The opera firmament was shaken yesterday when a New York Times article, headlined “The Diva Departs: Renée Fleming’s Farewell to Opera,” landed online.
The lengthy piece gave the impression that Fleming, a beloved star of classical music and one of the most successful sopranos of her generation, was ready to call it quits as far as opera was concerned. Her ostensible final performance would come on May 13 in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier at New York’s Metropolitan Opera.
The key word here is “may.” Truth be told, Fleming has no plans to quit opera at all.
“I never said that I was stepping away from the opera stage for good. Never, never, never did I say that to anybody,” Fleming insisted in a phone conversation from her home in New York City earlier today.
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