Renée Fleming Week at the Met – January 11-17, 2021

Nightly Met Opera Streams presents a week of soprano Renée Fleming

All this week, the Met is celebrating the inimitable artistry of soprano Renée Fleming, with free streams of some of her most memorable Met portrayals—from the Countess in Le Nozze di Figaro (the role of her company debut) to the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and the title heroines of Armida, Rodelinda, and Rusalka.

“A voice that possesses the complex sweetness of wildflower honey…” The Toronto Star

Renée Fleming is one of the most highly acclaimed singers of our time. Winner of four Grammy® awards, and recipient of the US National Medal of Arts, shehas sung for momentous occasions from the Nobel Peace Prize ceremony to the Diamond Jubilee Concert for Queen Elizabeth II at Buckingham Palace. In 2014, Renée brought her voice to a vast new audience as the first classical artist ever to sing the National Anthem at the Super Bowl.

Each day, a different encore presentation from the company’s Live in HD series is being made available for free streaming on the Met website, with each performance available for a period of 23 hours, from 7:30 pm EDT until 6:30 pm the following day. The schedule will include outstanding complete performances from the past 14 years of cinema transmissions, starring all of opera’s greatest singers.

Monday, January 11
Mozart’s Le Nozze di Figaro
Starring Renée Fleming, Cecilia Bartoli, Susanne Mentzer, Dwayne Croft, and Bryn Terfel, conducted by James Levine. From November 11, 1998.

The Met assembled a vocal dream team for Jonathan Miller’s stylish production of the eternal Mozart masterpiece: Renée Fleming as the Countess, Cecilia Bartoli as Susanna, and Bryn Terfel as Figaro. With James Levine—one of the world’s great conductors of Mozart—in the pit, Bartoli interpolating two rarely heard alternate arias, and Dwayne Croft as the Count and Susanne Mentzer as Cherubino, this is a performance for the record books.

Tuesday, January 12
Massenet’s Thaïs
Starring Renée Fleming, Michael Schade, and Thomas Hampson, conducted by Jesús López-Cobos. From December 20, 2008.

When the most voluptuous, sought-after courtesan in the world meets an ascetic monk whose life is devoted to God, you know erotic sparks are going to fly. And when the clash takes place in a glorious, but rarely performed, opera by Massenet, it’s a delight to the ear just as much as to the eye. Renée Fleming is every inch the glamorous Thais, swathed in elegant gowns designed by Christian Lacroix. Thomas Hampson is the tortured man of God. This production by John Cox, which premiered in December 2008, brilliantly sets the stage for a confrontation as old as civilization itself.

Wednesday, January 13
Strauss’s Der Rosenkavalier
Starring Renée Fleming, Christine Schäfer, Susan Graham, Eric Cutler, Thomas Allen, and Kristinn Sigmundsson, conducted by Edo de Waart. From January 9, 2010.

This production of Strauss’s most sumptuous work by director Nathaniel Merrill and designer Robert O’Hearn is almost as beloved as the opera itself. It perfectly captures the glittering never-land of rococco Vienna the way the Viennese—and the rest of the world—wish it had been, and it’s the ideal setting for an adult comedy of love and errors. Susan Graham is the aristocratic young Octavian, torn between two women: Renée Fleming as the Marschallin, the mature woman who understands that one day Octavian must leave her; and Christine Schäfer as Sophie, the young girl who unexpectedly captures his heart. Kristinn Sigmundsson is the lecherous Baron Ochs who sets the whirling plot in motion, and Edo de Waart conducts.

Thursday, January 14
Rossini’s Armida
Starring Renée Fleming, Lawrence Brownlee, Barry Banks, John Osborn, and Kobie van Rensburg, conducted by Riccardo Frizza. From May 1, 2010.

It is a rare opera indeed that calls for one soprano diva and no fewer than six tenors. Mary Zimmerman’s fanciful production of Rossini’s drama, designed by Richard Hudson and with choreography by Graciela Daniele, provides the perfect setting for superstar Renée Fleming’s captivating performance of the title role. A beautiful but evil sorceress in the times of the Crusades, Armida sets out to regain the love of the Frankish knight Rinaldo (Lawrence Brownlee) by putting her magical spells on him. She at first succeeds to draw him into her web of sorcery, but ultimately divine intervention—and his fellow soldiers—free Rinaldo from his enchantment—much to the vengeful fury of Armida and her demons.

Friday, January 15
Strauss’s Capriccio
Starring Renée Fleming, Sarah Connolly, Joseph Kaiser, Russell Braun, Morten Frank Larsen, and Peter Rose, conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. From April 23, 2011.

Renée Fleming is Countess Madeleine, the beautiful, enigmatic woman at the center of Strauss’s sophisticated “Conversation Piece for Music.” She is being courted by two men: Joseph Kaiser sings the composer, Flamand, and Russell Braun is Olivier, the poet. The stellar cast also includes Peter Rose as the theater director La Roche, Sarah Connolly as the actress Clairon, and Morten Frank Larsen as the Countess’s brother. John Cox’s elegant production places the action in the 1920s. Andrew Davis conducts.

Saturday, January 16
Handel’s Rodelinda
Starring Renée Fleming, Stephanie Blythe, Andreas Scholl, Iestyn Davies, Joseph Kaiser, and Shenyang, conducted by Harry Bicket. From December 3, 2011.

Renée Fleming stars in the title role of one of Handel’s greatest dramas, seen in Stephen Wadsworth’s 2004 Met premiere production. Rodelinda is faced with an impossible dilemma: With her husband Bertarido believed dead, she either has to marry the despised Grimoaldo (the elegant Joseph Kaiser), who has usurped her husband’s throne, or see him murder her son. But Bertarido (leading countertenor Andreas Scholl) is alive and eventually reclaims both throne and wife—and makes peace with his enemies. Stephanie Blythe is marvelous as Eduige, Bertarido’s sister, who is betrothed to Grimoaldo but turns against him. Baroque authority Harry Bicket conducts.

Sunday, January 17
Dvořák’s Rusalka
Starring Renée Fleming, Emily Magee, Dolora Zajick, Piotr Beczala, and John Relyea, conducted by Yannick Nézet-Séguin.  From February 8, 2014.

Otto Schenk’s storybook production perfectly captures the fairy-tale world of Dvořák’s supremely romantic opera. Star soprano Renée Fleming, in one of her most acclaimed portrayals, takes on the title role of the water nymph who longs to be human, opposite Piotr Beczała as the Prince, the object of her affection. John Relyea is the Water Gnome, Dolora Zajick sings the witch Ježibaba, and Emily Magee is the Foreign Princess. Yannick Nézet-Séguin conducts.

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