Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall [Live]

Johannes Brahms (Composer), Claude Debussy (Composer), Alban Berg (Composer), Francis Poulenc (Composer), Andre Messager (Composer), Moises Simons (Composer), Reynaldo Hahn (Composer), Gustav Mahler (Composer), Ben Moore (Composer), Susan Graham (Performer), Malcolm Martineau (Performer) | Format: Audio CD

Product Details

• Performer: Susan Graham, Malcolm Martineau
• Composer: Johannes Brahms, Claude Debussy, Alban Berg, Francis Poulenc, Andre Messager, et al.
• Audio CD (October 7, 2003)
• SPARS Code: DDD
• Number of Discs: 1
• Format: Live
• Label: Erato
• ASIN: B0000AOVT4
• Average Customer Review: 5.0 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (2 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #157,969 in Music (See Top 100 in Music)
  • #87 in Music > Classical > Opera & Vocal > Vocal Non-Opera > Chansons

Track Listings

1. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): He, Zigeuner, greife in die Saiten ein!

2. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Hochgetürmte Rimaflut

3. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Wisst ihr, wann mein Kindchen am allerschönsten ist?

4. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Lieber Gott, du weißt

5. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Brauner Bursche führt zum Tanze

6. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Röslein dreie in der Reihe

7. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Kommt dir manchmal in den Sinn

8. Zigeunerlieder (8), for voice & piano (arranged from Op. 103): Rote Abendwolken ziehn am Firmament

9. Proses lyriques (4), song collection for voice & piano, L. 84: De rêve

10. Proses lyriques (4), song collection for voice & piano, L. 84: De grève

11. Proses lyriques (4), song collection for voice & piano, L. 84: De fleurs

12. Proses lyriques (4), song collection for voice & piano, L. 84: De soir

13. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Nacht

14. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Schilflied

15. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Die Nachtigall

16. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Traumgekrönt

17. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Im Zimmer

18. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Liebesode

19. Early Songs (7), for voice & piano (or orchestra): Sommertage

20. Quatre poèmes de Guillaume Apollinaire, for voice & piano, FP 58: L'Anguille

See all 30 tracks on this disc

Editorial Reviews

Amazon.com

Susan Graham has firmly established herself as one of our leading mezzos in opera and recital. Her voice, infinitely varied, perfectly focused, and produced, has the mellow glow of burnished bronze, but at the top she narrows her vibrato to give it a brighter, more intense quality. This live recording of her Carnegie Hall concert last April combines total vocal control with the spontaneity and excitement of a performance--complete with audience reactions--and displays her stylistic versatility, her charm, expressiveness, and communicative projection to brilliant advantage. The program features two German song cycles and several groups from her signature French repertoire. Brahms' "Gypsy Songs," one of his numerous Hungarian-influenced compositions, use texts derived from Hungarian folksongs and deal essentially with love and yearning. Graham captures all their changing moods, from melancholy to exuberance, making the last one soar ecstatically, but sometimes loses their simplicity in mannerisms and over-inflection. Alban Berg's "Seven Early Songs" on texts by various poets, written long before he became an atonalist, are super-romantic, amorous, dramatic; only the two final ones harbor hints of his future style. They are sung with rapturous inwardness. Four songs by Debussy on his own descriptive, pensive verses are calm, dreamy, mellow, caressing; four by Poulenc on poems of Apollinaire are satirical parodies; one is a bravura patter-song. Two songs by André Messager and one by Moises Simons, taken from their operettas, are basically cabaret songs and grand fun; they give Graham a fine opportunity to show the lighter side of her artistry. The encores include a serious song by Reynaldo Hahn, a humorous one by Debussy, Mahler's "Liebst du um Schönheit," a love song he wrote for his wife, and the first performance of a song written for Susan Graham by Ben Moore: a hilarious spoof on the fate of a mezzo condemned to sing trouser roles--with quotes from them--when she longs to be a "Sexy Lady." --Edith Eisler

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

10 of 11 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Susan Graham is a True Recitalist, December 15, 2004

By 

Grady Harp (Los Angeles, CA United States) - See all my reviews
(HALL OF FAME REVIEWER)    (VINE VOICE)    (TOP 50 REVIEWER)    (REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

Though not usually one for true live recordings that include audience applause and response, SUSAN GRAHAM AT CARNEGIE HALL works well on every level. Not only is she in top form (as is her collaborator Malcolm Martineau at he piano) vocally and interpretatively, she demonstrates here an obvious rapport with her audience that is magical.

The repertoire here could not be more varied - and successful in every portion of this recital. Graham's voice has that ability to move from her usual mezzo soprano range into the lyric/spinto range with the greatest of ease. The Brahms 'Zigeunerlieder' are full of zest and sparkle. The Debussy 'Proses lyriques' are sensually liquid and Graham's French diction is as perfect as it gets: the Poulenc cycle feels so very natural for all its underlying difficulties. The too rarely heard Berg 'Sieben fruhe Lieder' are elegant and involved and the Messanger and Simons highlight Graham's ease of strolling through unknown works, making them sound so familiar.

Encores are included and for once "thank goodness!" Susan Graham has a special affinity for Reynaldo Hahn and she has mad 'A Chloris' her very own. For the Mahlerites she offers 'Liebst du um Schonheit' (including a comment to the audience) and a Debussy song and a witty ditty written for her by Ben Moore - just for fun.

The audience fortunate enough to have been present during this live recording on April 14, 2003 have now a living memento. For the rest of us that magic is fully contained on this very special recording. Grady Harp, December 2004

2 of 2 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Wham!, February 11, 2010

By 

Ben Abraham "B.A." (New York, New York) - See all my reviews

This review is from: Susan Graham at Carnegie Hall (Audio CD)

I was in the audience at Carnegie Hall.
Ms. Graham came out and... wham!... she ripped right into the Brahms.
Such vigor!
I hadn't thought of Ms Graham as having such muscular intensity.
I was familiar with her sensitive elegance and lyricism -- which she, later in the evening, displayed wonderfully -- but I wasn't prepared for this explosive side of her.
I left Carnegie Hall slightly stunned.
When I stumbled upon this CD about a year later, I realized why Ms. Graham sounded extra-special that night -- the recital was extra-thoroughly prepared and conceived for this major label recording.
This is Susan Graham in top form singing a wide variety of material all of which suits her well.
Luckily, I had kept my ticket stub.
It now sits inside the jewel case of this wonderful CD.