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Susan Graham became one of the world's best-loved mezzo-sopranos by playing young boys – "trouser roles" as they're known in the opera business. Today on Soundcheck she talks with host John Schaefer about how she's recently turned away from her signature roles and taking on stronger, more dramatic characters. Many of these are out of the mainstream, in operas by Berlioz, Gluck, Jake Heggie, and Franz Lehár ("The Merry Widow," currently playing at the Metropolitan Opera). Graham is also a distinguished interpreter of art songs, a genre that composer Phil Kline gives a fresh twist on new recording titled, "Zippo Songs: Airs of War and Lunacy." The song cycle looks at the nature of war using poems inscribed by G.I.'s on their cigarette lighters during the Vietnam War.
Additional Resources:
Susan Graham's Web site
Phil Kline’s Zippo Songs on Cantaloupe Records