Ren茅e Fleming, Kelli O鈥橦ara, and Joyce DiDonato on Returning to The Hours

For the premiere of Kevin Puts鈥� The Hours last season, the Met pulled out all the stops, uniting sopranos Ren茅e Fleming and Kelli O鈥橦ara and mezzo-soprano Joyce DiDonato in a casting coup that had gushing that 鈥測ou couldn鈥檛 ask for a lusher trio.鈥� A moving adaptation of Michael Cunningham鈥檚 novel and subsequent Oscar-winning film, the smash-hit opera runs until May 31, with all three superstars back to portray the women whose efforts to find meaning in their lives intertwine across eras.

The divas recently reflected on the experience of bringing The Hours to the Met and looked ahead to its anticipated return.

Kelli O'Hara and Ren茅e Fleming in *The Hours* Evan Zimmerman

The premiere of The Hours created a sensation throughout New York. Why do you think audiences responded so strongly?
Kelli O'Hara: We had all been through the pandemic, so we could connect with the themes of loneliness, mental health, family, regret over our past choices. This piece came at the perfect time to help people explore those emotions. I think it was cathartic.

Joyce DiDonato: That was the experience not only for the audience but also for the performers. In one music rehearsal, the chorus was behind us, and all we heard was tears. Later, one of them came up to me and said, 鈥淎fter the rehearsal, I just went to everybody in the building that I was close to, and I told them I loved them. I was just compelled to tell them I loved them.鈥� That鈥檚 what this piece evoked in all of us.

Ren茅e, you were part of The Hours from the beginning. What attracted you to this story?
搁别苍茅别&苍产蝉辫;贵濒别尘颈苍驳: When the film came out, I went crazy for it. The fact that these three women had such rich inner lives and that Michael Cunningham took Virginia Woolf and Mrs. Dalloway and created this story that spans three different periods was extraordinary. So, when Kevin asked to work on an opera with me and The Hours was on the short list of possible titles, I said, 鈥淭hat鈥檚 it!

Kelli and Joyce, how familiar were you with The Hours before working on this opera?
O'Hara: I remember reading the novel when it was new and being enthralled by the internal stories of the characters. When I heard that Ren茅e and Kevin had the idea to adapt it into an opera, I immediately knew how powerful it could be to expand these internal lives through music.

DiDonato: I actually had a hard time with the film when it first came out. I don鈥檛 think I was in a place to understand it, or maybe I just couldn鈥檛 go there. And when the offer came to be a part of this, that was actually my first instinct. I see now that, even though it deals with death head-on, it鈥檚 actually life-affirming.

Joyce, how do you approach portraying a person who actually lived, like Virginia Woolf?
DiDonato: I really tried to avoid making her a caricature or imitating her literally. For example, her speaking voice couldn鈥檛 be farther away from my singing voice. It鈥檚 much more important to be authentic to the true essence of her as a person鈥攈er creativity, her despondency, her mania, and also her humor. And to do that, I really delve into what the score is asking of me, rather than try to present a biographical study.

Henry Baker Schiff, Luka Zylik, Mitzi Solarino, and Joyce DiDonato in *The Hours* Evan Zimmerman

Ren茅e and Kelli鈥攚hile not historical figures, your characters are no less compelling.
Fleming: Rarely in opera do we get to play women who feel like real people, with real issues. Portraying Clarissa Vaughan felt like a breath of fresh air. She is a woman who鈥檚 in charge. She鈥檚 a leader. But at the same time, she is troubled by the sense that she may have made a choice that she regrets. And this is something everyone can relate to.

O'Hara: Laura Brown feels like the most real character I may have ever played. Maybe it was because we had just come out of lockdown, when I had stood behind my stove preparing three meals a day for my small-ish children. I could relate to her. I love being that person for my family and would never make the choices she makes. But I know many women who grew up in the 鈥�50s, and there are little pieces of her in them. Her struggles are very human and very identifiable.

What have been some of the musical highlights of performing this work?
Fleming: Kevin鈥檚 score is full of so much rich melodic material鈥攖hings that I鈥檝e never heard from any other composer. The top of Act II is so achingly beautiful that, if I were sitting in the audience, I would just be sobbing. And then, of course, there鈥檚 the final trio when he ties all of our characters together and which had everyone weeping.

DiDonato: So much of the score is like that. A few minutes into the first act, Ren茅e has this absolutely stunning moment when the knife goes into your heart鈥攊n the best, most operatic way鈥攁nd then it鈥檚 about two hours of a really slow twist. And it鈥檚 breathtaking how Kevin employs the chorus to give voice to the characters鈥� inner thoughts.

What are you looking forward to about bringing The Hours back this season?
O'Hara: It鈥檚 a gift to share the Met stage with Ren茅e and Joyce in any form, but that final trio, with three eras, three stories, three women meshing together in a final musical moment, side by side, breathing together, and leaning into each other, that will live on as a true highlight of my career. I can鈥檛 wait to have that experience with them again.

DiDonato: I always relish a second run, because while we give our all for the premiere, there is no substituting the power of time to work its magic. One of the reasons La Traviata and La Boh猫me move us so deeply is that we have lived these stories for so long that the characters feel like old friends. And I believe that will happen with this opera as well. With time, everything becomes richer and more nuanced.