In New Orleans (2004) it was Jennifer Larmore. In Minneapolis (2006) it was Haken Hakegard. In Nashville (2008) it was Dawn Upshaw and Sherrill Milnes. In Orlando (2010) it was Jane Eaglen and Nathan Gunn. In Salt Lake City (2012) it was Kelli O’Hara. And in Boston (2014) it was Thomas Hampson. To the typical member of NATS- the National Association of Teachers of Singing- these are singing stars. We see these names and palpitate the way other people do when they see a name like Sting or Bruce Springsteen or Joni Mitchell. It’s safe to say, however, that NATS turned up the so-called Star Power another notch entirely with the engagement this year of Renee Fleming, arguably the single most recognized and celebrated classical singer on the planet. Ms. Fleming has a very close, affectionate relationship with the city of Chicago, thanks to her administrative role with the Lyric Opera of Chicago – to say nothing of all of the superb performances she has given with that company. I’ve seen her on that stage in the title roles of Carlisle Floyd’s Susannah, Jules Massenet’s Thais, and Georg Frederic Handel’s Alcina ….. as well as Countess Almaviva in Mozart’s The Marriage of Figaro, Marguerite in Gounod’s Faust and Blanche in Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire – as well as in a solo concert, a duet concert with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, and Lyric’s 50th Anniversary Gala Concert. In short, Renee Fleming is no stranger to this city or to its music lovers, which is why it made sense- and probably helped make it possible- for her to be engaged as the special guest artist of this convention.
Her first appearance at our convention came Saturday morning, and I don’t think there is any adequate way to describe the kind of electricity that was in the air as more than 1000 of us eagerly awaited her arrival. In part, it was just the anticipation of being so close to her – and not just in terms of physical proximity, but in having her be with us in our event. We weren’t going to see her; she was coming to be with us. And what better way could there be to validate importance of our gathering or of the significance of the work we do than to be joined by someone of her enormous stature? And when NATS president finished his introduction and she took the stage, the audience was on its feet, cheering.
On the other hand, there may have been some trepidation in the minds of some as far as how well she would do with the uniquely thorny challenge that is The Master Class. In this particular case, she was going to be working with four different young singers- all strangers to her, whom she would be meeting and hearing sing for the first time at the class. And once she heard each performer sing, she was tasked with responding on the spot to what they had done and working with them to do even better – and doing so in front of an enormous audience comprised mostly of voice teachers. Such a task would be challenging enough (and terrifying enough!) for someone who teaches students for a living- it has to be a still greater challenge for someone who is still primarily a singer. And someone can certainly be a superb singer without possessing the slightest talent for working with other singers – and indeed, there have been plenty of famous singers who have floundered when it comes to giving Master Classes. A lot of us waited with bated breath to see how Renee Fleming would do as a Master Clinician.
I am delighted to say that Renee Fleming’s master class was one of the finest that I have ever attended. She was perceptive, articulate, methodical, humorous … and also kind. One could really tell that she vividly remembered what it was like to be on the other end of this sort of exchange …. to be the singer in the hot seat, even though she is several decades beyond that point in her life. As a matter of fact, she talked about singing many years earlier in one of the infamous master classes conducted by Elisabeth Schwarzkopf, a legendary singer who seemed to delight in pounding the life out of young singers who would stagger out of those encounters as though they’d just gone ten rounds with George Frazier. Fleming is as famous now as the severe Ms. Schwarzkopf was in her own heyday, but Fleming could not have been more nurturing and encouraging of the young singers with whom she worked. What was especially noteworthy was how encouraging she was to the first and fourth singers, each of whom sang pieces that are indelibly linked with Ms. Fleming herself- “Song to the Moon” from Dvorak’s Rusalka, a signature aria that she has pretty much made her own …. and “I Want Magic!” from Andre Previn’s A Streetcar Named Desire, which was composed for Fleming herself! You could hear a shocked murmur from the audience as those pieces were announced, as though to sing them for Fleming was an audacious and foolhardy choice. But in fact, they each sang them beautifully, and Ms. Fleming (I’m so tempted to call her Renee!) could not have been more positive about what they had done, even as she proceeded to advise them in all sorts of ways to make their fine performances even better.
And although she delved into all kinds of technical and interpretative matters, I loved how one of her bits of advice for the Dvorak singer was to have her take off her high heel shoes so she could feel more solidity in the bottom half of her body and thus achieve a little healthier, heartier connection to her breath – and she did! It was a reminder that helpful suggestions need not be fancy suggestions!
