When Susan Graham, the Grammy Award winning mezzo-soprano, steps onto the Kennedy Center Concert Hall stage Saturday, she will be gowned in white. Her attire reflects the innocence and purity of the angelic women she is about to portray musically. In a dramatic switch of personality, she reappears for the second portion of the recital garbed in black, a signal that one of opera’s most talented actresses is about to inhabit the soul of Lady Macbeth and her evil musical sisterhood.
“This has been such fun to go into the many aspects of women, their relationships and the situations they find themselves in,” she said. “Music always comes first, but as I channel the character in my head, the empathy I feel for her is often determined by the costume.”
Fifteen years ago, she first heard Scottish pianist and singer Malcolm Martineau accompanying Bryn Terfel. “I was floored by his playing and enormous personality on stage,” she said. “His piano can be sweet and brilliant on stage and, during our travels, he is like an old, dear friend. Once again, he joins me on this recital tour.”
| Onstage |
| Susan Graham |
| Where: Kennedy Center Concert Hall |
| When: 3 p.m. Saturday |
| Info: $25 to $65: 202-785-9727; wpas.org |
After studying at Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music, Graham captured a trio of major prizes: the Metropolitan Opera National Auditions, an award from the prestigious San Francisco Opera’s Merola Opera Program and a Career Grant from the Richard Tucker Music Foundation.
“Growing up in Texas and New Mexico, I thought of France as an exotic country,” she said. “I loved the elegance of the language and my first visit there changed my life. The culture speaks to me, so I felt at home immediately. When I was young, I grew to love Ravel and Debussy while listening to my mother play the piano.”
Although Graham loves classical opera, she enjoys emoting in updated versions that place her character in modern surroundings. Consequently, she is in demand by contemporary composers for her versatility. She created the key roles at the Metropolitan Opera as Jordan Baker in John Harbison’s “The Great Gatsby” (1999) and as Sondra Finchley in Tobias Picker’s “An American Tragedy” (2005). Her role as Sister Helen in Jake Heggie’s “Dead Man Walking” (2000) with San Francisco Opera was a ground-breaking event.
