Her haunted heart is in the right place
Soprano Renée Fleming, target of a jibe or three on this site over the years, shows what finer stuff she’s made of on January 11 when she gives a recital for the benefit of Treatment Action Group in the intimate setting of a SoHo loft, recently dubbed “Carnegie Hall South” in the New York Times.
Fleming will be joined jazz pianist/composer Fred Hersch for a program of popular and classical selections. Here’s more information on tickets to the event.
Treatment Action Group, La Cieca is informed, is an AIDS research policy think tank that has its roots in ACT UP. In the 15+ years that TAG has been around, it’s been instrumental in setting the US and Global agenda for HIV research. In particular, TAG established the idea of expanded access whereby patients without other options could gain access to experimental medicines without being in clinical trials. They’ve been a constant force in demanding the types of basic research and clinical studies that meet the need of patients in the real world. Recently, their focus has expanded to include tuberculosis and hepatitis which are responsible for so many of the deaths due to HIV outside the US.
Brava e Bella, insieme!
I stayed up late late last night to watch Renee perform on the Late Late Show with Graig Ferguson. Here’s the youtube video in case you missed it:
Ah, she’s the best. I don’t know why she’s such a target here.
Her heart is sure enough in the right place, but those scoops aren’t.
Sorry, I don’t get it.
She sounds ridiculously mannered (surprise) and the piece is a bore (not her fault, she didn’t compose it, but she DID pick it).
Mannered? Well, I don’t think it’s a bad thing that she has a very distinctive beautiful voice.
Javi, Javi, Javi. Distinctive and mannered are not supposed to go hand in hand. As a matter of fact, they are supposed to be on opposite sides of the spectrum.
Really? That’s how it’s supposed to be? Well, I must be odd because I like it the other way…the way it’s not supposed to be.
There is nothing wrong with liking it one way, but liking it one way and it being right is a completely different thing.
Lots of people adore Leontyne Price, that does not mean that we ignore the scooping and hooting; we love her regardless of all that.
There is no need for an artist to be mannered. The mannerisms open the door to criticism.
It’s funny that you mentioned Leontyne Price because Price actually warned Fleming not to listen to detractors (because they just don’t matter).
But taking the position that detractors don’t matter will only leave you to trouble. I am not saying that you should only pay attention to your detractors, but only paying attention to the people who have good things to say about you leaves you with a very one-sided idea of your gifts. Let’s dig a little deeper:
If Leontyne Price had listen to her detractors, she would have actually realized that her performances from the 70′s on were marred by scooping and hooting. Yes, she was a wonderful soprano and a wonderful human being, but the fact was that she sang roles that eventually lead her to that kind of singing.
If Pavarotti had listened to his detractors, he would have stayed singing Donizetti and Bellini roles for a lot longer than he did. This repertoire was, after all, where his voice wanted to be. If he had listened to his detractors he would have put off singing roles like Manrico and Radames for a little longer and that would have assured him his famous high C for a lot longer than what he had it. After all, the king of the High Cs was the king of the high B’s by the early 90′s.
If Kathleen Battle had listened to her detractors, she would have gone for 6 weeks of intensive out patient psych help and would have not ended being called the C*nt in the front by the SFO chorus, nor would there be shirts of I survived the Battle or comments of the Battle-ax.
If Domingo would have listened to his detractors, he would have not sung his roles with the same generic sound that he did for all of the 90′s (Don’t flame me, it is all in the reviews and besides, I love them generic or not). he would have also ensured that he worked on his high register early on so his performances would have not ended a minor 3rd down from 1990 on.
If RF would listen to her detractors, she would realize that some of her coaches are saying the same things to her: You are not paying attention to the style, your musicality is suspect, there is not need for the scooping and cooing, sing straight from the heart, do not pull musical phrases like they are toffee. It is all there and i know for a fact that some of her coaches have told her this. So if she followed LP’s advise, well, that was not the best advise she ever gave.
