An Interview With Susanna Phillips
Susanna Phillips
Susanna Phillips, Mozartean soprano and the Met’s beloved Musetta, recently took the time to answer some questions about Musetta and Mimì in La Bohème, Kaija Saariaho and modern opera, and her love of chamber music. Let’s dive in!
Growing up in Huntsville, Alabama, there weren’t many classical music events around for young Susanna. Regardless, her parents took advantage of every opportunity to expose her to the beauties of opera. “My father loves classical music, and was always playing it at home. My parents took me to my first opera {at the Met!} when I was 7, but it wasn't until high school that it began to click with me.” Did it ever click! To this day, she still attends the opera when she isn’t singing, although “I have young children so I can't go as often as I'd like, but I try to see as much as I can. I also love going to the theater and concerts (classical and not!).” Now she lives in New York, so the Met “feels like home. They do many majestic productions. And the people backstage, in the pit, in the rehearsal rooms are wonderful people.”
Susanna as Musetta in La Bohème (Marty Sohl/Met Opera)
Susanna made her Met debut as Musetta in Puccini’s La Bohème in 2008 (400 people from her hometown came to see her!), and it quickly became her signature role. “I LOVE singing Musetta! She is pure joy, a woman who leads with her heart. She's a doer, the one who makes things happen. Decisive. I love playing strong women. Hopefully I'll get to revisit her someday.” She was the Met’s Musetta for a whole decade before stepping aside to make room for others to don the fabulous red dress.
Amazingly, her interpretation remained fresh and exciting every year. How did she do it? “It is helpful when the music and character writing are full and deep — that gives you a lot to explore and hone,” Susanna elaborated. “It was fun finding different shades of her character throughout the years, discovering new things each time. Also, her character is informed by how the rest of the cast is portrayed and sung, especially Marcello.”
However, no voice stays the same forever. “Age, bearing children, and experience have changed [my voice],” Susanna explained. “It is slightly fuller and has gained more color in the middle and lower registers.” She made her role debut as Mimì in La Bohème at the Met this spring. It was hard for me to imagine her as Mimì to someone else’s Musetta, but I saw her and she was wonderful! (Even just her “party trick” cough would be enough to qualify her.)
Susanna as Mimì in La Bohème (Ken Howard/Met Opera)
“I love all of the characters in La Bohème because they are real — flawed and relatable. Mimì knows she is sick but pushes it out of her mind and tries to hide it because she wants to LIVE…” Making the switch from Musetta to Mimì has “been a trip! I love Mimì’s music, and it is so satisfying to sing. While preparing it, though, I kept making mistakes in Acts 2 and 4. My ear perked up with Musetta's music, so I had to work with a coach to reorient myself in the score.”
What hasn’t changed is her love of Mozart and chamber music. Chamber music is “some of the best music written. The intimate collaboration with just a few musicians rather than the hundreds that it takes to put on an opera allows for more flexibility.” Her favorite chamber music composers — Schubert, Britten, Respighi, and Ravel, to name a few — are quite unlike Mozart! “I love singing Mozart — it's a balm for the voice. His music allows for such deep expression within the musical line, and that moves me. I love singing Fiordiligi [from Così fan tutte] and Donna Anna [from Don Giovanni]. The Countess [from Le Nozze di Figaro] and Donna Elvira [also Don Giovanni] are so much fun to play!” She will sing Donna Anna in Boston Baroque’s production of Don Giovanni next April. She is still waiting to debut many of her dream roles, including the Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier and the title roles in Rusalka, Jenůfa, Arabella, Alcina, and Iphigénie en Tauride. General managers of the operatic universe, give her a call!
Susanna in L’Amour de Loin (Ken Howard/Met Opera)
In 2016, Susanna starred in the Met premiere of Kaija Saariaho’s surreal L’Amour de Loin, only the second opera by a woman ever to come to the Met. “I loved singing Clémence. Kaija Saariaho wrote such a sumptuous and colorful score. At first, it was tricky to learn, but as we rehearsed it became natural.”
Tragically, Saariaho died on June 2nd after a private battle with glioblastoma, but not before premiering her final opera, Innocence, about struggles in the wake of a school shooting in Finland. Innocence will come to the Met in the 2025-26 season. Susanna “was so sad to learn about Kaija's death. She was a musical force and developed a unique and strong compositional voice. She always wore red lipstick to rehearsal, and her face beamed. To me, what is special about her music are the color worlds she creates.”
Susanna is excited about the future of opera, including the rise of contemporary works. “I love singing modern opera. All opera was modern opera at one point, and it is essential to hear new voices and new ideas as our world changes and evolves.” She’s unsure about how AI will change things, but “it is here and is not going away. So we should find a way to wield its power for good.” She later mused, “I think opera is something people come to when they're ready. Just the other day I heard a friend who had just gone to his first La Bohème say, ‘I never knew it, but I guess I'm an opera fan. I actually really enjoyed it.’ Exposure matters, and you never know how or when it will impact someone. Telling stories that are relatable and writing deep, thoughtful, and beautiful music will affect people no matter their age.”
Or singing affectingly, beautifully, and thoughtfully, as Susanna does.
