Ahead of Hong Kong recital, soprano Renée Fleming says she’s focusing on lieder, show tunes and new operas
When Fleming announced she would no longer perform her classic operatic roles, some assumed she was retiring. But as she tells the Post, she plans to seek out roles in new operas and continue exploring all genres of music
Renée Fleming, America’s most popular opera singer, drew gasps from her fans when she said her performance in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier, which ended its run at New York’s Metropolitan Opera in May, would be the last time she’d perform any of her classic roles.
But audiences were relieved to find out the soprano wasn’t planning to stop singing entirely – far from it. Fleming says she’s still going to perform vocal recitals and newly written operas, and will continue her occasional forays into Broadway musicals, jazz, and pop.
The glamorous diva, who performed in Hong Kong in 2013, returns to the Cultural Centre on June 20 for a vocal recital as part of this city’s 20th anniversary celebrations of the handover.
Accompanied by pianist Hartmut Höll, Fleming will perform works by Brahms, Puccini, and Saint-Saëns, among others, as well as popular tunes from West Side Story and The Wizard of Oz.
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Six songs by Brahms, including Ständchen and Vergebliches Ständchen, are the centrepiece of the performance. Brahms never wrote an opera, but his songs are noted for the way the music carefully expresses the poetry of the lyrics.
