Renée Fleming has been called America’s diva, which means primarily that her profile as a celebrity is greater than that of most opera singers. In other words, she gets called to do things like sing the national anthem at the first Nationals game, sing at the memorial service at Ground Zero in Manhattan, lead holiday carols at the White House, get interviewed on Letterman, and sing on The Lord of the Rings soundtrack. Lots of…

In late October the major musical groups in Washington — the Washington National Opera and National Symphony Orchestra — take a break from performing for a couple weeks until November. You might think that their absence would mean a reduction of concert volume, but this is not really the case. In fact, we have a lot to tell you people about for the next two weeks, and without opera and symphony, we may even get…