Susan Graham & Orpheus perform Rorem at Carnegie Hall (May 11)
Susan
Graham’s recording Songs by Ned Rorem, featuring Malcolm Martineau at the piano, was issued by
Erato in 2000, abundantly praised by numerous critics, and nominated for a Gramophone Award for “Best Vocal Recording” of
the year. A decade after the
recording was made, Rorem has orchestrated some of his songs especially for the
popular mezzo. With Orpheus
Chamber Orchestra, she will sing world premieres of three brand new Rorem songs
as well as premiering eight newly-orchestrated arrangements in a series of
concerts culminating at Carnegie Hall on May 11.
One reviewer called the Rorem CD “a marvelous anthology”, praising the
way “Graham is constantly attentive to the marriage of music and text … and
phrases their little worlds into being with grace and wit. She can shade to a sweet vanishing
point or allow her voice to blossom, orchid-like, into a dazzling profusion of
colors.”
Time magazine portrayed Rorem as “the
world’s best composer of art songs”; to Graham, he is “the godfather of
American song, with thoughtful melodies that go straight to the heart.” She explains: “I’m thrilled that
Orpheus has commissioned orchestrated versions so that we can revisit these
jewels in a new way.” Graham,
herself dubbed “America’s favorite mezzo” by Gramophone magazine, is an avid recitalist and
– like Rorem – a keen Francophone and member of France’s distinguished “Ordre
des Arts et des Lettres”. She
enhanced her rich discography with last year’s release Un frisson français:
A Century of French Song – 24 songs by 22 composers, ranging from Bizet to Poulenc – which has
been widely acclaimed. Opera
News wrote: “Susan
Graham brings her sumptuous voice and sensuous feel for the French language to
an appealing assortment of songs ranging from Édouard Lalo’s 1856 ‘Guitare’ to
Francis Poulenc’s 1961 mini-cantata, La Dame de Monte-Carlo … . A cohesive recital, without sounding like a repertoire
survey class.”
In the
weeks leading up to the concerts with Orpheus, Susan Graham will have been in
Paris and Munich singing the role of Charlotte in Massenet’s Werther; after the Carnegie Hall
performance she returns to Europe for a recital tour of – French songs!
# # #
Susan
Graham: upcoming engagements
May 7
Easton,
PA
Overture
Hall
Rorem: Songs
for Susan
Orpheus
Chamber Orchestra
May 9
Madison,
WI
Williams
Center
Rorem: Songs
for Susan
Orpheus
Chamber Orchestra
May 11
New
York, NY
Carnegie
Hall
Rorem: Songs
for Susan
Orpheus
Chamber Orchestra
June 3
Berlin, Germany –
Philharmonie
French recital
June 11, 14
London, England –
Barbican
London Symphony Orchestra
/ Haitink
Ravel: Shéhérazade
June 17
Vienna, Austria –
Konzerthaus
French recital
June 21
Brussels, Belgium – La
Monnaie
French recital