WEBVTT - Renee Flemming 0:00:00.040 --> 0:00:04.160 Opera singers are famous for being diva's on and off 0:00:04.160 --> 0:00:07.920 the stage, but American soprano Renee Fleming has spent her 0:00:08.039 --> 0:00:12.479 long and notable career developing a different persona, often being 0:00:12.560 --> 0:00:16.400 called the people's diva. For many a Fleming's fan, she 0:00:16.560 --> 0:00:19.479 is the first and perhaps the only opera star they've 0:00:19.520 --> 0:00:23.400 ever paid close attention to, selling more than two million records, 0:00:23.560 --> 0:00:26.759 winning Grammys and other awards for her work, and even 0:00:26.800 --> 0:00:31.600 singing the national anthem at the Super Bowl. Most recently, 0:00:31.680 --> 0:00:34.840 Fleming has been starring in the Broadway production of Carousel 0:00:34.960 --> 0:00:38.800 in her Tony nominated role as Nettie Fowler. She recently 0:00:38.800 --> 0:00:42.320 sat down with Carlisle Group co founder David Rubenstein. They 0:00:42.400 --> 0:00:47.200 spoke on David Rubinstein's Bloomberg television program Peer to Peer Conversations. 0:00:47.920 --> 0:00:50.720 You are performing in Carousel, which is not an opera, 0:00:50.800 --> 0:00:52.920 It's a Broadway play. Why are you doing that and 0:00:53.000 --> 0:00:56.360 not opera? I just thought, wow, it would be really 0:00:56.400 --> 0:01:00.240 exciting to do something new. I always love doing new things. 0:01:00.520 --> 0:01:03.120 It's just been an extraordinary experience. I'm the kind of 0:01:03.200 --> 0:01:05.280 person that if I were to say no for any 0:01:05.360 --> 0:01:08.240 number of reasons, I would always wonder, what if and 0:01:08.280 --> 0:01:13.679 so rather than wondering, I typically jump in so opera 0:01:14.200 --> 0:01:16.600 because usually two or three nights a week, perhaps if 0:01:16.640 --> 0:01:18.680 you're doing a show, and let's say the Metropolitan, but 0:01:18.720 --> 0:01:21.360 you're now doing eight shows a week. So just you 0:01:21.520 --> 0:01:25.399 touched on the actual huge difference, right, So you strain 0:01:25.480 --> 0:01:27.319 your voice doing eight shows a week? Is that hurt 0:01:27.319 --> 0:01:29.680 you if you're gonna go do opera later? It wasn't 0:01:29.720 --> 0:01:32.640 that long ago really that people were unamplified on Broadway 0:01:32.680 --> 0:01:35.000 and they sang by in large closer to the way 0:01:35.000 --> 0:01:39.479 that I do because of the drama. They absolutely put 0:01:39.560 --> 0:01:42.920 amplification into every theater now and that makes all the 0:01:42.959 --> 0:01:46.040 difference in the world. So on the opera stage, our 0:01:46.080 --> 0:01:49.200 bodies are the amplifiers. We have to create enough sound 0:01:49.560 --> 0:01:52.240 to be heard over an orchestra chorus and into the 0:01:52.240 --> 0:01:56.400 back of a large hall on Broadway. The really the 0:01:56.720 --> 0:01:59.720 mechanism of microphones and amplification and a really great sound 0:01:59.800 --> 0:02:02.720 is they do that work for us and we can 0:02:02.800 --> 0:02:05.360 kind of take not take it easy, per se, but 0:02:05.520 --> 0:02:08.560 not use power. So explain for people may not be 0:02:08.840 --> 0:02:11.800 familiar with this. In opera, there's no amplification allowed. You 0:02:11.840 --> 0:02:14.760 can't use microphone or anything like that. Why is that? 0:02:15.280 --> 0:02:17.120 Do you know? It's it's the art form is old, 0:02:17.560 --> 0:02:20.800 it's it's it's been that way always, And frankly, I 0:02:20.840 --> 0:02:24.040 believe that the way we're trained enables us to be heard, 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:29.079 and the the individual quality that we have is so 0:02:29.240 --> 0:02:32.880 powerful and beautiful, actually because we all sound quite different. 