On the Road: Renée Fleming

On the Road All the world’s my stage

Soprano Renée Fleming has sung everywhere, from the Met to Hamburg – and has the perfect cure for a cold. By Louise Flind

How do you look after your voice when travelling? I really have refined my position from being worried about everything as a young singer – this pillow is wrong; I’m feeling allergic to something; it’s too dry – to scarcely ever thinking about it. I don’t eat in restaurants very much unless they’re quiet. I stay hydrated and that’s about it.

How has your voice changed as you’ve got older? It’s more comfortable in the top, but on the other hand I’m choosing repertoire that is a wonderful fit. At the Met next year, I’m doing a new opera composed for me which is really quite high. Certainly, stamina isn’t what it was 15 years ago and I have to be very careful about tessitura.

Do you find you can’t sing as much as you could? No. I sing all the time. I just did a tour when I was singing in performance every two or three days.

What sort of music do you like to sing best? I’ve always loved new music. I have a new album out called Voice of Nature: The Anthropocene, a combination of art songs from the late-19th century and new things commissioned for the album.

Is there anything you can’t leave home without? There’s a reason my luggage is 150lb – the gowns alone take up two large suitcases. Some people say there’s very little I can leave at home…

Is there something you really miss? My friends and family. This is the bane of our existence as performers, as we don’t get to have the life that other people have when they sleep in their own beds and never have to leave their children. What are your earliest childhood holiday memories? We didn’t travel that much so it was typically at home. We thought we were extremely wealthy children and of course we weren’t. My parents were schoolteachers.

Which parts of Pennsylvania and New York, where you grew up, do you like most? I was born in Pennsylvania and moved as an infant to upstate New York. Rochester is a lovely city, but it’s not known for its weather.

Which opera couldn’t you live without? I’m absolutely blown away by Tchaikovsky’s The Queen of Spades – I never sang Lisa.

Which opera house do you love most? I spend most of my time in concert halls. I just had a fabulous experience in Hamburg at the Elbphilharmonie. I can’t speak for my own performance because I don’t know how it sounded, but I’ve never heard any orchestra sound that spectacular in the Bruckner symphony in the second half.

Where did you go on your honeymoon? Which one? With my second husband, Tim, we didn’t take a honeymoon but he was travelling constantly with me. So we would steal a day here and there, and jokingly say that was the honeymoon.

Do you go on holiday? I went to Vietnam with my husband and I took a Western tour with my daughters a few years ago through all the canyons. In a couple of weeks, we’ll be in a spa in the Virginia mountains. Do you have a daily routine even when you’re away? On performance days, I’m quiet.

What’s the strangest thing you’ve ever eaten? I’m not adventurous but I do love interesting vegetables. Sugar is my downfall – if it’s around, I can’t resist it…

Do you have a go at the local language? I had a Fulbright Scholarship. So I studied in Germany and speak fluent German. My French was very good when I had an apartment in Paris, and I’ve developed decent restaurant and taxi Italian – and operatic, of course.

What’s your biggest headache? If I don’t have a view that makes me happy, then I’m not going to be comfortable in the hotel because on a performance day I’m typically sitting in the room at my computer and I want something nice to look at.

What are your top travelling tips? I try to keep a suitcase and a carry-on bag always ready to go – with all necessary toiletries, electronics and so on. So I need to own two of all those things.

What is your best cure for colds? Steam is absolutely the best if I’m really sick, and ginger tea is wonderful. I haven’t had a cold since the pandemic, running around wearing masks all the time. It works.

On 6th April, Renée Fleming will appear at a gala at the Paris Opera, directed by Robert Carsen. On 22nd April, she will be at a London Philharmonic gala conducted by Enrique Mazzola