Susan Graham Explained
Susan Graham (born July 23, 1960) is an American mezzo-soprano.
Life and career
Susan Graham was born in Roswell, New Mexico on July 23, 1960. Raised in Midland, Texas, Graham is a graduate of Texas Tech University and the Manhattan School of Music. Her teachers have included Cynthia Hoffmann and Marlena Malas. She studied the piano for 13 years.[1] She was a winner in the Metropolitan Opera's National Council Auditions, and also a recipient of the Schwabacher Award from the Merola Program of San Francisco Opera.
Graham made her international début at Covent Garden in 1994, playing Massenet's Chérubin.[2] She has also premièred several roles in contemporary operas, including John Harbison's The Great Gatsby (Jordan Baker), Jake Heggie's Dead Man Walking (Sister Helen Prejean), and Tobias Picker's An American Tragedy (Sondra Finchley).[3]
Graham is a noted champion of the French song repertoire[4] and of songs by contemporary American composers, including Ned Rorem and Lowell Liebermann.[5] She made her Carnegie Hall recital debut in April 2003,[6] and a recording of this recital was later released.
Graham sang "Bless This House" at George W. Bush's second inauguration on January 20, 2005,[2] and Schubert's "Ave Maria" at the nationally televised funeral mass for Senator Edward M. Kennedy of Massachusetts on August 29, 2009. She is a US delegate for UNESCO.[7] [8]
Opera roles
Her operatic roles include:
Awards
- 2001 Chevalier of the Order of Arts and Letters (Chevalier dans l'Ordre des Arts et des Lettres)[27]
- June 2005 Commander of the Order of Arts and Letters
- Musical America 2004 Vocalist of the Year
- 2004 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance, for her album Ives: Songs (The Things Our Fathers Loved; The Housatonic At Stockbridge, Etc.)
- 2005 Opera News Award
- September 5, 2006 Midland, Texas first annual "Susan Graham Day"[28]
- May 2008, Honorary Doctorate, Manhattan School of Music
Some of the recordings have also received awards. See below.
Recordings
- 1992
- 1995
- Scenes from Goethe's Faust (Schumann) Bryn Terfel, Karita Mattila, Jan-Hendrik Rootering, Barbara Bonney, Endrik Wottrich, Iris Vermillion, Brigitte Poschner-Klebel, Susan Graham, Hans Peter Blochwitz, Harry Peeters, Berliner Philharmoniker, Claudio Abbado (conductor). Sony Classical 66308
- 1996
- 1997
- Béatrice et Bénédict (Berlioz). Catherine Robbin (Ursule), Gabriel Bacquier (Somarone), Gilles Cachemaille (Claudio), Jean-Luc Viala (Bénédict), Philippe Magnant (Léonato), Susan Graham (Béatrice), Sylvia McNair (Héro), Vincent le Texier (Don Pedro), Lyon Opera Orchestra and Chorus, John Nelson (conductor). MusiFrance 2292
- The Gold & Silver Gala Graham duets with Plácido Domingo in "Là ci darem la mano". EMI Classics 56337
- Les nuits d'été and Opera Arias (Berlioz) Les nuits d'été Op. 7 and songs from La Damnation De Faust Op. 24, Benvenuto Cellini, Les Troyens, Béatrice et Bénédict. Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, John Nelson (conductor) Sony 62730
- 1998
- 2000
- Strauss: Der Rosenkavalier Act 1 – closing scene; Act 3 – Trio and finale; Arabella Act 1 duet; Capriccio – closing scene. Renée Fleming (Marschallin), Barbara Bonney, Susan Graham (Octavian), Vienna PO, Christoph Eschenbach (conductor) Decca 466 314-2[29]
- Songs of Ned Rorem (Rorem) Malcolm Martineau (piano) Rorem's settings of poems by Paul Goodman, Theodore Roethke, Witter Bynner, Tennyson, Walt Whitman and others. Erato 80222[30] [31]
- Alcina (Handel) Renée Fleming, Susan Graham, Natalie Dessay, Kathleen Kuhlmann, Timothy Robinson, Laurent Naouri, Juanita Lascarro, Michael Loughlin-Smith, Maurizio Rossano, Laurent Collobert, Eric Demarteau, Les Arts Florissants, William Christie (conductor). Erato 80233[32]
- Berlioz: L'enfance du Christ; Three Irlande songs; Sara la baigneuse Susan Graham, François Le Roux, John Mark Ainsley, Montreal SO and Chorus, Dutoit. Decca[33]
- 2001
- 2002
- Dead Man Walking (Heggie) Susan Graham, Catherine Cook, Robert Orth, Frederica von Stade, Nicolle Foland, David Harper, San Francisco Opera Orchestra, Patrick Summers (conductor). Erato 86238-2[35]
- C'est ça la vie, c'est ça l'amour (Songs by Moïse Simons, Messager, Maurice Yvain, Honegger, Hahn, and Mahler) City of Birmingham Symphony Orchestra, Yves Abel (conductor). Erato 42106
