The classic opera diva is not very much in evidence these days, but one woman is still very much upholding the grand tradition of Soprano As Center Of The Universe: Renee Fleming. “First and foremost her own voice has settled into a place where its opulence and bloom and sheer seductiveness can thrive – namely in the hothouse of late romanticism… Her critics will tell you that she is mannered, that she indulges style at the expense of sense, and sound at the expense of words. There are elements of truth in all of this. But would such accusations of self-indulgence have been levelled at her ‘golden age’ predecessors? Not on your life.”