When mezzo-soprano Denyce Graves steps onto the stage at Strathmore Sunday evening, it will be a night of firsts for her. Not only will it be her first time performing in the near acoustically perfect hall, but also her first recorded performance in that venue — both a CD and DVD, “Live at the Strathmore.”
If you go
The Washington Performing Arts Society presents Denyce Graves, Laura Ward and the Cavani Quartet.
Where: The Music Center at Strathmore, 5301 Tuckerman Lane, North Bethesda
When: 7 p.m. Sunday
Info: $35 to $85; 202-785-9727; wpas.org
“We’re turning this into quite a project,” Graves said of the concert presented by the Washington Performing Arts Society. “[Strathmore] is a gorgeous space. I’m told the acoustics are wonderful.” No stranger to the area, Graves grew up in the District, attending the Duke Ellington School for the Arts, where she saw her first operatic performance at the age of 14 and knew then exactly what career she would pursue. After putting herself through Oberlin College Conservatory of Music and the New England Conservatory, she embarked on a career that would soon find her performing with Placido Domingo and Luciano Pavarotti.
As a performer in great demand, this last season alone found Graves winning critical acclaim as Baba the Turk in a Robert Lapage production of “The Rake’s Progress” at the San Francisco Opera, appearing in the title role of “Carmen” with the Los Angeles Philharmonic at the Hollywood Bowl and making her Hong Kong debut as Charlotte in “Werther” at the Hong Kong Opera.
Her current recital tour, accompanied by pianist Laura Ward includes music of her own choosing — “every single, solitary piece,” she laughed.
“I build a program around a particular theme,” Graves continued. “This particular theme is ‘A Woman’s Life’, and it’s about falling in love, childbirth, betrayal.”
Noting there will be something for everyone in the audience to enjoy, Graves shares her chosen repertoire.
“There is one section on Gershwin,” she said, referring to “The Man I Love.” “Chausson’s ‘Chanson Perpetuelle’ is a very romantic, beautiful and heartbreaking piece. It’s almost a bit of a tone poem, a mini opera.”
Other works include Handel’s “Dopo Notte,” (one she refers to as “a very noble aria”) and Richard Rogers’, “I Wish I Were in Love Again.”
Also on the program is the all-female, Cleveland-based Cavani String Quartet, a group described by the Strad as “… passionate, interesting … and wonderfully communicative.” The quartet performs regularly on major series and festivals throughout North America and Europe.
