Rare opportunity to see famed soprano Renee Fleming in Modesto

Modesto’s Gallo Center for the Arts has attracted some of the world’s greatest stars in its decade-plus existence, a feat that continues this season.

Notably next up: renowned American soprano Renee Fleming, who will take the Gallo Center stage in an afternoon appearance on Sunday, Jan. 28.

The late conductor Sir Georg Solti – among the most highly regarded conductors of the late 20th century – called Fleming one of the two greatest sopranos he has ever met. Her accomplishments are numerous and widely known both inside and outside the opera world.

Some of those outside-the-opera-world accomplishments might be surprising to some:

Fleming has starred on the world’s most prestigious opera stages. She also has appeared on “Sesame Street.”

She has recorded arias by Mozart. And also songs by Death Cab for Cutie.

She has performed at Buckingham Palace. And also at the Super Bowl.

She starred in a Broadway show and she sang on the soundtrack for “The Lord of the Rings: The Return of the King.”

It’s that range of work, from the popular to the esoteric, that has earned Fleming the title of “The People’s Diva.”

Fleming’s Modesto performance – a recital program with accompaniment by pianist Hartmut Höll – is just one more feather in the Gallo Center’s rarefied-talent cap that has included famed violinist Itzhak Perlman, R&B superstar John Legend and Broadway/film star Kristin Chenoweth.

The Gallo Center performance will be one of three Northern California stops on Fleming’s current tour, along with shows in Stanford and Sonoma. It’s also among only four West Coast appearances, along with a single show in Los Angeles.

Her Modesto program will touch on the aforementioned range Fleming has notched during her career. Gallo Center Director of Marketing Doug Hosner said her selections will include those from Handel, Brahms and Dvorak, to Broadway’s Robert Meredith Willson and Richard Rogers and even Rufus Wainwright.

It’s the Gallo Center’s continued reputation among venues that helped book Fleming, Hosner said.

“We have an excellent relationship with her representatives at IMG Artists, and we have some history in presenting comparable classical artists including Itzhak Perlman and Joshua Bell,” he said.

Tickets for Fleming’s performance so far have attracted not only local people but also those from outside the Modesto and Mother Lode regions, Hosner said, including from San Jose, the East Bay, Sacramento and Fresno.

Modesto audiences also should take advantage of the chance to experience her vocals live, he said.

“It’s a rare opportunity to see such an icon, no different in its way than seeing an Itzhak Perlman, a John Legend, a Kristin Chenoweth or even a Jay Leno,” Hosner said of past Gallo Center artists, “performers who have reached the absolute pinnacle of their art.”

This story was originally published January 25, 2018 at 3:58 PM with the headline "Rare opportunity to see famed soprano Renee Fleming in Modesto."