The Inner Voice: The Making of a Singer - Hardcover

Fleming, Renee

Hardcover

ISBN 10: 0670033510 ISBN 13: 9780670033515

Publisher: Viking Adult, 2004

Synopsis

A Grammy Award-winning soprano whose achievements earned her an honorary doctor of music from the Juilliard School describes her struggles to launch her career, the individuals who influenced her life, the challenges she faces with the business side of the music industry, and her philosophies about the heart-throat-mind connection. 75,000 first printing.

About this title

About the Author

Renée Fleming has been heralded throughout the world by public and press as one of the great voices of our time. An international artist for more than a decade, she is recognized for her compelling artistry, beautiful sound, and interpretive talents.

Reviews

Calling this candid account "the autobiography of my voice," soprano Fleming details the years of study it took to master the art of vocal production and the discipline that brought her international renown. A former manager deemed her "the single most ambitious singer he has ever known," and given the tenacity with which she faced early setbacks—"I have a noble history of being rejected from a lot of places," she writes—his comment is understandable. After her first big break in 1990 (as the Countess in Mozart's Le Nozze di Figaro with the Houston Grand Opera), Fleming's rise to the top was steady. But she's quick to point out that the life of an opera star is not always glitter and glamour; the business side of singing—scheduling performances, arranging interviews and recordings, choosing a repertoire and marketing herself—is arduous. Although Fleming offers glimpses into her personal life, touching on her failed marriage and her loving relationship with her two daughters and concluding with a chapter describing what she experiences backstage during a Metropolitan Opera production, this is not a deeply intimate autobiography full of childhood vignettes, personal anecdotes and behind-the-curtains gossip. Instead, it's a realistic portrait of what it takes to succeed and a volume intriguing for its advice and honesty.
Copyright © Reed Business Information, a division of Reed Elsevier Inc. All rights reserved.

Classical-music insiders are not the only audience for this book, a kind of professional autobiography that mixes Letters to a Young Singer-style technical advice ("Taking a vague vocal concept from another singer is a little bit like sinking your life's savings into a stock tip you overhear at a cocktail party") with day-in-the-life bits that show how difficult it is to attain—and sustain—the life of a superstar. Occasional touches of writerly flair suggest the hand of Fleming's friend and collaborator Ann Patchett, but some of the best passages (such as a moment-by-moment account of singing the role of Violetta in a performance of Verdi's "La Traviata" at the Met) have a no-nonsense appeal that fits the image of Fleming as an unpretentious but deeply ambitious artist, driven forward by a sense of inadequacy yet buoyed by a keen awareness of her gifts.
Copyright © 2005 The New Yorker

Fleming is considered one of the preeminent sopranos gracing today's operatic stage. To hear her in interviews is to appreciate not only her passion and knowledge of vocal music but also her plainspoken eloquence. These traits carry over into her memoir as well, making this recollection of her life and career thus far as personable as she certainly must be in her offstage life and as inviting as one of her at-once astonishing and soothing performances. What most opera lovers--who will make up the majority of readers here--will want to know about is her vocal training, the history of which she spells out in spirited and humanizing detail. She was raised in a musical household in which her parents, who both taught music, made certain singing was as important an element as food and shelter. Fleming retraces her steps in her education and coaching, generously giving credit where credit is due (including to her vocal cords, "two little pieces of cartilage [that] have taken me to unimaginable places"). Brad Hooper
Copyright © American Library Association. All rights reserved

Edition details

• Publisher: Viking Adult
• Publication date: 2004
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 0670033510
• ISBN 13: 9780670033515
• Binding: Hardcover
• Number of pages: 240