It was also neat to hear what she had to offer to a singer who performed “Dich teure Halle” from Wagner’s Tannhauser, which is certainly an aria that Renee Fleming has never even thought about singing! But even in this case, she gave tremendous help to this particular singer, who delivered a very powerful performance of the aria with a voice of mammoth size and thrust. Surprisingly, Ms. Fleming had a sense that she had still more sound inside of her …. that she could sing with still more brilliance and focus …. and after some “pencil work,” this singer was unleashing an even more brilliant and impressive sound, yet still singing healthfully. It was an exciting moment indeed, not just for this young singer but also for all of us in the room who were privileged to witness this.
That afternoon, Renee Fleming returned for a riveting 90-minute Q & A session in which she shared the stage with her sister, Dr. Rachelle Fleming, who is on the music theater faculty of the Catholic University of America. The two of them swapped all kinds of stories about the home and family in which they grew up, but the conversation eventually proceeded to a far-ranging survey of the current state of the professional music world- and what the life is like. I especially appreciated that she was willing to speak honestly about all of the ways in which the classical music world has constricted and the life has become tougher. But she also spoke so eloquently about what a deeply meaningful life it is.
And need to mention the thrill I had when the session was opened up to the audience for our questions and I actually got to pose a question of my own to Ms. Fleming. As I took the microphone, moderator Allen Henderson, the Executive Director of NATS, said “Go ahead, Greg” (it was nice to be recognized) – so on the fly I reshaped my question a bit to make specific mention of my work with the Journal of Singing as its CD reviewer. I told her that one of my very first columns for the JOS featured a review of her marvelous Night Songs CD. I then asked her if she was significantly affected by anything critical that commentators and reviewers say- or does she have trusted people in her “circle” to whom she turns for that kind of feedback. She gave a thorough and thoughtful answer- basically saying that she chooses to listen to the people who she trusts completely- which makes all the sense in the world- and went on the say the most crucial role of a critic is not to advise singers from afar, but rather to assist the public as they engage with performances. And when she was done with her answer, she thanked me for asking the question. Needless to say, I floated back to my seat as if on a cloud!
As if all of that wasn’t enough, Renee Fleming also offered up a recital that night that was a very special occasion indeed. She shared the evening with the young men and women of the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists (one of the best opera young apprenticeship programs in the world- a program of which I am a proud alum) and I know that some people were disappointed by that. (I know a few people who actually chose to skip the recital altogether because it wasn’t going to be All Renee.) For me- perhaps because I have been blessed to see her so many times before this- I actually didn’t mind that she shared the stage …. in part because it made it all the more special each and every time she took the stage. Her offerings included the spirited Libiamo duet from La Traviata, Adieu notre petite table from Manon, the duet from Delibe’s Lakme, and Blanche’s final aria “I can smell the sea air” from the aforementioned A Streetcar Named Desire. By the end of the evening, the musical fare had lightened up considerably, and she sang lovely renditions of both “Over the Rainbow” and “You’ll never walk alone.” For that last song, as well as for her first encore, “I could have danced all night,” she invited the audience to sing along- an audience of 1000+ voice teachers and voice students: Sing Alongs don’t get much more spectacular than that. But she saved the very best for last: probably the finest performance I have ever heard of “O mio babbino caro” from Puccini’s Gianni Schicchi, the best-known of all soprano arias and the kind of piece that most of us never need to hear again – unless it’s going to be sung as sublimely as she sang it for us.
As for the young singers from the Lyric Opera Center for American Artists, they acquitted themselves very well under circumstances that had to be incredibly challenging. It helped that the star of the evening set just the right mood by being so gracious. And although there are all kinds of highlights worth mentioning, the one I will single out was when the five men of the Opera Center serenaded their “queen” with a hilarious (and also splendidly sung) rendition of “There is Nothing like a Dame,” rewritten as “There is nothing like Renee” with lyrics spoofing all kinds of specifics from her illustrious career. It was a complete delight.
More than once through the course of the evening, I found myself fighting off feelings of envy. How come the Opera Center back in my day didn’t get to perform a concert on the same stage with the legendary Dame Joan Sutherland? Heck, we could have serenaded her with “There is nothing like a Dame” as Rodgers and Hammerstein originally wrote it – and who knows what other fun might have been possible? But this sort of thing just wasn’t in the cards back then, in so many ways. But my heart soared on behalf of these young singers – so happy for them, and for all of us as well, for tasting so much joy ….. all thanks to the one and only Renee Fleming.