Your detractors are there to keep you honest. Your detractors will tell you things that your staff are too afraid to tell you because they are all ridding on your success. Just as you take what your detractors are saying with a grain of salt, so should you take all that praise that your staff gives you because both sides after all have an agenda.
This week, i was talking to a friend of mine who just sang Amelia in Europe. She was telling me that in one of the performances, for the 1st time in her life someone started booing when she came out for her bow. We talked about how you are never prepared for something like that to happen; not matter what you say. We talked about how she was hurt by the booing but also how after all it was said and done how she felt grateful to that single booer because she realized that not every one was going to like her and how he kept her on her toes for the rest of the run and how detractors keep you an honest performer. I tend to agree with that.
Lindoro, that’s a lot of writing. I haven’t read it yet, but I just wanted to say “wow” first.
Lindoro, you selected such horrible examples. Price, Pavarotti and Domingo are successful due to their amazing talent and because they all realize that detractors don’t matter. Price shared the secret with Fleming and now she just keeps climbing higher and higher to the top. Kathleen Battle probably had some emotional problems and power issues and she probably experienced racism (just like Price did) but she wasn’t strong enough to brush it off.
I adore Price, but she did get into some terrible habits. Because I grew up with them, I find them endearing, but they sometimes do make me wonder what she was thinking. RF is probably a more intellectual singer than Price (who undoubtedly has the bigger artistic heart), which is one of her main problems. It’s mind over instinct every time with her. She seems to try to outguess the score.
You don’t get it do you? If they had listened to their detractors, their careers would have taken different paths and they would have reached even higher artistic standards. The fact that they thought they didn’t need to listen to their detractors kept them from reaching even higher.
I think I get it now, Lindoro. THANK YOU! Merry Christmas.
Great that she sang something live, but why all that reverb from the booth? Makes me marvel at how Richard Strauss was able to compose the brilliant Italian Tenor aria in Die Rosenkavalier, and here Giordano sounds like he’s lost his country completely.
I’m terribly sorry to have missed this broadcast. Please do tell . . . Was she interviewed or did she come out, sing, and disappear?
BRAVA. TAG is definitely one of the most politically proactive groups out there, not as radical as ACT UP but definitely not less effective.
Renee Fleming earns a newfound level of respect from me. I will be trying to attend this recital.
Exactly my sentiments. I’ve never been one of her most fervent admirers (neither a rabid detractor, tough) but I will do all I can to attend this concert and bring everyone I know. She’s always been a diva with a brain: too bad that often her jazz instincts prevail.
this girl be CRAZY!
BERLIN AIDS GALA 2009
sorry. couldnt understand the html instructions. lol.
THIS GIRL BE CRAZY! Berlin AIDS Gala 2009.
She just looks like she’s having fun. The other day I read that you can tell a good singer by her posture. I guess Kermes is a horrible singer then?
No, she’s okay, but this isn’t her best coloratura or her best hair day. It’s still fun though.
she’s so downtown in this photo. and when i say downtown i mean downtown chicago this is great! lol. love her energy. though there are rough moments in the singing but the last 2 minutes are great, i thought.
the audience certainly had a hoot.
Yeah, she has great energy. I mentioned her posture because some people think that when you sing this music you should just stand still, but she dances to the music. I like that because baroque IS the pop music of opera. We should all want to dance to it.
fuck yeah man. although listening to that farinelli guy just makes me want to cross my legs.
Am I right? Is that Marcus Stenz conducting?
If I am not mistaken, Fred Hersch is HIV+ so this event must be really meaningful to him on a personal level.
Kermes = Joan Sutherland on acid.
You wouldn’t get me paying to watch that kind of thing for an evening.
i’d pay twice the family circle price
Would love to see Kermes, Bartoli and Genaux in something together
Just listened to the Fleming clip from last night and while she is certainly guilty of scooping inappropriately, in this repertoire it was spot-on.