0:02:33.120 --> 0:02:37.120 When Oscar Hammers sign and Richard Rogers wrote the play 0:02:37.360 --> 0:02:40.800 and the music for Carousel, they knew at the time 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:43.920 that some of the lyrics were complicated and there was 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:47.600 a bit of spousal abuse. And you have concerns about that, 0:02:48.160 --> 0:02:50.640 I actually think you know, and most of opera and 0:02:50.680 --> 0:02:53.359 most of history really Shakespeare also looked at so many 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:57.360 of these things. I think it's worth, um portraying these 0:02:57.400 --> 0:03:00.560 aspects of the human condition, of human experience, so that 0:03:00.600 --> 0:03:03.480 we can talk about it, so that we can air it. 0:03:03.480 --> 0:03:06.160 It's important to give people a platform to say I 0:03:06.240 --> 0:03:09.520 had a bad experience. UM, no one should. Who should 0:03:09.560 --> 0:03:13.320 ever come to an audience and feel taken unawares, I think, 0:03:13.320 --> 0:03:15.480 and be be hurt by something, but we should be 0:03:15.520 --> 0:03:18.520 affected by it. You sing one of the highlights of 0:03:18.560 --> 0:03:20.840 the show, it's the song at the end, And what 0:03:21.000 --> 0:03:23.480 is that song that is so well known that you've 0:03:23.520 --> 0:03:29.200 sung before about I guess walking alone, So You'll never 0:03:29.240 --> 0:03:32.560 walk alone is one of the great iconic songs. It's 0:03:32.560 --> 0:03:37.160 a universal statement about hope and about resilience. And in 0:03:37.200 --> 0:03:40.200 this piece, it's my character Nettie sings it to Julie 0:03:40.680 --> 0:03:44.760 Justice Billy has died, and um, it's very moving in context. 0:03:44.800 --> 0:03:46.160 And I've sung it a lot before. I sing it 0:03:46.200 --> 0:03:48.920 for the nine eleven memorial a year after nine eleven 0:03:48.920 --> 0:03:52.240 in Washington, and I've sung it all through the years. Um, 0:03:52.240 --> 0:04:18.840 it's something that people absolutely love. Let's talk about how 0:04:18.880 --> 0:04:22.520 you became a very famous soprano, perhaps the most famous 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.120 in the world. Um, you grew up in New York. 0:04:25.200 --> 0:04:27.560 To repeat that, I loved it, so I love that, 0:04:27.640 --> 0:04:31.000 David's true. Just keep saying that, thank you. So you 0:04:31.080 --> 0:04:36.159 grew up in upstate New York, right, and your parents 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:39.120 were music teachers. Yes, So did they always say to 0:04:39.120 --> 0:04:41.120 you you should grow up to be a great opera 0:04:41.120 --> 0:04:43.880 singer or they never bothered you to No, No, They're shocked. 0:04:43.920 --> 0:04:47.800 They were absolutely shocked. They said, get get a teaching degree, 0:04:48.400 --> 0:04:50.920 and you know you're not going to be a forget 0:04:50.920 --> 0:04:54.000 about that. It's just too impossible. So you know, you 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:56.599 can imagine their surprise. My mother is still teaching voice. 0:04:56.800 --> 0:05:01.000 She's not She loves it. She's very passionate about teaching. Uh. 0:05:01.040 --> 0:05:03.360 And I you know, it's it's step by step, it's 0:05:03.480 --> 0:05:08.360 it takes an incredible amount of drive, I think, and 0:05:08.560 --> 0:05:13.240 um and resilience again because you know, it's it's hugely competitive. Well, 0:05:13.240 --> 0:05:15.359 when you were a little girl, you were singing in 0:05:15.400 --> 0:05:18.360 many different plays. I guess school plays and so forth. 0:05:18.480 --> 0:05:20.800 I did musicals. I sang a lot of musical and 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:23.640 never sang a musical again until now. So when you 0:05:23.720 --> 0:05:26.040 apply to college, you wanted to go to a school 0:05:26.040 --> 0:05:28.120 that had a very good music program, and you applied 0:05:28.120 --> 0:05:30.840 to Oberlin and you got into Berlin, but your parents 0:05:30.920 --> 0:05:33.080 really couldn't afford for you to go there, So you 0:05:33.120 --> 0:05:36.600 went to State University in post Yes, and it turned 0:05:36.640 --> 0:05:38.160 out that was a pretty good thing for you because 0:05:38.200 --> 0:05:39.920 they had a very good school of music. Is that right. 