British-born Canadian mezzo Susan Platts has been delighting audiences around the world with her expertise in art song; her first solo album of songs by Robert Schumann, Clara Schumann and Johannes Brahms earned her critical acclaim. Known for her Mahler interpretations, she’s been featured on recordings singing both the full and concert versions of Das Lied von der Erde and Lieder eines fahrenden Gesellen. She’s sung Mahler with symphonies from San Diego to Baltimore, Toronto to Santa Barbara, and Philharmonics from Boston to New Mexico, to Calgary and Krakow as well as Orchestre Métropolitain, Canadian Opera Company Orchestra, and Germany’s Staatskapelle Halle. And that’s just the tip of the iceberg; Platts is also becoming more active in the opera world, having performed everything from Dido and Aeneas to Nixon in China while hitting Wagner, Britten, Bellini, Bernstein and Gluck along the way. The National Post called her “the next Maureen Forrester” and she’s received rave reviews from publications like The New York Times, Washington Post, and Toronto Star.
It took a few tries to get the best connection for our interview. I was calling Susan from Montreal and she was at her home in Chicago after singing two performances with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra under Peter Oundjian the previous Thursday and Friday. Truth be known, I hadn’t ever met Platts in person.