- 2003
- 2004
- Songs (Ives) 2005 Grammy Award for Best Classical Vocal Performance. Pierre-Laurent Aimard (piano), Emmanuel Pahud (flute), Tabea Zimmermann (viola). Warner Classics 2564 60297-2 (with Concord Sonata)[39] [40] [41] [42]
- Vanessa (Barber). Susan Graham (Erika), Christine Brewer (Vanessa), William Burden (Anatol), Michael Davis, Neal Davies (The Old Doctor), Catherine Wyn-Rogers (Old Baroness), Simon Birchall (Nicholas), Stephen Charlesworth (Footman), BBC Singers (Servants, Guests, Peasants), Anthony Legge (conductor), BBC Symphony Orchestra, Leonard Slatkin (conductor). Chandos CHSA 5032[43]
- Les Troyens (Berlioz) – DVD. Susan Graham (Didon), Gregory Kunde (Énée), Laurent Naouri (Narbal), Lydia Korniordou (Andromaque), Mark Padmore (Iopas), Topi Lehtipuu (Hylas/Hélénus), Fernand Bernardi (Ghost of Hector), Danielle Bouthillon (Hécube), Nicolas Courjal (Trojan Guard), Benjamin Davies (Trojan soldier), Frances Jellard (Polyxène), Anna Caterina Antonacci (Cassandre), Ludovic Tézier (Chorèbe), Renata Pokupić (Anna), Quentin Gac (Astyanax), Stéphanie d'Oustrac (Ascagne), Nicolas Testé (Panthée), René Schirrer (Priam), Laurent Alvaro (Trojan Guard), Robert Davies (Greek Captain), Simon Davies (Priest of Pluto), Monteverdi Choir, Chœur du Théâtre du Châtelet, Orchestre Révolutionnaire et Romantique, John Eliot Gardiner (conductor). Opus Arte OA 0900 D
- Dido and Aeneas (Purcell) Susan Graham (Dido), Ian Bostridge (Aeneas), Camilla Tilling (Belinda), Felicity Palmer (Sorceress), David Daniels (Spirit), Cécile de Boever (Second Woman), Paul Agnew (A Sailor), Emmanuelle Haïm (conductor), European Voices, Le Concert d'Astrée. Virgin Veritas 45605. Grammy Award nomination. Maria Callas award from the Académie du Disque Lyrique[44] [45]
- 2005
- 2006
- La clemenza di Tito (Mozart). Christoph Prégardien (Tito), Susan Graham (Sesto), Catherine Naglestad (Vitellia), Ekaterina Siurina (Servillia), Hannah Esther Minutillo (Annio), Roland Bracht (Publio). Opus Arte OA 0942 DVD
- Werther (Massenet) – DVD Thomas Hampson (Werther), Susan Graham (Charlotte), Sandrine Piau, Stéphane Degout (Albert), Michel Plasson (conductor), Châtelet Opera, Orchestre National du Capitole de Toulouse. Virgin Classics
- 2008
- Berlioz La mort de Cléopâtre Berliner Philharmoniker, Sir Simon Rattle EMI 2162240[49] [50]
- Un Frisson Français: A Century of French Song Songs by Georges Bizet, César Franck, Édouard Lalo, Charles Gounod, Camille Saint-Saëns, Emmanuel Chabrier, Émile Paladilhe, Ernest Chausson, Alfred Bachelet, Henri Duparc, Maurice Ravel, André Caplet, Albert Roussel, Olivier Messiaen, Claude Debussy, Gabriel Fauré, Reynaldo Hahn, Erik Satie, Arthur Honegger, Joseph Canteloube, Manuel Rosenthal, and Francis Poulenc. Malcolm Martineau (piano) Onyx Classics ONYX4030
- 2010
External links
Notes and References
- http://arts.guardian.co.uk/fridayreview/story/0,,1369876,00.html Martin Kettle, "America's most wanted". The Guardian, December 10, 2004.
- http://entertainment.timesonline.co.uk/tol/arts_and_entertainment/music/article1484987.ece Hugh Canning, "Everything but the girl". The Times, March 11, 2007.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2005/12/05/arts/music/05trag.html?ex=1179374400&en=d89739998224e40d&ei=5070 Anthony Tommasini, "Dreiser's Chilling Tale of Ambition and Its Price". New York Times, December 5, 2005.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2007/01/31/arts/31grah.html?ex=1179374400&en=c9974021fa030ad8&ei=5070 Allan Kozinn, "Taking a Two-Century Voyage Through the Music of France". New York Times, January 31, 2007.
- https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9F0CE7D71231F93AA25757C0A9669C8B63 Anthony Tommasini, "A Singer at Ease in Opera and in Song Repertory". New York Times, April 19, 2000.
- https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E0D7163AF93BA25757C0A9659C8B63 Allan Kozinn, "A Brisk Tour, Concluding With a Boa". New York Times, April 18, 2003.
- Web site: Susan Graham. U. S. Department of State – Commission for UNESCO .
- Web site: Mrs. Bush's Remarks to UNESCO Plenary Session in Paris. September 29, 2003 . whitehouse.archives.gov . 2019-02-02.