0:05:40.040 --> 0:05:43.040 That's and a great voice teacher. So that and that's 0:05:43.080 --> 0:05:45.800 really the one of the key components for success is 0:05:45.839 --> 0:05:47.960 having someone who can help you develop your voice. And 0:05:47.960 --> 0:05:50.440 it's not easy. It's a very individual when you think 0:05:50.440 --> 0:05:55.200 about it. Every instrument is different. Um, it's internal the voice, 0:05:55.800 --> 0:05:59.640 and it requires for each bone structure and each kind 0:05:59.640 --> 0:06:03.760 of physical structure a different set of of of rules 0:06:03.800 --> 0:06:06.839 for technique. So when you went there, you realize you 0:06:06.839 --> 0:06:09.480 were probably better than the average person, and you began 0:06:09.520 --> 0:06:11.400 to sing a little bit professionally, but you did some 0:06:11.480 --> 0:06:13.800 jazz singing as well. You weren't necessary an opera singer. 0:06:13.839 --> 0:06:16.680 Did you like jazz more than opera? I'm still a 0:06:16.760 --> 0:06:19.040 jazz fanatic. I listened to it a lot, you know, 0:06:19.160 --> 0:06:21.480 I've been biking on the river, and that's that's how 0:06:21.520 --> 0:06:23.599 I distress. And I listened to a lot of my 0:06:23.640 --> 0:06:27.320 favorite performers. Uh so, yeah, I still really love that. 0:06:27.440 --> 0:06:29.960 But I think classical for me it was a better 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:33.039 fit for my temperament. I was shy um. I preferred 0:06:33.040 --> 0:06:36.440 to be in the practice room kind of unlocking and 0:06:36.440 --> 0:06:38.800 working on the process of learning how to sing. I 0:06:38.839 --> 0:06:41.320 loved that as opposed to being an extrovert and a performer. 0:06:41.360 --> 0:06:43.920 I had to learn that. When did you realize that 0:06:43.960 --> 0:06:46.880 you actually were good enough to maybe be a professional singer? 0:06:47.160 --> 0:06:49.480 I just kept going along, So it wasn't as if 0:06:49.520 --> 0:06:51.719 I made a decision. I think when I had the 0:06:51.720 --> 0:06:54.200 Fulbright scholarship. That was a big journey point for me 0:06:54.279 --> 0:06:56.479 to be in Europe, to be steeped in a foreign 0:06:56.560 --> 0:07:00.440 language and studying. I loved that. You begin to prepare 0:07:01.040 --> 0:07:03.440 UH to maybe an opera career. How did you actually 0:07:03.480 --> 0:07:06.160 break through? You know, you finally somebody has to take 0:07:06.160 --> 0:07:08.039 a chance. You know, you have to have one person, 0:07:08.080 --> 0:07:11.120 one impersario who says, I don't care what other people sink. 0:07:11.200 --> 0:07:13.800 I like this soprano and I'm going to give her 0:07:13.840 --> 0:07:16.640 a break. And your first break was in Houston. And 0:07:16.720 --> 0:07:18.680 how did that come about? Somebody called you and said, 0:07:18.840 --> 0:07:21.120 somebody got sick and can you come and perform exactly 0:07:21.200 --> 0:07:23.320 what I had audition for the program for the studio, 0:07:23.680 --> 0:07:25.800 the Young Artist program. A few months later they called 0:07:25.800 --> 0:07:41.040 and said, we had a cancelation singing opera. You sing 0:07:41.680 --> 0:07:45.520 from the chess more and not from the uh throat, 0:07:45.880 --> 0:07:50.000 So we use an optimal breath um expansion sort of intake, 0:07:50.120 --> 0:07:53.320 and then support. Support is really a key thing if 0:07:53.320 --> 0:07:57.480 that optimizes the the amount of sound you can make 0:07:57.800 --> 0:08:02.520 without using pressure, without actually tiring yourself. So somebody can 0:08:02.560 --> 0:08:05.480 go to a sports event and shout and their horse 0:08:05.560 --> 0:08:07.320 the next day you hear or you say, were you 0:08:07.360 --> 0:08:08.920 at a rock concert? Where you at a sports event? 