In Sunday’s (9/26) St. Louis Post-Dispatch, Sarah Bryan Miller writes, “The American public seems to take just one soprano at a time to its collective heart. For many years, that soprano was Beverly Sills; these days, it’s Renée Fleming. She’ll appear in a gala concert at Powell Symphony Hall on Oct. 2 with David Robertson and the St. Louis Symphony Orchestra, singing some popular arias (including lots of Puccini); the aria that might be considered her leitmotif, the gorgeous ‘Song to the Moon,’ from Dvorak’s ‘Rusalka’; some lighter music; and a world premiere by jazz icon Wayne Shorter. … Robertson started working with Shorter, ‘one of jazz’s most incredible living legends,’ in 2002 in France, and brought him to St. Louis in his first season here. ‘I think it was about 2004 when he said to me he really wanted to write something for Renée Fleming,’ Robertson said. Robertson acted as a matchmaker of sorts, getting Fleming and Shorter together—and reaping the benefit for St. Louis. Fleming, 51, has a taste for taking on new things; she’s sung roles in more than 50 operas, including world premieres.”
Posted September 27, 2010
