Susan Graham Sings at Carnegie Hall, Teatro Real Madrid & Met Opera

On December 9, "peerless American mezzo"* Susan Graham joins Maestro Edo de Waart and the Orchestra of St. Luke's for a performance of Berg's Seven Early Songs at Carnegie Hall. Graham continues the holiday season on December 15-16 in "Christmas at the Basilica" with the Orchestre symphonique de Montréal, a concert that will be nationally televised in Canada. For this performance, she will also be joined by the Choeur des Enfants de Montréal and Maestro Kent Nagano in a program of holiday music. Graham kicks off the New Year at Teatro Real Madrid from January 13-25, starring opposite Plácido Domingo in the title role of Gluck's Iphigénie en Tauride, an opera on which she has already "put her own stamp" (Chicago Tribune). She takes the role to her home company, New York's Metropolitan Opera, for several dates in February and March. At Houston Grand Opera, she reprises her "breath stopping" (Independent, UK) portrayal of the Composer in Strauss's Ariadne auf Naxos, and with the Philadelphia Orchestra, she sings Marguerite in Berlioz's The Damnation of Faust, in which role the New York Times pronounced her "terrific."

When Graham made her Metropolitan Opera house role debut in Stephen Wadsworth's production of Iphigénie en Tauride, the New York Times's Anthony Tommasini judged her performance "riveting." The Wall Street Journal remarked, "Susan Graham...is making a specialty of the role. ...Tragedy suits her: her Iphigénie made the most of her dark, velvety sound and passionate intensity." Now, for the Met's forthcoming revival, Graham reprises her starring role opposite Plácido Domingo and Paul Groves in Gluck's masterful interpretation of the Greek myth. The opera opens on January 13, enjoying five dates on tour at Spain's Teatro Real Madrid before coming home to the Met for a run of six performances between February 12 and March 5.

The Texas-brEd Graham then travels to Houston Grand Opera for five appearances as the Composer in Ariadne auf Naxos, the role in which, as the Independent's Roderic Dunnett reports, she "took the [Covent Garden] auditorium by storm." Conducted by Patrick Summers and co-starring Christine Goerke, the Houston production is directed by John Cox, who succeeds in "bringing out the dichotomous nature of the theme with subtlety and finesse" (Culture Vulture); it opens on April 29.

In May, Graham returns to her signature French repertoire; as one of its foremost exponents, she has been honored by the French government with the title "Chevalier de la Légion d'honneur." Joined on May 27-28 by fellow Berlioz expert Charles Dutoit and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the mezzo stars as Marguerite in The Damnation of Faust. After the Met staged the légende dramatique, the New York Times's Tommassini explained: "The mezzo-soprano Susan Graham, an inspired choice as Marguerite, sounds terrific. She was especially fine in 'D'amour, l'ardente flamme,' ...[bringing] a lovely blend of rapturous richness and elegant restraint to this wistful aria, with its elusive melody and soothing, almost Wagnerian orchestral backdrop."

*New York Observer

Susan Graham: 2010-11 Winter/Spring engagements

December 9
New York, NY
Carnegie Hall
Orchestra of St. Luke's / Edo de Waart
BERG: Seven Early Songs

December 15 & 16
Montréal, Canada
Basilique Notre-Dame
"Christmas at the Basilica"
L'Orchestre symphonique de Montréal / Kent Nagano
Choeur des Enfants de Montréal

January 13, 16, 20, 23, & 25
Madrid, Spain
Teatro Real Madrid
GLUCK: Iphigénie en Tauride

February 12, 16, 21, & 26; March 2 & 5
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
GLUCK: Iphigénie en Tauride

April 29; May 1, 4, 7, & 10
Houston, TX
Houston Grand Opera
STRAUSS: Ariadne auf Naxos (Composer)

May 27 & 28
Philadelphia, PA
Philadelphia Orchestra / Charles Dutoit
BERLIOZ: The Damnation of Faust

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