0:08:08.920 --> 0:08:11.120 Where were you? Were you out dancing? You know that 0:08:11.200 --> 0:08:15.520 someone has heard their voice, will sing for three hours. Um, 0:08:15.560 --> 0:08:18.120 just as extreme in terms of how we're using our 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:20.040 voice and the next day we can do it again. 0:08:20.400 --> 0:08:22.920 When you're singing opera and you don't know the language, 0:08:22.920 --> 0:08:25.360 is that very difficult? Well? I sing in about eight 0:08:25.760 --> 0:08:28.160 eight nine languages, you know, if you include Lord of 0:08:28.160 --> 0:08:33.000 the Rings, and I only speak really three of them. Um, 0:08:33.040 --> 0:08:35.960 for if you include English. So learning everything else, whether 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:47.480 Russian or Check, is by rote. It's memorizing sounds. You 0:08:47.520 --> 0:08:49.520 have to sound authentic and you also have to memorize 0:08:49.520 --> 0:08:51.720 what everyone else is saying. So it's just very time 0:08:52.000 --> 0:08:54.400 when you don't know the language you memorize by rope. 0:08:54.400 --> 0:08:56.400 Do you actually know what the words say? Or you 0:08:56.480 --> 0:08:58.640 just you know what the sound is? You have to 0:08:58.760 --> 0:09:22.559 learn it all. Why is that you think opera has 0:09:22.600 --> 0:09:26.120 declining attendance, as does all classical music, Well I would 0:09:26.160 --> 0:09:28.520 have I would have tried to explain that, but actually 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:32.120 attendances down a major sports arenas as well. I do 0:09:32.240 --> 0:09:35.839 think there is so much available to people for entertainment 0:09:36.120 --> 0:09:38.160 and a lot of it is digital, and a lot 0:09:38.200 --> 0:09:40.839 of it is on television that people buy and large. 0:09:40.880 --> 0:09:42.840 I mean, I see this with young people around me. 0:09:42.880 --> 0:09:44.640 They just they don't want to spend the money. They 0:09:44.640 --> 0:09:46.240 don't go out. The other thing I want to say 0:09:46.280 --> 0:09:47.920 is when I moved to New York, there were only 0:09:47.920 --> 0:09:50.960 a few venues there were There were theaters on Broadway, 0:09:51.000 --> 0:09:53.120 and there were a few classical music venues, a couple 0:09:53.120 --> 0:09:55.880 of dance venues. That was it. Now there's a performing 0:09:55.960 --> 0:09:59.319 arts center every other block. So I'm opening the Shed, 0:09:59.640 --> 0:10:04.400 which is opening it a year from now. Spectacular. UM. 0:10:04.960 --> 0:10:12.160 It's extraordinary architecture, an extraordinary opportunity to create only new work. UM. 0:10:12.200 --> 0:10:15.240 And I'm thrilled to be participating in the first piece 0:10:15.280 --> 0:10:18.040 that they're going to present. So opera is something that 0:10:18.200 --> 0:10:20.280 you are going to continue doing. There was a story 0:10:20.320 --> 0:10:21.920 once in the New York Times that said, you were 0:10:21.920 --> 0:10:24.240 going to finish your career at the Met at a 0:10:24.280 --> 0:10:26.839 certain point in two thousand seventeen, but you're still doing 0:10:26.880 --> 0:10:29.040 operas that right, right? I mean, that was you know, 0:10:29.679 --> 0:10:32.120 that was really unfair. That was the headline, you know, 0:10:32.200 --> 0:10:36.080 that was trying to draw attention. So when you do today, 0:10:36.120 --> 0:10:39.760 you do opera, you're doing other times of music. I 0:10:39.920 --> 0:10:42.480 mostly concertise, and that's what I've been doing for fifteen years. 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:44.600 I'd say I spent eight percent of my time on 0:10:44.640 --> 0:10:47.200 the concert stage, which enables me to get around the world. 