Quotes from Renee Fleming

pulled out my Valery Gergiev trump card and said I would have to call him about getting another hotel. There are many ways in which a soprano relies upon the guidance of a conductor, and not all of them are confined to the stage. As a result of dropping the most powerful name in Russian music today, I got a window and a view.

it is essential that young singers familiarize themselves with the business aspects of their work.

There are ominous signs about the future of classical music. The record companies are facing threats from piracy and unauthorized downloading. It's important for those of us who have achieved success to speak out for the choristers and violinists, and beginning artists who won't have work at all if the piracy continues.

Today, "crossover" has become the golden word of the age. Crossover is based, in fact, on the model used for the development of pop artists.

classical musicians are now as subject to marketing principles as any other performers.

Being steeped in the process of learning and exploring keeps me from becoming too nervous. Partly it's about not getting bored.

No voice teacher can be all things to all people. You have to gain information from whatever sources you can. You have to listen.

Some of my first teachers were incredibly tough. You could never sing more than three words without being stopped and having to do it over 20 times. I loved that - that sort of process of dissecting and trying to figure out and master this incredibly mysterious instrument.

I enjoy the more floaty, exposed, elegant singing.

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

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

Contrary to the norm, as my technique improved my voice became higher.

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

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

I don't want to record anything unless it can be great and genuinely interesting.

I do everything in the third person. Performance is about being someone else.

If I have to hold a note for a long time, I imagine it as moving and spinning, for the note has to have life. In a way, a singer actually refreshes a note with every beat that it's held.

I'm rarely singing in English.

I'm not a reactionary.

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 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 want to keep my voice young, with nothing heavy.

For years, I had no time for exploratory travel.

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