Review: Fleming Continues to Surprise in Met Stars Live in Concert at Washington's Dumbarton Oaks, August 1

Even though soprano Renee Fleming had a big farewell to her role as the Marschallin in DER ROSENKAVALIER in the Met's recent production premiere, she seems far from the end of her career, not only continuing to concertize but even in opera. (She told the NY Times' columnist Maureen Dowd that she would be returning [knock on wood] to the Met for the new Kevin Puts opera. THE HOURS, based on the Michael Cunningham novel.)

So, it was no surprise that she showed up on the roster of the Met's pay-for-view concerts series, Met Stars Live in Concert, reminding opera lovers that "the Voice Must Be Heard," certainly at the Met post-COVID.

Fleming is sometimes referred to as "the people's diva," having opened Super Bowl 2014 with the 'Star-Spangled Banner,' but the emphasis seems more on the diva than just about anyone around. She has the glamor, the presence and style that seems to ooze from every pore. In other words, she's one classy performer--which has put me off in some of her appearances as someone who appears to care more for image than what she's singing, even when she's performing something written specifically for her (eg, Blanche DuBois in Previn's "A STREETCAR NAMED DESIRE).

Well, after Saturday's concert, hosted by Christine Goerke, all I can say is mea culpa--that is, my bad.

The venue--the historic estate in Washington's Georgetown neighborhood that's now a museum and garden open to the public--was perfect for her, in size and (again) style. The only audience present was her excellent accompanist, Robert Ainsley, from the Washington National Opera, and four technicians (two live, two robotic).

The event began with a piece that wasn't included in the rundown of the concert on the Met's site, but was certainly a (in not 'the') highlight of the concert. The piece, "And the People Stayed Home," was written for her by John Corigliano, to a poem he found by Kitty O'Meara. It was a rapturous performance, with Fleming 'in the moment' for this heart-rending but hopeful song for our times, with O'Meara's text, which talks about (without naming) our crisis by creating "new ways to live and heal the earth fully." (You can hear an a capella version on her Facebook page.)

She was in fine voice throughout, though it was sometimes difficult to discern the languages she sang from one another. The concert itself was pretty short, compared to one you'd expect in the house at the Met or Carnegie Hall, but filled out (as Jonas Kaufmann's concert had been) with video clips of career highlights.

Among the live selections, it was a treat to hear her in Handel's "Endless pleasure, endless love" from SEMELE, seeing how much she was enjoying herself, or Puccini's "O mio babbino caro" from GIANNI SCHICCHI, as the charming, lovesick Lauretta. She also did wonders with the Letter Aria from Korngold's DIE KATHRIN, romantic yet controlled in telling her lover that she can never see him again. I particularly liked her treatment of a pair of songs that are familiar yet not sung to death in concert settings: Canteloube's "Bailero," which came across pensive and heartfelt, and Reynaldo Hahn's lively treatment of a Victor Hugo text, "Si mes vers avaient des ailes," which made me think of Massenet, who was also featured on the program with his poignant "Adieu, notre petite table" from MANON.

While the Marschallin is one of her most popular roles, and Strauss Fleming's "desert island composer," I wish they hadn't included her famed monologue ("Da geht er hin") on the program when they were also including a clip of her and Susan Graham from a broadcast of the opera, which was a reminder of her past glories. Another unmissable clip was of her and Dmitri Hvorostovsky in EUGENE ONEGIN, with part of the Letter Song and another of the opera's great final scene, in which both were sublimely powerful. While Netrebko might be more authentically Russian in the role, Fleming brought the youthful beauty to it.

The only miscalculation, to this listener, was her inclusion of Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow," which I didn't think suited her very well, but she made up for it with Brahms' lullaby, "Wiegenlied."

The next concert in the Met Stars Live in Concert series is from the French Riviera, the town of Eze, with Roberto Alagna and Aleksandra Kurzak on August 16 at 1 pm ET. For more, information about other concerts and tickets, go to the Met's website.

To post a comment, you must register and login.