Ren\u00e9e Fleming, born on February 14, 1959, would become one of, if not the most, prominent American soprano in recent history.<\/p>\n
The Pennsylvania native grew up in New York and kicked off her studies at SUNY Potsdam. She would receive her Master\u2019s Degree at the Eastman School of Music and subsequently earned a Fulbright scholarship to study with Elisabeth Schwarzkopf and Arleen Aug\u00e9r. Then she continued her studies at Juilliard and started performing professionally.<\/p>\n
In 1988, she won the Metropolitan Opera Auditions and then made her debut at the Houston Grand Opera. A year later, she made her debut at the New York City Opera and won the George London Competition.<\/p>\n
In 1990, she became a Richard Tucker Award winner and made her debut at the Seattle Opera. From there she made her Met Opera and San Francisco Opera debuts in 1991.<\/p>\n
Fleming would go on to perform at opera houses around the planet with the top artists. She would begin recording extensively and her career would take her to superstardom. Her recognition is so great that she made history by performing the national anthem at the Super Bowl and has appeared on the soundtracks of several major motion pictures such as \u201cThe Lord of the Rings,\u201d \u201cThe Shape of Water,\u201d \u201cThree Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri,\u201d and \u201cTin Tin,\u201d among others.<\/p>\n
Fleming has always been a major recording artist for Decca and has four Grammy Awards as of early 2018.<\/p>\n
On May 13, 2017, the soprano performed her last staged production of \u201dDer Rosenkavalier\u201d at the Met Opera before heading to Broadway to take on \u201cCarousel;\u201d she earned a Tony Award nomination.<\/p>\n
Fleming sang a wide range of repertory, but there are a few operas and composers that she dominated at the peak of her career. Strauss and Fleming are virtually synonymous for many people with the soprano championing such works as \u201cArabella,\u201d \u201cCapriccio,\u201d and \u201cDer Rosenkavalier\u201d throughout her career. She was also a major interpreter of Strauss\u2019 \u201cFour Last Songs.\u201d<\/p>\n
Another opera that she was well-known for was Dvorak\u2019s \u201cRusalka,\u201d which she recorded and sang prominently in the 1990s and 2000s. She also championed Donizetti\u2019s \u201cLucrezia Borgia\u201d and revived Rossini\u2019s \u201cArmida.\u201d Massenet\u2019s \u201cTha\u00efs\u201d was another of her prominent roles, the soprano noting that she was \u201cborn\u201d to take on the role.<\/p>\n
Her Super Bowl Performance<\/a><\/p>\n How the Met Opera Guild Honored the Soprano<\/a><\/p>\n Fleming\u2019s Film Resume<\/a><\/p>\n