One of the great pleasures of my semester in New York is the ability to go to "smaller" events and when I learned that the Metropolitan Opera Guild was having a night with Renee Fleming I made sure I got a ticket. Renee Fleming is my favorite opera singer and so, like many in the audience, I enjoyed this lovefest. I want to know why she looks younger and more beautiful as she ages. She really was not as striking when she began her career. I suspect she just manages her image more now and that's fine with me. I have an emotional, visceral reaction to Renee Fleming in part, I suspect, because she reminds me of a lovely young friend of Beth's. Erin Schlather was the Ithaca High School senior class president who also had a beautiful voice and great presence. Erin died in a tragic car accident in 2004 and many people mourned her loss. Last night's event included wonderful clips of Renee Fleming's performances and an interview with her on stage. She was directly in front of me (about 8 rows) and was as beautiful, funny and articulate as she appears in other interviews. The program ended with her exquisite performance of "You'll Never Walk Alone" at the Obama Inauguration which I'll include in this link in honor of Erin and all those families who "walk through the storm".
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