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Tag: The Star Spangled Banner

  • Renée Fleming Delivers National Anthem At Super Bowl XLVIII

    This past Sunday’s Super Bowl (XLVIII) was one to remember with various highlights and lows that happened throughout the whole duration. With many so concentrated on the different teams’ performances, along with the commercials, the music of the Super Bowl helps create the explosive atmosphere of this once-a-year event. The American National Anthem is also one of the pieces performed during the Super Bowl that helps set the tone for the whole event, and this year, it was performed by well-known opera singer Renée Fleming.

    Fleming is an American classical soprano singer who has been performing since the 1980s during her graduate studies at Julliard, and she currently serves as the Creative Consultant for the Lyric Opera of Chicago. Her musical concentration consists of: Mozart, Richard Strauss, Handel, and other classical opera composers. Fleming has also been the recipient of various prestigious musical awards, such as: the Richard Tucker Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Swedish Polar Music Prize.

    Fleming has also recently become visible in the media with various performances at media-attended events, such as: her performance of “You’ll Never Walk Alone” at We Are One: The Obama Inaugural Celebration at the Lincoln Memorial back in 2009, along with an appearance on The Dave Letterman Show in 2013, where she sang The Top 10 Opera Lyrics.

    On Sunday, February 2nd, 2013, Fleming gracefully performed the American National Anthem “The Star-Spangled Banner” (assisted by the Armed Forces Color Guard) at the 48th Super Bowl at the MetLife Stadium in East Rutherford, New Jersey:

    http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7etXoNrwP8c

    Prior to the game, Fleming announced via Twitter that she would be performing the National Anthem and invited viewers to tune in for her performance.

    According to The New York Times, Fleming was the first opera singer to perform the National Anthem at the Super Bowl. This makes a milestone for both the Super Bowl’s history, as well as how far opera music has come.

    A day later, Fleming tweeted a picture of her and Queen Latifah, who had earlier performed “America The Beautiful.”

    Various celebrities who watched the Super Bowl tweeted their appreciation for Fleming’s outstanding performance.

    Image via YouTube (0:53)

  • Renee Fleming Nails National Anthem

    We wouldn’t have known it before kickoff, but Renee Fleming’s rendition of The Star Spangled Banner may have been the highlight of the night. The Seattle Seahawks handily defeated the Denver Broncos in yesterday’s Super Bowl 43 – 8. But at least audiences got the pleasure of hearing a LIVE version of the national anthem accompanied by a grandiose 32-voice military choir backed by a pre-recorded track of the New Jersey Symphony Orchestra.

    Ms. Fleming is the first opera singer to get a chance at performing the anthem for a Super Bowl. We are typically accustomed to hearing pop singers and divas take a swing at Francis Scott Key’s nearly impossible song to sing. Last year, we heard Alicia Keys. The five years priors were all female pop superstars: Kelly Clarkson, Christina Aguilera, Carrie Underwood, Jennifer Hudson, Jordin Sparks. Interestingly enough, four of those five were American Idol standouts.

    If you were wondering if perhaps Fleming was aided by some sort of backing vocal track, like Whitney Houston was in her remarkable performance in 1991, the opera singer set the story straight before the big game. “It would be a disaster. I only know how to sing live.”

    The 54-year-old soprano is a four-time Grammy winner. She’s quite famous among the opera crowd and is known for her powerhouse voice. The fans in the stands and players alike seemed mesmerized by her lyrical performance. Fleming has performed at the White House for President Obama. The Metropolitan Opera regular also sang the national anthem at the 2003 World Series in Yankee Stadium.

    Music appeared to take center stage last night, as the game seemed to be over by the end of the first half. In fact, today most people are talking about the performances of Fleming, Queen Latifah (who sang America the Beautiful before the game), and the half-time show which featured Bruno Mars and the Red Hot Chili Peppers.

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    Image via Twitter