0:10:47.600 --> 0:10:50.160 I love creating the Renee Fleming show, whatever it is, 0:10:50.200 --> 0:10:53.040 I think the audience will enjoy the most, a mixture 0:10:53.160 --> 0:10:56.559 usually of repertoire UH and I and I love meeting 0:10:56.600 --> 0:11:12.120 new audiences and having that one on one communication. I'm 0:11:12.160 --> 0:11:14.839 working on a new piece for the Met. Actually that 0:11:14.840 --> 0:11:17.000 will be this can't be announced yet, but it's really 0:11:17.000 --> 0:11:19.720 exciting to contemplate. So I'm going to go I think 0:11:19.720 --> 0:11:23.120 back to the Met and but but frankly, you know, 0:11:23.360 --> 0:11:26.520 and I have another major theatrical project after the Shed, 0:11:26.920 --> 0:11:29.360 so I didn't even know that I would be doing 0:11:29.360 --> 0:11:32.360 this much theater. So you're singing the songs that won 0:11:32.400 --> 0:11:36.160 the Academy Award, Yes, exactly. Um, well, Alexander displat one 0:11:36.240 --> 0:11:39.400 for the music in general, but the shape of Water, 0:11:39.440 --> 0:11:42.160 of this beautiful song. It was in the credits and 0:11:42.440 --> 0:11:47.040 halfway through the film as well. You never know just 0:11:47.120 --> 0:11:57.920 so much famous UH sopranos are sometimes labeled as divas 0:11:58.080 --> 0:12:02.200 or prima donnas Maria Alice being a good example of that. Um, 0:12:02.240 --> 0:12:04.200 but you don't have that reputation, So how did you 0:12:04.240 --> 0:12:07.559 avoid that reputation? Gosh, you know, I just wish I 0:12:07.600 --> 0:12:11.000 could have called I just wanted to nurture that a 0:12:11.040 --> 0:12:13.599 little bit so I could be the subject of dinner conversations. 0:12:13.640 --> 0:12:16.000 And I just couldn't do it. I've never been good 0:12:16.040 --> 0:12:18.800 at it. But in other words, uh, the ego that's 0:12:18.800 --> 0:12:22.320 involved with being a great soprano obviously gets to a 0:12:22.360 --> 0:12:24.920 lot of people. I think it comes out of anxiety. 0:12:24.920 --> 0:12:27.560 It comes from it's a certain kind of a huge 0:12:27.600 --> 0:12:31.400 anxiety about performance pressure and and and let's not diminish 0:12:31.440 --> 0:12:35.480 what performance pressure means. It is really challenging and some people, 0:12:35.760 --> 0:12:37.800 you know, if you make it to the top, even 0:12:37.920 --> 0:12:41.400 staying at the top is terribly difficult. So, UM, I 0:12:41.480 --> 0:12:45.200 have internalized the pressure that I have felt over the years. 0:12:45.440 --> 0:12:47.640 And that's not really great yet either, because it's not 0:12:47.720 --> 0:12:50.880 fun to feel like that. But other people externalize it 0:12:50.920 --> 0:12:52.839 and they take it out on whoever is around them, 0:12:52.840 --> 0:12:54.960 and somehow that's how that happens. And then they go 0:12:54.960 --> 0:12:57.800 on stage and they're grade now because of the pressure 0:12:57.800 --> 0:12:59.960 of being an opera singer. Sometimes you need an outlet, 0:13:00.080 --> 0:13:02.080 and what did you do for an outlet? I am 0:13:02.120 --> 0:13:05.920 a culture fanatic, I am, and I am also um 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.680 fascinated by I want to learn. I'm a lifelong learner. Um, 0:13:09.760 --> 0:13:12.920 so I'm going to museums in theater. I love, absolutely 0:13:12.920 --> 0:13:16.880 love theater. Uh. And I love beauty and nature very much. 0:13:16.920 --> 0:13:20.360 So I'm enjoying nurturing young talent and I'll hope to 0:13:20.360 --> 0:13:22.920 continue doing that in a more meaningful way in the future. 0:13:36.559 --> 0:13:38.760 You're also working with n I H and Francis Collins 0:13:38.800 --> 0:13:41.760 ahead of it to try to show that actually music 0:13:41.960 --> 0:13:46.080 can help people get healthier. Can you explain that? So? Um? 0:13:46.120 --> 0:13:48.839 I basically met Francis Collins as the director of the 0:13:48.920 --> 0:13:51.320 National Institutes of Health at a dinner party, an amazing 0:13:51.360 --> 0:13:55.520 dinner party with Justices Scalia Ginsburg and Kennedy. Uh and 0:13:55.800 --> 0:13:58.840 uh he was we were we had to sing along. 