Of course, the mezzo-soprano with the the supple, creamy voice and the easy bright highs cannot but be a hit in skirt roles as well. Dorabella in Mozart's Cosi fan tutte is one such role; she has sung the role at Covent Garden (where she was "costumed" by Armani) and the MET, among others. Also at the MET in 1999, she sang a fantastic Charlotte (in Massenet's Werther). Berlioz' heroines, Béatrice (in Béatrice et Bénédict) and Marguerite (in La Damnation de Faust) have long been a part of her repertoire.

More recently, at the Salzburg Festival last summer, she drew raves for her first foray into soprano territory - Iphigenie in Gluck's Iphigenie en Tauride. And no doubt, critics and fans alike can't wait for her Hanna Glawari (in Lehar's The Merry Widow) which she will sing in Houston in January 2003. Also in the works: Donna Elvira in Mozart's Don Giovanni and Dido in Berlioz' epic Les Troyens - coming to the Châtelet in 2003.

The "skirt roles" Susan Graham has created have perhaps shaped her career as much as the "trouser roles" that have drawn a lot of press. Arianna in the Covent Garden production of the Monteverdi-Goehr opera, for example, was an important highlight in 1995, as was Jordan Baker, though not a major role, in the MET's Great Gatsby.

But the most defining moment of recent times has got to be her riveting performance as Sister Helen Prejean in San Francisco Opera's controversial opera, Dead Man Walking, which, against all expectations, played to a sold-out house night after night. To many, it was the performance of her life!

To date, i.e., one must add. For clearly, though she has earned her place among the stars, Susan Graham's career is not even half over.