Quotes By Renee Fleming

With classical singing you have to put out so much air - you project, you emit force.

I learned so many roles so quickly as a young singer, I thought it was time to come back to them and make them better - deeper, more nuanced.

I'm reserved, so I've always needed to find a way of opening up. Jazz helped me do that.

One of my timesaving habits is to save all of my magazines and junk mail for airplane trips. I walk on the plane with a very heavy bundle, but by the time the trip is over, it can all be thrown away.

I think touring is hard.

I have had a very difficult time with stage fright; it undermines your well-being and peace of mind, and it can also threaten your livelihood.

I enjoy the more floaty, exposed, elegant singing.

My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.

I think singing is one of the most natural things that human beings do, but it's difficult.

I'm American. I'm eclectic. I'm going to follow my musical passions. And if people don't like it, and it hurts my legacy, I'm not going to worry about that.

It is always fragile, being a parent.

I think opera has gained a kind of glamorous appeal. It's a live performance that aligns all of the arts, and when it is represented in the media, in film in particular, it is presented as something that is really a special event, whether it's a great date or something that's just hugely romantic.

For my own singing, I used to be attracted by the baroque, the flashier the better, but now I prefer a simpler, purer style.

I don't want to be somebody who stands still and sings pretty. Each song is a world. Each song is a story. I don't achieve nearly what I want.

I've spent hours and hours doing research into Appalachian folk music. My grandfather was a fiddler. There is something very immediate, very simple and emotional, about that music.

I want to keep my voice young, with nothing heavy.

There's no performance where I never have to think about setting up a phrase or making a technical adjustment while I'm performing.

I have not changed with the accomplishments. I've remained the same. If I had changed, great. You know, but I haven't.

Well, any time I'm preparing for a performance or even a rehearsal, it's as if in a way, like any other athletes, these are muscles that support the vocal cords which are just I believe cartilage. It demands a kind of constant warming up and a constant feeling of where is the voice today.

I was constantly being pushed toward a European ideal of what it means to be a classical or opera singer, let's say in the Renata Tebaldi mode. I reject that.

Having to travel so much plays havoc with your personal life.

When a human being without amplification makes a sound that is high and loud, it is almost unworldly.

Every singer eventually gets around to a Christmas disc.

I think singing it when it's done well is extremely natural. It feels great.

I am so envious of my colleagues from 100 years ago who only sang new works, they hardly ever sang revivals.

I would love to do more private concerts.

Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, during a manicure, getting my hair done, and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.

Because everything about the voice interests me, I felt it would be fascinating to learn a completely different style of singing.

I was always a very good student.

My parents discussed singing every night over the dinner table; I had a tremendous music education.