Susan Graham

The renowned American mezzo-soprano’s new roles in recent seasons include Mrs. De Rocher/Dead Man Walking (Washington), the Witch/ Hansel and Gretel (Los Angeles), the title role/Regina (St. Louis), Mrs. Anna/The King and I (Paris), Countess Geschwitz/ Lulu (Metropolitan Opera), Orlofsky/Die Fledermaus and Clairon/Capriccio (both in Santa Fe). Among Graham’s triumphs in French repertoire are the heroines of Les Troyens (Paris, New York, San Francisco), Iphigénie en Tauride (Met, Salzburg, Madrid, San Francisco, London, Paris, Toronto), Béatrice et Bénédict (Santa Fe), Werther (Met, St. Louis, Amsterdam, Paris), and La Grande-Duchesse de Gérolstein (Santa Fe). Her recitals have included a program themed around Schumann’s Frauenliebe und Leben, debuted at London’s Wigmore Hall and heard last season in Urbana-Champaign, Orange County, and Rochester (New York). This season Graham sings her first Herodias/Salome (Houston), presents a recital at Lincoln Center, and returns to one of her signature works, Berlioz’s Les nuits d’été (Vancouver Symphony).

Previously at Lyric: Nine roles since 1989|90, most recently Mrs. Patrick De Rocher/Dead Man Walking (2019|20), Dinah/Trouble in Tahiti (“Bernstein at 100” Celebration, 2017/18); Didon/Les Troyens (2016/17).

Last updated: 11/2/19
Photo: Dario Acosta