0:13:59.200 --> 0:14:01.800 When you're doing a thing along, isn't everybody else intimidated? 0:14:01.800 --> 0:14:04.240 You're not exactly the average sing along. Yeah. We were 0:14:04.280 --> 0:14:06.360 kind of singing this land as your land. There were 0:14:06.400 --> 0:14:08.960 songs that everybody knew and they loved it. And I 0:14:08.960 --> 0:14:10.960 said to Frances at some point in the evening, I said, 0:14:11.160 --> 0:14:13.840 you know, there's so much neuroscience about music, Um, what 0:14:13.840 --> 0:14:16.720 would you think about collaborating with the Kennedy Center. And 0:14:16.760 --> 0:14:20.240 he said, yes, let's let's look into that. And it's 0:14:20.320 --> 0:14:24.359 turned into this really extraordinary project. It's about drawing attention 0:14:24.920 --> 0:14:27.840 to the power of music. The neuroscience is new, it's 0:14:27.880 --> 0:14:31.120 relatively new and becoming more widely known. But how it 0:14:31.200 --> 0:14:35.040 helps childhood, in childhood development, how it helps with so 0:14:35.080 --> 0:14:40.520 many therapies for autism, Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, UM for veterans. I 0:14:40.600 --> 0:14:44.760 gave fourteen presentations in the last six months around the 0:14:44.800 --> 0:14:48.360 country where I sing UM sharing the kind of the 0:14:48.400 --> 0:14:50.560 all of the knowledge that I'm gaining in a hopefully 0:14:50.640 --> 0:14:54.120 entertaining way. So when UM, people come up to you 0:14:54.120 --> 0:14:56.240 young performers to say I want to be a famous 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.040 opera singer, what is the advice you give them? Well, 0:14:59.080 --> 0:15:01.560 I really advised people first and foremost not to accept 0:15:01.640 --> 0:15:04.920 any limitations. Now you not only have to sing fabulously, 0:15:05.000 --> 0:15:07.200 have a super technique and really be able to trust 0:15:07.200 --> 0:15:10.240 your voice. You have to look fabulous, look like the 0:15:10.320 --> 0:15:14.280 character you're playing, and act amazingly well. And a lot 0:15:14.320 --> 0:15:16.960 of this has developed since I started singing, and I'm 0:15:17.000 --> 0:15:19.040 sure the demands will be even more in the future. 0:15:19.320 --> 0:15:20.880 So if I wanted to learn how to be an 0:15:20.880 --> 0:15:22.840 opera singer, it's late. I guess in life you have 0:15:22.880 --> 0:15:24.920 to learn earlier. You can't start late in life, right, 0:15:25.520 --> 0:15:29.320 typically not typically? And today when you go to master 0:15:29.400 --> 0:15:32.720 classes you teach people, Um, do you ever see anybody 0:15:32.720 --> 0:15:36.000 you think this person really is talented? Or you oh, yeah, absolutely, 0:15:36.120 --> 0:15:38.200 I absolutely. You know, there are a lot of diamonds 0:15:38.200 --> 0:15:40.400 in the rough out there. And we also say the 0:15:40.400 --> 0:15:42.560 greatest singers in the world probably don't even know they 0:15:42.560 --> 0:15:46.160 have a voice. Well okay, so so David, you know, 0:15:46.200 --> 0:15:47.840 we could work on it a little bit and see 0:15:48.400 --> 0:15:50.520 just check out the town I have. Every time I 0:15:50.600 --> 0:15:53.800 have ever sung, people say you are completely tone deaf. 0:15:53.880 --> 0:15:56.960 So I don't think I have the skill. So if 0:15:57.000 --> 0:15:59.880 you had to pay to watch opera, who would you 0:16:00.040 --> 0:16:02.320 to pay to listen to? Who are the great opera 0:16:02.640 --> 0:16:05.600 male and female performers that you would have paid to hear? 0:16:06.160 --> 0:16:08.560 Oh gosh, I mean I would have loved to have 0:16:08.600 --> 0:16:11.640 heard Maria Collis because of her musicianship. I mean I 0:16:11.720 --> 0:16:15.640 still go to her records all the time. Um, Victoria 0:16:15.760 --> 0:16:18.040 las Anels. I don't think I ever heard her sing live. 0:16:18.640 --> 0:16:21.400 I'm a huge fan of her singing Schwartzkopf. I did 0:16:21.400 --> 0:16:24.160 a masterclass with her, but I never heard her sing live. 0:16:24.240 --> 0:16:27.560 So there have been great history. We belong to a tapestry. 