Renée Fleming takes viewers backstage at the Théâtre du Châtelet in Renée Fleming’s Cities that Sing: Paris (photo courtesy IMAX and Stage Access)
RENÉE FLEMING’S CITIES THAT SING: PARIS / VENICE (Francois-Rene Martin, 2022/2023)
AMC Empire 25, IMAX Laser
AMC Kips Bay 15, IMAX Laser
Paris: Saturday, August 26, $32, 3:00
Venice: Saturday, September 16, $32, 3:00
www.fathomevents.com
imax.com/reneefleming
Here in New York City, we’ve been spoiled when it comes to superstar soprano Renée Fleming. The Grammy-winning Rochester native has been performing at the Metropolitan Opera House since her 1991 debut as Countess Almaviva in Le Nozze di Figaro; this season she appeared as Clarissa Vaughan in The Hours. Fleming has also been on Broadway twice, in Living in Love in 2015 and Carousel in 2018, as well as the Shed in the 2019 drama Norma Jeane Baker of Troy.
Now we get a chance to see another side of Fleming as she visits two of the great international cities, exploring their music and culture in two one-day-only IMAX screenings. On August 26, you can immerse yourself in Renée Fleming’s Cities that Sing: Paris, followed September 16 by Renée Fleming’s Cities that Sing: Venice.
“My career has taken me to stages all over the world singing repertoire that is so virtuosic, so beautiful and enriching, and now I get to bring some of that experience to movie screens through this spectacular pairing of IMAX and Fathom Events,” Fleming said in a statement. “This is an extraordinary combination that allows these two special films to be seen by the largest possible audience.”
In Paris, Fleming, focusing on chamber pieces and arias by such composers as Reynaldo Hahn, Gabriel Faure, Léo Delibes, Jacques Offenbach, Georges Bizet, and Giuseppe Verdi, is joined by tenor Piotr Beczała, soprano Axelle Fanyo, baritone Alexandre Duhamel, pianist Tanguy de Williencourt, and the Orchestre Victor Hugo Franche-Comteat, conducted by Jean-François Verdier, at the Théâtre du Châtelet as they take a musical journey through the City of Lights; she also sits down for a conversation with French couturier Alexis Mabille and Canadian opera director Robert Carsen.
In Venice, concentrating on classic works by such Italian composers as Verdi, Gioachino Rossini, and Giacomo Puccini, Fleming performs at the Teatro La Fenice with tenor Francesco Meli, baritone Mattia Olivieri, mezzo-soprano Paola Gardina, and the Orchestra Del Teatro La Fenice conducted by Riccardo Frizza; she also discusses the City of Canals with Frizza and La Fenice artistic director Fortunato Ortombina.
Renée Fleming guides viewers through the City of Canals in Renée Fleming’s Cities that Sing: Venice (photo courtesy IMAX and Stage Access)
Presented by IMAX, Fathom, and Stage Access, the films are directed by Francois-Rene Martin (Baroque Odyssey: A Birthday Concert in the Gardens of William Christie, Edward Elgar: The Dream of Gerontius) and lavishly photographed and lit by Julien Jaunet as Fleming sings in the gorgeous theaters, visits local shops, takes a gondola ride, and engages in outdoor conversations about art and culture.
“Opera is called grand opera for a reason: It’s larger than life, incorporating every art — instrumental music, singing, drama, poetry — into one major art form that is a wonderful experience on the big screen,” Fleming added.
[Mark Rifkin is a Brooklyn-born, Manhattan-based writer and editor; you can follow him on Substack here.]