at the MET

as Cherubino
in Mozart'sLe nozze di Figaro

(1) with Bryn Terfel as Figaro
(2) with Dawn Upshaw as Susanna and Dwayne Croft as Count Almaviva

as Dorabella
in Mozart'sCosi fan tutte

(1) with Thomas Allen as Don Alfonso and Carol Vaness (3) as Fiordiligi
(2) with Marie McLaughlin as Despina


Photo credits: Winnie Klotz Courtesy: Metropolitan Opera

Susanne Mentzer is a familiar face at the Metropolitan Opera where she performs most every season. She is shown here as Cherubino in Mozart's Le nozze di Figaro, which she has sung numerous times at the MET. The December 5, 2024 performance was aired live on the Texaco - Metropolitan Opera Radio Broadcast, as have several of her performances in past seasons. She is also seen here as Dorabella which she sang in a nationally-telecast performance during the MET's 1996-97 season, as well as in a MET tour of Japan.

Both Le nozze di Figaro and Cosi fan tutte are ensemble-type works, the kind Susanne Mentzer most enjoys. She and soprano Carol Vaness, shown here with her, have a good working partnership going, having sung in many operas together (e.g., Norma, Anna Bolena, Don Giovanni in addition to Cosi).

Elsewhere in the U.S., Susanne Mentzer also performs at the Lyric Opera of Chicago (where she has resided until her move to Houston in 2006 on her appointment as a Professor of Music at the prestigious Rice University), Houston Grand Opera, and in California (see below). Her concert engagements in the have included: Ravel's L'enfant et les Sortileges (which she has sung with Pierre Boulez and the Cleveland Orchestra in Cleveland and New York's Carnegie Hall) Berlioz' Les Nuits d'Ete (with Christoph Eschenbach and the Houston Symphony), and Alban Berg's Seven Early Songs with Hans Vonk and the Orchestre National deFrance..

In Europe, where she spent the first years of her career, she regularly performs at the great houses of La Scala, Covent Garden, the Vienna State Opera and the Opera National de Paris (Bastille) and in various music festivals.

at San Diego Opera

as Rosina
in Rossini'sIl barbiere di Siviglia
with Herman Prey as Figaro


as Octavian
in Richard Strauss'
Der Rosenkavalier

with Barbara Kilduff as Sophie


Photo credits: Il barbiere - Ken Jacques; Rosenkavalier - Ken Howard; both courtesy of San Diego Opera

Susanne Mentzer is also familiar to West Coast opera lovers. In 1987, a young Susanne Mentzer sang Rosina at San Diego Opera; she was a hit with the audience, and was invited back to sing Octavian in 1991. Scenes from these performances are shown above. She has also performed with both the San Francisco Symphony and the Los Angeles Philharmonic and has been seen in a recital of Lieder and American songs ath The Barclay in Irvine. In Oct 1999 she performed to great acclaim the "trouser role" of Romeo in Bellini's Romeo and Juliet-inspired opera I Capuleti e I Montecchi at the LA Opera.

Click HERE to learn more about Susanne Mentzer, the person.