Susan Graham is one of those rare singers who combine broad audience appeal with critical approbation. She has won a Grammy, for a stellar CD of Charles Ives songs with Pierre-Laurent Aimard, and sings on the greatest operatic stages of the world, in works ranging from Mozart to new operas like Tobias Picker’s An American Tragedy. It was hardly surprising, therefore, that Graham’s recital on Friday night in the Kennedy Center Terrace Theater was sold out weeks ago, especially since her inventive and exquisite program focused on one of her specialties, the French art song, or mélodie. With very few old favorites, the 24 songs by 22 composers (only Fauré and Debussy merited more than one piece) provided a “tasting menu,” in Graham’s words, a connoisseur’s guided tour of the less traveled départements of French song.
Graham is a native Texan, raised in Midland, through which she made a connection to President Bush. He has invited her to sing at the White House a few times, but her concerts there probably did not include any “Freedom” songs. Texas accent and all, Graham’s French pronunciation was very good, with a few odd vowels here and there, which is in line with reviews of Graham by French critics. Her pianist, Malcolm Martineau (who helped design the program), provided an expert and colorful sonic backdrop, which was especially appreciated in the less immediately appealing parts of this recital. Every word, every note was weighed, considered, and placed, but some songs made greater impressions.
Graham’s voice is one of the silkiest among today’s mezzo-sopranos, perhaps on the small side by comparison to others, but that is actually a bonus in the song repertoire. Her boundless breath support was on display at the end of Où voulez-vous aller?, a charming barcarolle by Gounod, when she returned to the last repeat of the refrain, very softly and without a breath. Her low range is smooth and rarely forced, though with plenty of sound in Saint-Saëns’s Danse macabre, a mistuned waltz for zig-zagging skeletons. One of the discoveries of this recital was Les cigales by Emmanuel Chabrier, a composer whose songs need to be performed more often. Martineau’s right hand captured the chirping of the eponymous cicadas, “those little bugs that have more soul than viols” and “sing better than violins.”
Photo of Susan Graham by Mitch Jenkins
