“In a constellation of the world’s opera stars, one shines brighter than all the rest. But it’s not merely her ravishingly beautiful voice and physical glamour that make Renée Fleming special. In person, she makes an extraordinarily intelligent and articulate interviewee. And it comes as no surprise, since as a probing interpreter of the works that she performs, she has few equals and no superiors.”

There’s further hard-hitting, no-holds-barred journalism from Dominic McHugh at MusicalCriticism.com.

But before you click away, La Cieca just wants to quote one morsel from The Opera Milf that pretty much encapsulates your doyenne’s attitude of  “my dear, I couldn’t agree with you more” …

I do a ten-minute-long scene from Zaza, for instance, with a child – a little girl – who has dialogue. It’s really heart-breaking.