One of the pressures a female opera singer has to face is that journalists are tougher on women than men. It's a form of sexism says Renee Fleming, interviewed by Die Welt as she sings her first Ariadne in Baden-Baden (trailer above).
She also talked about the difficulties of long-term planning now that she's 53. Having just signed contracts for performances five years ahead, she's had to think hard whether she'll still be any good then. She's given up some roles - recently, Violetta - but if scheduling was more flexible, perhaps she'd keep them in her repertoire for longer. As things are, she prefers to give up a role too soon than to sing it worse than she did before.
Interviewer Lucas Wiegelmann was impressed by her "perfect German" - despite a few "charming mispronunciations" such as "Hoffman-Stahl" for Hugo von Hofmannsthal (a bit like 'Cameroon' for Cameron).
Not everyone is so impressed. Renee recently heard one of her daughters singing beautifully, and asked if she'd picked up hints from one of her own recordings. "No, Jonas Kaufmann," was the reply.