0:16:28.040 --> 0:16:31.640 Um that is really historic, and I love that connection 0:16:31.760 --> 0:16:35.360 to what's come before, and I love celebrating that. And 0:16:35.520 --> 0:16:37.600 you know, that's something we lose in our culture right 0:16:37.600 --> 0:16:41.240 now because of this connection to to to social media 0:16:41.240 --> 0:16:44.200 and to the here and now in the momentary. This 0:16:44.360 --> 0:16:47.560 idea that you become really wonderful. It's something that and 0:16:47.640 --> 0:17:13.320 you learn about what people have done before you. You 0:17:13.359 --> 0:17:17.080 have two daughters today want to be singers. They're wonderful singers. Um. 0:17:17.119 --> 0:17:20.080 They know too much, so they neither of them want 0:17:20.080 --> 0:17:23.320 to pursue singing. So again they the lifestyle is challenging. 0:17:23.560 --> 0:17:26.840 So I am on the road literally every three days, 0:17:26.880 --> 0:17:29.000 I'm on a plane. Well, when your daughters were younger, 0:17:29.080 --> 0:17:31.080 you've written the fact that you would pack them up 0:17:31.080 --> 0:17:32.920 and take them on the road with you and get 0:17:32.960 --> 0:17:37.240 tutors or other than that. Complicated, yeah, but worth it, 0:17:37.400 --> 0:17:39.399 totally worth it. I really believe that their home was 0:17:39.480 --> 0:17:43.040 with me that their home was with the people who 0:17:43.080 --> 0:17:45.240 loved them, and and that's worked out well. They've turned 0:17:45.280 --> 0:17:48.119 into fabulous young women. So if you had the chance 0:17:48.160 --> 0:17:51.159 to sing one opera, only one more opera, for the 0:17:51.160 --> 0:17:53.600 rest of your life, what opera would you want to be? 0:17:53.600 --> 0:18:02.760 Because there one of rosen Cavalier was absolutely my favorite. 0:18:03.960 --> 0:18:07.960 The most interesting woman, the most complex. Um, you know, 0:18:08.080 --> 0:18:11.080 just such a three dimensional woman, which you don't find 0:18:11.160 --> 0:18:13.639 very much. If me too is an issue, most of 0:18:13.680 --> 0:18:16.320 what we do. An opera would not be performed because 0:18:16.680 --> 0:18:19.880 women are victimized right and left. An opera because it's 0:18:19.880 --> 0:18:23.360 a it's an historic art form. So um, that's why 0:18:23.359 --> 0:18:26.160 the marshal in who has power, who has even though 0:18:26.160 --> 0:18:30.160 she's she's complex, she is much more interesting. You've done 0:18:30.160 --> 0:18:35.040 Broadway opera, um, classical music as or something you haven't 0:18:35.080 --> 0:18:38.320 done that you would like to do. Gosh, you know what, David, 0:18:38.400 --> 0:18:40.760 I'm it's already so much richer than I ever could 0:18:40.760 --> 0:18:42.600 have imagined. If you told me that I would be 0:18:42.680 --> 0:18:45.520 in a musical on Broadway, I would have said unlikely, unlikely. 0:18:46.040 --> 0:18:49.280 So I don't think I have a wish list. What 0:18:49.320 --> 0:18:51.600 I do have is an open mind and a and 0:18:52.000 --> 0:19:08.080 a belief in the future. I absolutely believe that things 0:19:08.160 --> 0:19:11.040 come to us if we work hard and we're dedicated, 0:19:11.040 --> 0:19:13.360 and we love what we're doing, we're passionate. When you're 0:19:13.359 --> 0:19:15.640 an opera singer, you can't yell at anybody or yell 0:19:15.680 --> 0:19:17.399 anything because you could ruin your voice. Do you ever 0:19:17.440 --> 0:19:19.439 worry about that? Or you just don't worry about that. 0:19:19.600 --> 0:19:23.160 I made that mistake once. Uh, one of my daughter's 0:19:23.920 --> 0:19:27.840 was upstairs and I shout in a moment, I shouted 0:19:27.880 --> 0:19:32.040 at her, and I felt it. I went, Oh, I 0:19:32.040 --> 0:19:35.040 had to cancel three performances at the