Renee fleming

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

My parents were both high-school music teachers.

I was constantly being pushed toward a European ideal of what it means to be a classical or opera singer, let's say in the Renata Tebaldi mode. I reject that.

I want to get out of the major opera houses.

Very few opera singers in history have been able to cross into popular music.

I'm not a reactionary.

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

I think opera has gained a kind of glamorous appeal. It's a live performance that aligns all of the arts, and when it is represented in the media, in film in particular, it is presented as something...

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

It is always fragile, being a parent.