Fleming, Renée, 1959–, American soprano, b. Indiana, Pa. In 1986 she made her professional debut in Salzburg, Austria, in Mozart's Abduction from the Seraglio, and has since performed at Covent Garden, the Metropolitan Opera, and La Scala. Her velvety warm and rich voice, exquisite phrasing, interpretive power, broad repertoire, and classic beauty has made her one of America's most popular operatic singers. In 2010 she also became the first creative consultant at Chicago's Lyric Opera. She retired from her signature role in Richard Strauss's Der Rosenkavalier and some other roles that made her famous in 2017, but she has continued to sing in opera houses, often in new and adventurous roles, and on the concert stage. In 2019 she became coartistic director of the Aspen Opera Theater and Vocal Arts.
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