met in a 0:19:35.080 --> 0:19:38.639 production that was that was built for me. So that 0:19:38.760 --> 0:19:41.879 was really unfortunate. So like in my case, I'm not 0:19:41.920 --> 0:19:44.560 a good singer, as I mentioned I have. I'm completely 0:19:44.560 --> 0:19:46.639 tone deaf. But you know I can sing in the 0:19:46.680 --> 0:19:50.440 shower and nobody objects. So can an opera singer sing 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:52.639 in the shower. That's not possible. Oh it's great to 0:19:52.640 --> 0:19:54.439 sing in the shower. It's a good place to warm up. 0:19:54.480 --> 0:19:57.000 You have all that moisture. You know you're in fact, 0:19:57.000 --> 0:19:59.000 you might become a better singer by singing in this 0:19:59.520 --> 0:20:01.560 Maybe that I mean as your practice. That more I 0:20:01.680 --> 0:20:04.040 think about that the thing that you're most proud of 0:20:04.119 --> 0:20:06.440 having achieved in your life, other than let's say, raising 0:20:06.480 --> 0:20:10.359 two very talented young women your daughters. What would you 0:20:10.359 --> 0:20:13.800 say your your most achieved that's given you most pride? 0:20:14.480 --> 0:20:17.159 Is it coming from very modest circumstances to becoming one 0:20:17.200 --> 0:20:18.960 of the most famous people in the world in the 0:20:18.960 --> 0:20:21.360 opera world, or what would you say it is? Well, 0:20:21.400 --> 0:20:25.920 I do share with you this extraordinary wonder at the 0:20:26.880 --> 0:20:31.160 realm of possibilities that we have as Americans because, um, 0:20:31.200 --> 0:20:35.480 some of my relatives were literally coal miners in Pennsylvania. 0:20:35.640 --> 0:20:39.720 And I have sat next to Prince Charles and next 0:20:39.760 --> 0:20:42.400 to the King of Sweden at dinner parties and at 0:20:42.480 --> 0:20:46.760 various performances, and I always stop and say, isn't this amazing? 0:20:47.440 --> 0:20:51.560 And literally in two generations that I have this, this 0:20:52.280 --> 0:20:56.240 ability to travel the world and experience every place I 0:20:56.320 --> 0:21:00.760 go um at the most extraordinary level. And the legacy 0:21:00.840 --> 0:21:03.639 that you would like people to um think about you, 0:21:03.720 --> 0:21:06.640 let's say, twenty years from now, when you people look back, 0:21:06.880 --> 0:21:09.760 I think I really expanded the possibilities for the singers 0:21:09.760 --> 0:21:12.760 who came after me by singing in multiple genre, by 0:21:12.800 --> 0:21:15.760 singing jazz, by singing, making a rock album, now singing 0:21:15.760 --> 0:21:19.359 in music theater. Um. When I started, people discouraged that 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:22.320 very heavily. They said, no, you're going to ruin your legacy. 0:21:22.480 --> 0:21:25.600 You will, um, you, you, you will ruin the way 0:21:25.640 --> 0:21:29.040 in which you're viewed critically. You must not step out 0:21:29.160 --> 0:21:31.480 of the box. In fact, the more specialized you are, 0:21:31.520 --> 0:21:36.760 the better. And I just thought, I, I'm too curious, 0:21:36.800 --> 0:21:39.680 I want to try new things, So I just ignored 0:21:39.720 --> 0:21:42.160 that advice. When you're an opera, when you go out 0:21:42.200 --> 0:21:44.880 for a boutt can go on for ten minutes, twenty minutes. 0:21:44.920 --> 0:21:47.960 How long do you go out before you realize it's 0:21:48.040 --> 0:21:50.560 finally time to leave the stage and bowing and opera 0:21:50.640 --> 0:21:54.280 is an art form unto itself. It's another performance, and 0:21:54.359 --> 0:21:58.320 some people do it extremely well, and the audience loves it. 0:21:58.359 --> 0:22:00.760 They love it, you know, I sort of forced. I 0:22:00.800 --> 0:22:02.800 had friends who would yell at me through my whole career. 0:22:03.160 --> 0:22:06.080 Stay on stage. The audience wants to show you their love, 0:22:06.160 --> 0:22:10.280 their appreciation. So um, it didn't come supernaturally to me.