William Berger Introduces Our Opera and Film Guests -- Susan Graham

One of the truly great names in the history of opera, Susan Graham was born in Roswell, New Mexico (which explains so much, we keep ribbing her) and raised in Midland, Texas. In roles ranging from Mozart to Strauss to Berlioz to the concert repertory to roles she has created in new works (The Great Gatsby, An American Tragedy, Dead Man Walking), she displays the same utter command of the art in question. What I’ve always appreciated about her vocalizing since she hit the scene in the late 1980s is her ability to take you quite out of linear time when she sings (maybe that’s the Roswell thing?) – and not just on the operatic stage. Whenever people ask me to recommend one single piece of transcendental singing, I direct them to the YouTube of Susan singing the Ave Maria at Ted Kennedy’s funeral. What even is happening there? Oh also… she’s a Chevalier of the Legion of Honor. Susangraham.com