Denyce Graves's Second Act

"When the curtain of New York's Metropolitan Opera House rose for the closing matinee of Porgy and Bess in January, the boos that typically accompany the entrance of the show's villains were a mere murmur. The nearly 4,000 people who packed the space to capacity-175 of them standing-room ticket holders who remained on their feet for the opera's three-and-a-half-hour run time-had come to cheer."

"Thirty-one years before, Denyce Graves had made her Met debut in t he title role of Georges Bizet's Carmen. The mezzo-soprano had been a revelation, her full, rich voice and lusty physicality defining the role for a generation. Graves was a diva in the original, operatic sense: a world-renowned performer who made journalists wilt, and whose name alone was enough to draw crowds. But here she was, playing a supporting character in Porgy and Bess."

"After intermission, but before the opera resumed, the entire company crowded onto the stage, and the house rose to its feet. Peter Gelb, the company's general manager, presented Graves with a plaque recognizing her career. It would be installed in the Met's List Hall, where aspiring artists audition. "My heart is unrehearsed at having to hold so much love," Graves said, tearing up and taking a few beats to collect herself. "It has never been asked to hold this capacity of love before.""

A closing matinee at New York’s Metropolitan Opera House drew nearly 4,000 people who came to cheer rather than boo. Denyce Graves, who debuted at the Met 31 years earlier as Carmen, returned to play Maria, the matriarch of Catfish Row in Porgy and Bess. The performance marked her final appearance ever and a return to the opera that launched her career in 1985. After intermission, the company gathered onstage and the house stood as general manager Peter Gelb presented Graves with a plaque recognizing her career for installation in the Met’s List Hall. Graves expressed emotion about holding an unusually large capacity of love.

Read at The Atlantic