Susan Graham Pays Tribute to Marilyn Horne at Carnegie This Saturday (Jan 17), Tours West Coast with Malcolm Martineau (Feb 24-March 5)
“An artist to treasure.” — New York Times
Grammy Award-winning mezzo-soprano Susan Graham – a singer “now at her vocal peak,” says the Philadelphia Inquirer – kicks off her New Year by appearing as a special guest at the Marilyn Horne Song Celebration at Carnegie Hall this Saturday, January 17. Next month, Graham revels in her beloved Berlioz across the Atlantic, singing his song cycle Les nuits d’été with the London Symphony Orchestra under Sir Mark Elder at London’s Barbican Hall (February 5), and then the French composer’s dramatic cantata La mort de Cléopâtre in Belgium with the Royal Flemish Philharmonic (February 12-14). The Associated Press has declared Graham’s “the ideal voice for Berlioz – a mezzo with a dark richness that blossoms into lush soprano-like tones.” Back in the U.S., Graham teams with favorite pianist Malcolm Martineau for a recital tour of California from February 24 to March 5, stopping in Davis, Palm Desert, Berkeley and Palo Alto. The pair will also perform in Santa Fe on March 12 and at the Musée d’Orsay in Paris on March 19, before closing this run together in New York City on April 2 with an intimate performance in the Michael Palm Series for Classical Action: Performing Arts Against AIDS. About Graham and Martineau together, the New York Times said after a 2012 recital at Carnegie Hall: “Her singing was simply gorgeous, with Mr. Martineau providing a pulse both steady and supple.”
This spring, Graham returns to the Metropolitan Opera to take the title role in Tony Award-winning director-choreographer Susan Stroman’s new staging of Lehár’s The Merry Widow, running from April 24 to May 7. It’s one of the singer’s signature roles, with Variety calling her “everybody’s dream Widow.” With art-nouveau sets by Julian Crouch and costumes by William Ivey Long, this take on Lehár’s great operetta of 1905 sees Graham performing as Hanna Glawari alongside Danielle de Niese’s Valencienne, Rodney Gilfry’s Danilo and Stephen Costello’s Camille. Met Principal Conductor Fabio Luisi will be on the podium.
Graham – whose accolades include not only the Opera News Award and Musical America Vocalist of the Year but also the French government’s prestigious “Chevalier de la Legion d’Honneur” for her services to French music – closes the season with more Berlioz, portraying Dido in Berlioz’s epic Les Troyens at San Francisco Opera, from June 7 to July 1. This is San Francisco Opera’s premiere presentation of the David McVicar production, hailed at its Covent Garden debut as “a major event” by The Guardian. Graham will perform alongside Bryan Hymel as Aeneas, with Donald Runnicles conducting. Two seasons ago, when the Met broadcast a starry revival of Les Troyens to cinema audiences worldwide in the company’s hit Live in HD series, Graham was widely acknowledged as its standout star. The New York Times said: “The big news is mezzo-soprano Susan Graham … whose portrayal is sumptuous, regal and impassioned.”
Susan Graham: upcoming engagements
Jan 17
New York, NY
Carnegie Hall
Marilyn Horne Song Celebration (special guest)
Jan 29
Tucson, AZ
University of Arizona
Recital
Feb 5
London, UK
Barbican Centre
London Symphony Orchestra / Sir Mark Elder
Berlioz: Les nuits d’été
Feb 12–14: Belgian tour with Royal Flemish Philharmonic
Berlioz: La mort de Cléopâtre
Feb 12: Brussels
Feb 13 & 14: Antwerp
Feb 24–March 5: Californian recital tour with Malcolm Martineau, piano
Feb 24: Palm Desert, CA (McCallum Theatre)
Feb 26: Davis, CA (Mondavi Center)
March 1: Berkeley, CA (Cal Performances, University of California)
March 5: Palo Alto, CA (Stanford Live, Stanford University)
March 3
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Conservatory
Masterclass
March 12
Santa Fe, NM
Performance Santa Fe
Recital (with Malcolm Martineau, piano)
March 19
Paris, France
Musée d’Orsay
Recital (with Malcolm Martineau, piano)
April 2
New York, NY
Classical Action’s Michael Palm Series
Recital (with Malcolm Martineau, piano)
April 24, 27 30; May 7
New York, NY
Metropolitan Opera
Lehár: The Merry Widow (Hanna Glawari)
June 7, 12, 16, 20, 25; July 1
San Francisco, CA
San Francisco Opera
Berlioz: Les Troyens (Didon)
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© 21C Media Group, January 2015
