By Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter
Dallas, TX – Bill Zeeble, KERA 90.1 reporter: Antonin Dvorak's Silver Moon aria, from the opera "Rusalka," is Renee Fleming's signature aria.
Renee Fleming, soprano: I've loved the Slavic repertoire I've done - Janacek, Rusalka, Tchaikovsky...
Zeeble: Renee Fleming will not sing this on Saturday, but will perform other selections she's built a stellar career on, predominantly French and American songs, Italian music - but not the warhorse operas - and German works, including some by Richard Strauss.
Fleming: That's where I normally live. People said my sound was better suited to Mozart and Strauss, which I think is true. I think I'm very happy there. I just enjoy it. It suits my temperament, my musicality. I'm very happy.
Zeeble: What Fleming's unhappy about are her own recordings, despite awards and near universal praise.
Fleming: I'm never satisfied. I find it a painful process to work on editing my recordings, for example, because it's never good enough for me. Once finished, I never listen to them again usually, for that reason. We tend to be hyper self-critical. That's what drives me, to make me continue to strive to be better and never be complacent. It's not unusual and is a good thing. It's a positive force in my artistic life.
Zeeble: And for many opera fans, the artist's life will reach another high point when she tackles the towering soprano role of Violetta, in Verdi's "La Traviata," for the first time at New York's Metropolitan Opera. She's already sung it in Houston, but until recently, had stayed away from the landmark role.
Fleming: Violetta is a role one begins to tackle early in career, or at least relatively early because it's so high. It's the whole first act. The first act aria is incredibly demanding. Normally as people go on, they tend to sing lower, and do heavier things. But that hasn't been the case with me since 1997 - lot of higher things, now "Traviata."
Zeeble: For the past decade, Fleming says she'd concentrated on her vocal technique. And it paid off, most recently with her recording "Bel Canto," that won a Grammy. But now, as she returns to the lesser-known music she's comfortable with, the singer still has work to do. This time, Fleming says she'll concentrate developing her acting, while maintaining the vocal mastery she strove for in the last decade. The soprano's Dallas Symphony performance will be a solo appearance, scheduled to open with this Strauss song. For KERA 90.1, I'm Bill Zeeble.
Renee Fleming joins the Dallas Symphony Orchestra on Saturday night for their AT&T 2003 Gala, "Star Light, Star Bright." For more information, visit www.dallassymphony.com.
Email Bill Zeeble about this story.