Susan
Graham at the MET - as Octavian in Richard Strauss' Der Rosenkavalier,
her signature "pants role" and - yes, in a lady's gown!
- as Hanna in Franz Lehar's The Merry Widow. Photos
© Ken Howard, courtesy Metropolitan Opera |
Her star shineth ever so brightly...
2005
was absolutely, positively
SUSAN GRAHAM's
YEAR!
 In
February, she received her first GRAMMY - Best Classical Vocal
Performance - for her recording of songs by the American composer
Charles Ives.
 In
March, her new CD Poémes de l'amour, was released
to great critical acclaim, which in June was selected "CD
of the Month" and "Editor's Choice" by "The
Gramophone," landing her on the
magazine's cover.
And the honors kept coming!
|
In
late June, during a private ceremony in Paris, the Musée
du Louvre’s directeur général Didier Selles
presented Ms. Graham the medal of the COMMANDER OF THE
ORDER OF ARTS AND LETTERS, France's highest cultural
honor in recognition of her continuing contribution to French
music through recordings and performances of French song and opera
and her charitable work on behalf of the Louvre Museum in Paris.
The high honor puts her in good company: Paul Auster, Ornette
Coleman, Marilyn Horne, Richard Meier, Robert Paxton, Robert Redford,
Ned Rorem, and Meryl Streep are among the medal's distinguished
recipients. (She received the medal of Chevalier of the Order
of Arts and Letters in 2001.)
Soon after, it was announced that Ms. Graham has been nominated
for the Gramophone “ARTIST OF THE YEAR” Award,
considered by many to be the classical music equivalent of an
Oscar. |
Susan Graham is well known for her portrayal of "trouser
roles" - male roles intended by the composer to be sung by
lower female voices or by male castrati. Though Octavian, shown
above, is thought to be her calling card, it was her performance
of the key role of Cecilio in Mozart’s Lucio Silla
at the Salzburg Festival in the early 1990s that jump-started
her international career. It is a role she has immortalized with
a recording of “Il tenero momento,” a single aria
from the opera and also the title of one of her many solo recordings.
In the summer of 2005, she appeared as Cecilio at the Santa Fe
Opera production of Mozart's early opera (composed when he was
only about 15!) about the enlightenment of a tyrannical Roman
dictator who eventually renounces his throne and frees his people,
including two pairs of lovers reunited through his benevolence.
Indeed, 2005 was an extraordinary half-year for a singer of great
achievement!
(CLICK
to BUY the CD SUSAN
GRAHAM at CARNEGIE HALL)
(CLICK
to BUY the CD IVES:
CONCORD SONATA, SONGS)
|
Profile Poémes
de l'amour Awards
2005 In recital
C'est ça la vie
La Belle Époque
DeadMan Walking
Discography
Calendar
|
