Love letter to Renee Fleming from Laura Emerick:
Fleming definitely displays the kind of power that strikes admirers dumb with desire -- much as Alfredo does in the Act 1 aria "Un di, felice" of "La traviata," when he tells Violetta that since he first saw her, he has been "atremble with a love ... which is the heartbeat of the whole universe."
The down-to-earth Fleming, always the anti-diva, refuses to take any of this too seriously. "I don't believe any of it," she said, laughing. "I just try to maintain a sense of equilibrium and stay professional." When "Prairie Home Companion" host Garrison Keillor, in his syndicated column, rhapsodized over her performance in last season's Metropolitan Opera production of "Eugene Onegin," Fleming told him, "You gave me a mystique for the very first time."
The Katie Couric quote is our fav.