Renee Fleming: After 25 years in Chicago, much more than a remarkable soprano

CHICAGO - A little over a quarter-century ago, a gifted soprano stepped onto the Lyric Opera stage for the first time, playing the title character in Carlisle Floyd's "Susannah."

Listeners were impressed.

"Fleming's creamy, flexible, steady soprano rose to the dramatic pages without compromising the purity of her lyrical singing," wrote my colleague John von Rhein, the Tribune's former classical music critic. "Her aria and ballad were ravishingly sung, welling up as from deep emotional pools."

Since then, Fleming has been much more than just another remarkable soprano with a luxuriant voice worth savoring regardless of repertoire. As Lyric Opera's first creative consultant, a post she assumed in 2010, she has helped