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Elijah with the Cleveland Orchestra: “Of
the other vocalists, Susan Platts, a mezzo-soprano, was the most consistently satisfying, with a lush, dark tone.”
The New York Times
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“Susan Platts is the real thing, an artist who instantly seizes the
attention for the bronzelike beauty of her voice. But the Canadian mezzo-soprano goes well beyond a cherishable instrument.
She is also an interpreter of fine, lyrical sensitivity…the mezzo shaped phrases with elastic care, finding colorations
and subtleties to convey the messages within. Three songs by Brahms and five by Mahler received performances of enormous poignancy,
humanity and humor, full of intimacy and attention to detail, the hallmark of a superb chamber musician…a major artist
on the rise.”
The Cleveland Plain Dealer
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Dido and Aeneas with the Vancouver Symphony:
“Purcell lavishes the best of his material on his tragic heroine, and
Susan Platts took Friday’s performance to an entirely different level of artistry. Platts’ voice has a rich timbre
coupled with an affecting purity—a combination that immediately brings to mind several great British mezzos and altos
of past generations. Her Dido exuded patrician dignity.”
The Vancouver Sun
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British-born Canadian mezzo-soprano Susan Platts
brings a uniquely rich and wide-ranging voice to concert and recital repertoire for alto and mezzo-soprano. Following a summer that includes concerts with Marin Alsop and the Baltimore Symphony (Beethoven's Ninth Symphony)
and her debut at Chicago's Grant Park Music Festival (Szymanowski's Stabat Mater), her 2008-2009 includes return
appearances with the Houston Symphony (Kindertotenlieder, Hans Graf conducting), Toronto Symphony (opening the season
in Mahler's Third Symphony conducted by Peter Oundjian), Montreal Symphony (Mahler's Eighth Symphony and
Bach's B Minor Mass, both under Kent Nagano), Pacific Symphony (Beethoven #9 led by Carl St. Clair); her Milwaukee
Symphony debut in Mahler #8 conducted by Andreas Delfs; and recitals with the baritone Brett Polegato in New York and
Washington, D.C. She recently made debuts at Italy's La Scala and San Carlo theatres, and return appearances with
Vancouver Symphony, Malaysian Philharmonic, and Cleveland Orchestra. Other recent highlights
include Mahler's Second Symphony with Carl St. Clair and the Pacific Symphony,
Bach's Christmas Oratorio, Mahler's Second and Third Symphonies
with Kent Nagano and the Montreal Symphony, Elgar's Dream of Gerontius with Grant Llewellyn and the North Carolina Symphony, Mendelssohn’s Elijah
with David Loebel and the Memphis Symphony, the Verdi Requiem with Pinchas Zukerman
and the National Arts Centre Orchestra and Bruno Ferrandis and the Santa Rosa Symphony; Argento’s Casa Guidi with Osmo Vänska and the Minnesota Orchestra; Beethoven’s Ninth
Symphony and Missa solemnis with the Colorado Symphony; and recitals on the
major art song series of Cleveland, Washington, D.C., San Francisco and New York (Frick Collection and Lincoln Center
"Art of the Song" series.) The 2007-2008 season includes the Verdi Requiem with the Orlando
Philharmonic; Mahler #2 with Benjamin Zander and the Akron Symphony; Mahler #8 with Yoav Talmi and the Quebec Symphony; Bach's
St. Matthew Passion and Beethoven #9 with the Detroit Symphony.
In May of 2004, as part of the Rolex Mentor and Protégé Arts Initiative, world-renowned
soprano Jessye Norman chose Ms Platts from 26 candidates world-wide to be her protégée. Since then, she has had the honor
of mentoring with Ms Norman.
Ms
Platts has performed at Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center
as well as performances with the Philadelphia Orchestra, CBC Radio Orchestra, L’Orchestre de Paris, Les Violons du Roy,
American Symphony Orchestra, Oregon Bach Festival, and Los Angeles
and Saint Paul Chamber Orchestra. She has collaborated with many conductors including Roberto Abbado, Christoph Eschenbach,
Sir Andrew Davis, Bramwell Tovey, Jane Glover, Helmuth Rilling and Itzhak Perlman. Ms Platts has opened two of America's premier art song series: the Vocal Arts Society at the Kennedy Center,
in Washington D.C. and the "Art of the Song" Series at Lincoln Center, in New York City and has given acclaimed recitals on
the major series of Cleveland, San Francisco, Louisville and throughout her native Canada.
Ms. Platts has recorded Mahler’s Das Lied von der Erde for Fontec Records with Gary Bertini conducting the Tokyo Metropolitan Orchestra, a CD of
dramatic sacred art songs with pianist Dalton Baldwin, Gustav Mahler's Lieder eines
fahrenden Gesellen with the Smithsonian Chamber Players and Santa Fe Pro Musica for Dorian Records and Brahms Zwei Gesänge with Steven Dann and Lambert Orkis on the ATMA label. She
has also recorded a CD of the music of Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms.
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