Renee Fleming

“Certainly, jazz has become more of a niche, which is surprising, because it's our music. It's the national music of America.”

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

“It is always fragile, being a parent.”

“I have a certain image that's more classic, and I'm happy to stay out of the fray.”

“I am so envious of my colleagues from 100 years ago who only sang new works, they hardly ever sang revivals.”

“My parents discussed singing every night over the dinner table; I had a tremendous music education.”

“At this stage in my career, I don't have to take any big risks. You want to take a calculated risk, not one that leads to people saying 'yes, but there was that one time when she made that big mistake.' It's always a shame when that happens, especially if you've gotten by for decades without anything hugely tragic.”

“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.”

“For my own singing, I used to be attracted by the baroque, the flashier the better, but now I prefer a simpler, purer style.”

“Opera is really fun.”

“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.”

“My worry is that opera will become an historic art form as opposed to a living, breathing thing.”

“I learned so many roles so quickly as a young singer, I thought it was time to come back to them and make them better - deeper, more nuanced.”

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

“I would love to do more private concerts.”

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

“For a while it was hard for me to say no to work.”

“Learning operatic roles is ongoing, and I find that I can learn on the train or subway, during a manicure, getting my hair done, and even while driving if I only look at the score at red lights.”

“Because everything about the voice interests me, I felt it would be fascinating to learn a completely different style of singing.”