Krysty Swann Soars

Read my review published today in the Style section of the Washington Post:

Charles T. Downey, Krysty Swann at the Phillips Collection
Washington Post, May 31, 2011

Krysty Swann has a voice, and she knows how to use it, as she showed in an hour-long recital at the Phillips Collection on Sunday afternoon. The Detroit-born mezzo-soprano, whose star has been rising since she was featured a few years ago in New York City Opera’s production of Richard Danielpour’s opera “Margaret Garner,” displayed an instrument of immense power, natural beauty of tone and luscious legato line.

Not surprisingly, she excelled in operatic selections with which she seemed most familiar and sang without a score. Arias from Massenet’s “Werther,” Cilea’s “Adriana Lecouvreur” (“Acerba volutta” for the Princesse de Bouillon) and Saint-Saens’s “Samson et Dalila” indicated that Swann’s strengths lie in dramatic mezzo territory. The voice makes a broad swath of sound, the vibrato not spinning out of control, with a vol­canic chest voice and equally blazing high notes, shown in one fell swoop on a two-octave run at a particularly thrilling point in “Amour! Viens aider ma faiblesse!” [Continue reading]

Krysty Swann, mezzo-soprano
With Steven Silverman (piano) and Elizabeth Field (violin)
Phillips Collection