Susanna Phillips Graces Vanity Fair For MET Return

The soprano photographed in Santa Fe
(Photo: Erik Madigan Heck)

"A native of Alabama and southern to her core—five years ago more than 450 Alabamians attended her Met debut, as Musetta in La Bohème, a role she reprises this season—Phillips, 32, is a sparkler herself. She is almost six feet tall and a former basketball player: 'You can’t be almost six feet tall in Alabama and not play basketball,' she says, laughing. Then there’s her big, glorious voice—glittering in the upper register, lustrous in the lower. To date, she has made the Mozart repertory particularly her own, both at the Met and at the Santa Fe Opera. 'He’s my musical home,' she says. Phillips will also star this season as Rosalinde in the Met’s sumptuous new Sacher torte of a Die Fledermaus, which debuts on New Year’s Eve. But first, there’s that eagerly awaited Così. 'I’m so excited,' says Phillips, who has collaborated only once before with Levine. 'He never really needed to say anything; he showed you what to do. By the way he used his arms I found myself wanting to make music with him.'" [Source]