- The Observer (Anthony Holden) Vanessa, you've been a very lucky girl November 23, 2003
- The Guardian (Tim Ashley) Vanessa November 18, 2003
- Philip Anson Béatrice et Bénédict: Bis! July 1, 1997
- http://www.thirteen.org/13pressroom/press-release/great-performances-at-the-met-les-troyens/ Great Performances at the Met – “Les Troyens”
- The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) A new leash of life August 19, 2000
- [Renée Fleming]
- The Guardian (Martin Kettle) Great Scott! Jay and Daisy bring the jazz age to the Met
- Web site: Winn. Steven. December 7, 2020. Opera San Jose Pulls Off a Holiday Miracle with Three Decembers. March 24, 2021. San Francisco Classical Voice.
- https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9400E7DF1F3FF937A15751C1A9659C8B63 Anne Midgette, "How to Take a Widow Three Stages Past Merry". New York Times, December 24, 2003.
- https://query.nytimes.com/gst/fullpage.html?res=9E07E7D81F3EF931A35752C0A9629C8B63 Anthony Tommasini, "The Merry Widow Meets The Embarrassed Fiancée". New York Times, January 2, 2004.
- The Guardian (Alfred Hickling) Louche cannon October 10, 2003
- https://www.nytimes.com/2004/10/26/arts/music/26lyri.html?ex=1179374400&en=a97c9f9deeb70f9e&ei=5070 Bernard Holland, "What Use an Update if Hearts Beat Still the Same?". New York Times, October 26, 2004.
- The Guardian (George Hall) La Clemenza di Tito May 4, 2005
- https://www.nytimes.com/2005/08/01/arts/music/01sant.html?ex=1179547200&en=b2d4889eee8892ef&ei=5070 Bernard Holland, "Haunted by the Deaths of Martyrs, a Century Apart". New York Times, August 1, 2005.
- https://www.nytimes.com/2005/09/27/arts/music/27naxo.html?ex=1179374400&en=bd8ce250fd1323a7&ei=5070 Anthony Tommasini, "A Lithuanian Soprano Creates Her Own Ariadne ". New York Times, September 27, 2005.
- The Guardian (Tim Ashley) Ariadne auf Naxos June 24, 2004
- The Observer (Anthony Holden) Even the corpse is fantastic
- https://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/15/arts/music/15rose.html?ex=1179374400&en=c4ecc97e6b10c567&ei=5070 Jeremy Eichler, "Lushly Lamenting the Wages of Time and a Lost Golden Age". New York Times, March 15, 2005.
- http://www.frenchculture.org/people/honorees/roremgraham.html Ned Rorem and Susan Graham Decoration
- http://www.lyricopera.org/img/news/immediate.pdf Midland, Texas declares Sept 5 “Susan Graham Day”
- The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) Other classical releases February 4, 2000
- The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Other classical releases March 31, 2000
- Eric Dahan: French: Les méli-mélodies de Susan Graham. French: Libération, May 3, 2000 (interview).
- The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Pretty vacant February 18, 2000
- The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) Classical CD releases November 3, 2000
- The Guardian (Tim Ashley) Classical CD releases April 6, 2001
- The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Classical CD releases April 5, 2002
- BBC Classical Review (Andrew McGregor) Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall (includes audio samples)
- New York (Peter G. Davis) Cosi Fan Tutte, Beatrice et Benedict, Susan Graham
- News: On track: Album captures special occasion for Susan Graham . Dart, William . November 26, 2003 . . November 15, 2011.
- BBC Classical Review (Andrew McGregor) Ives: Concord Sonata, Songs, Pierre-Laurent Aimard/Susan Graham
- The New York Times (Jeremy Eichler) The Best Classical CD's of 2004; IVES: SONGS, 'CONCORD' SONATA
- The Observer (Anthony Holden) Ives, Piano Sonata No 2 'Concord' May 16, 2004
- The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Ives: Piano Sonata No 2, Concorde; Songs: Graham/ Aimard May 7, 2004
- The Guardian (Edward Greenfield) Barber: Vanessa, Brewer/ Graham/ Wyn-Rogers/ Burden/ Davies/ BBC Singers and SO/ Slatkin
- BBC Classical Review (Andrew McGregor) Purcell: Dido and Aeneas, Susan Graham, Ian Bostridge etc (includes samples)
- The New York Times (Allan Kozinn) The Best Classical CD's of 2004; PURCELL: 'DIDO AND AENEAS'
- The Guardian (Andrew Clements) Chausson Poème de l'Amour et de la Mer; Ravel: Shéhérazade; Debussy (arr. Adams): Le Livre de Baudelaire: Graham/ BBC SO/ Tortelier May 20, 2005
- The Observer (Anthony Holden) Debussy/Chausson/Ravel, Songs May 15, 2005
- The Observer (Anthony Holden) Classical CDs: Mozart | Sacred Songs | Matthew Taylor October 23, 2005
- Rick Jones Simon Rattle: Berlioz – Symphonie Fantastique The Times August 30, 2008
- [Anthony Holden]