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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.

Renee Fleming

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Renee Fleming
Age: 65
Born: 1959
Born: February 14
Musician
Opera Singer
Indiana
Pennsylvania
Renee Fleming
Means
Singer
Mean
Opera
European
Singers
Mode
Ideal
Pushed
Ideals
Reject
Constantly
Classical
Toward
Rejects

More quotes by Renee Fleming

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Your brain has a music room, and evolution would not have gone to the trouble of designing that if it didn't have some benefits. So, that suggests to me that we and our ancestors have had music as a central part of our experience for eons. And we're just beginning to understand how that might be. I think that's fascinating.
Renee Fleming
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My whole career I played these girls sort of 18 to 23.
Renee Fleming
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The reason that some singers go on to become great artists has very little to do with their voices, but rather with the fact that they have used their instruments as tools for detailed communication.
Renee Fleming
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At this stage in my career, I don't have to take any big risks. You want to take a calculated risk, not one that leads to people saying 'yes, but there was that one time when she made that big mistake.' It's always a shame when that happens, especially if you've gotten by for decades without anything hugely tragic.
Renee Fleming
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A lot of bad behavior in singers is caused by nerves.
Renee Fleming
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I think singing is one of the most natural things that human beings do, but it's difficult.
Renee Fleming
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The first thing I did when I made a little bit of money as a singer was to buy myself an amber necklace. This is often the way we put together our lives, adding the striking qualities of others into our own character.
Renee Fleming
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I want to get out of the major opera houses.
Renee Fleming
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The student's job is to stay open-minded, to quell the knee-jerk defensiveness we all possess in the face of suggestions for improvement, and to maintain patience when faced with a process that is often slow, confusing, and frustrating.
Renee Fleming
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Perfection often creates such a flawless surface that there's no place for the audience to enter into a piece, while the idiosyncrasies of individual style are like windows into the singer's heart.
Renee Fleming
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I have not changed with the accomplishments. I've remained the same. If I had changed, great. You know, but I haven't.
Renee Fleming
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Someone once said that there are probably seven naturally good singing days in a year-and those are days you won't be booked. What we must learn is how to sing through all the other days.
Renee Fleming
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When I sing, the sound is a totally different range, color, all of it. It's all about the breath. You take in a breath and you make a sound.
Renee Fleming
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A lot of performers don't want to leave the circuit, the European opera house circuit, partly because most singers don't sing many concerts, or at least not while they are in their prime.
Renee Fleming
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I don't like to sing loud.
Renee Fleming
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With classical singing you have to put out so much air - you project, you emit force.
Renee Fleming
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My mother was the worst kind of stage mother. She would make me and my younger sister and brother little duckling costumes and put us in kiddie shows.
Renee Fleming
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Everybody's a work in progress. I'm a work in progress. I mean, I've never arrived. I'm still learning all the time.
Renee Fleming
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I cannot imagine a more satisfying calling than my own: beauty, humanity, and history every day, combined with the cathartic joy of singing.
Renee Fleming
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So much can be gained from watching other singers, seeing what they do and what they don't do, seeing how they look when they breathe, how wide they open their mouths for a high note.
Renee Fleming