Four students from the University of Rochester’s Eastman School of Music received invaluable coaching and advice from Renée Fleming when the world’s most sought-after and beloved soprano made her first trip to the school as its newly appointed Distinguished Visiting Artist.
Listening intently, sympathetically easing jittery nerves, noting the high level of preparation and technical habits, Ms. Fleming gave the students encouraging and concrete suggestions on upping their performance. She accompanied her hints on breathing, posture, phrasing, and pacing by demonstrating “Take a nice deep breath,” “exhale and expand,” and “relax your shoulders.” She even joined soprano Arielle Nachtigal as the student did the plank on the back wall of the stage while singing, noting, “Feel that? That was connecting.”
Though each student described the context for their vocal works before performing, Ms. Fleming drew out more analysis afterward by asking, “Who are you singing to? What’s happening?” After tenor Nathaniel McEwen finished a selection from Britten’s Seven Sonnets of Michelangelo, she recommended he read the lyrics out loud in Italian, to “find the language and the accents in the words” for a natural singing delivery. She encouraged baritone Aaron Bigeleisen, who performed a song from Brahms’s Vier ernste Gesänge, to listen to Christian Gerhaher’s recordings of German lieder.
At times, Ms. Fleming drew the audience into her coaching. As the students acted on her suggestions, she addressed the audience with comments like “Isn’t that pretty, really pretty?” and “Did you hear his voice open up?” She had soprano Evelyn Saavedra sing through a drinking straw, as an exercise to govern airflow while working on sound, then asked the student and the audience to create the sound using only their lips.
Earlier, Ms. Fleming participated in an interview session led by Jamal Rossi, the Joan and Martin Messinger Dean of the Eastman School of Music. Taking questions from the audience, she responded to students’ concerns about controlling stage fright, handling difficult situations on stage, and maintaining a healthy lifestyle while traveling. She emphasized the need to think entrepreneurially as they build their careers; to develop skills in marketing, finance, and technology; and to seek collaborations in other art forms to increase performing opportunities.
Ms. Fleming, who studied in Germany on a Fulbright Scholarship, also spoke about opera experience in Europe. She noted how it helps build a deeper understanding of the music that enables artists to project this authenticity in their performance. Her knowledge of German, she said, was vital to her performance of Strauss, Mozart, and other composers.
Ms. Fleming appeared at the Eastman School on Monday, Sept. 28, in advance of a six-city recital tour in October. In November, Ms. Fleming will perform in the annual Richard Tucker Gala in New York City before starring in Lyric Opera of Chicago’s production of The Merry Widow starting Nov. 14.
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