeah, it was lame, but at La Scala, you know, that's what happens. They even booed Pavarotti. La Scala is a special theater, it's a temple of opera. Opera is like a sporting event, complete wtih the rallying fans on each side. To make sure that the incident it wasn't going to give me a complex, I came back as soon as I could -- 7 months later -- and it was a triumph." 

And of the voice that her fans love so much? "It's a gift and a mystery, no one knows when it will go or when it will leave you. To sing is always a risk, at every age. But it's this fact which makes singing so exciting."

Renée is back in Italy, performing tonight in a Gala at Torre del Lago's Puccini Festival, a warm-up for a second Gala performance at Cortona's Tuscan Sun Festival. 

Comments

[Alexander]

Thank you OC;) I'm pleased with your zeal to write on Renée. She is an opera singer and a good woman.
The only thing for me to say - why didn't you post her more "home" picture?
I'm a person of simplicity and like to be more comfortable with stars, without too much fuss;)))) Farm boy, so to speak;)
Hopefully Renée will understand;)))))
P.S. And I still remember my promise to kiss her after your first performance at Scala as a conductor') Armida will also be fine - L'amore al dolce Impero;)))) Hey Renée- if you are Armida - please come to see me on your magic broom , I will open my window today for all the night;))) I will make fresh coffee for you and serve Hennessy ;))))

[Les Mitchell]

She is a beautiful woman, carries herself beautifully, and she's got the kind of personality that everyone loves. I can see the Grace Kelly analogy. Fleming's got real class! There's also something about her that reminds me just a bit of Jackie Kennedy when she was in the White House. A quiet dignity.

[Marshie]

Nonsense. Where Grace Kelly was genuine class, aristocracy and blue-blood down to her fingertips, not to mention a true natural beauty, Fleming is genuine suburban soccer-mom down to her toenails. Basta.

[Ubi]

Queen? Callas was the Queen! Renee is the Princess :)

[Lindsay]

Man, I would knock her down and steal that fab red belt if I had the opportunity!

People can say what they like about her, but it is undeniable that when she is on stage, you simply cannot tear your eyes from her. She absolutely has the X factor, whatever it is.

[jan]

As a german opera specialist I do congratulate you to such an intelligent and sparkling singer with such a very versatile voice. Unbelievable her ability to sing Richard Strauss (and other Lieder) who belongs to the most difficult composers for singers. Of course Callas (I herad her live five times in London and Paris as a young man)is the Queen as Caruso is the king, but of those who live today she definitely is one of the few queens. She has style, her comments on voices and works are deep and intelligent, she speaks fluent german and french, very rare in the States!!!, and I do not understand her countryfellowmen which try to tear her down. And please do me a favour: Grace Kelly, a good and cold actress ok, but nobility? - She was a beauty
but the clan she belonged to were smugglers and her parents builders. The Grimaldis: bad operetta!!So what was really great about her?
Americans should be proud of Renée Fleming, an outstanding artist and human beeing.
Jan de Turovski (opera voice agent)

[Bill Philin-Ploplis]

I know people say mean jealous envious things about Renee, but she is one of the few singers today who can become a legend. If you have seen her "Ich ging zu ihn" from Das Wunder der Heliane on youtube.com, you know what I mean. She is always trying to be better at her art. Bravissima! Grace Kelly had a dirty side that was not befitting her "image."

[Les Mitchell]

I DO agree with two of the previous posters. Callas remains and stands as the all time queen. I also forgot that Grace Kelly had a rather "questionable" period during her early days in Hollywood, which is now easily forgotten. Unfortunately, the men who could prove this are now all dead.

[zach]

I adore Renee Fleming. I don't think it is best to compare her to Grace Kelly. Sure, Kelly wore fashionable clothes and looked glamorous in her movies, but for me she never had the appeal that Renee Fleming has. Renee Fleming is a warm, kind, and intelligent person, with a beautiful voice that amazes me every time.

By the way, the article gave the wrong year for the incident at La Scala. The correct year is 1998.

[Cassandra]

RF is more important off stage than on. Whenever I hear her at the Met, I can't help but wonder if she could have fulfilled her artistic potential had she been more devoted to her art rather than her brand/image.

[MmarkK]

As a member of the audience, i don't care about the artists' "image". What i care about is what i see and hear them do on stage and screen. And in terms of professional achievement, Renee Fleming is among world's best as an operatic soprano while Grace Kelly never was at a similar level as a film actress. Everything else is unimportant.

[Nullifidian]

"La Scala is a special theater, it's a temple of opera."

This is exactly what the booing masses want people to believe. In reality, they boo not because they're upholding high standards of operatic performance, but because they're trying to get their house's name splashed across the papers and thus establish the illusion that La Scala is still relevant.

The press, which is everywhere congenitally idiotic, obliges them, and not only mentions the booing in the next day's papers, but keeps on mentioning it for years or decades afterward.

One wonders what they'll do when the novelty of the "Boos at La Scala! Shock! Horror!" story line finally wears off. Rotten vegetables? Water balloons? A bucket of pig's blood up in the flies?