65-year-old Amercement mezzo-soprano Susanne Mentzer has announced that she is retiring from the opera stage. She posted the message in her social media when returning from Nozze di Figaro performances at the Seiji Ozawa Festival in Matsumoto, Japan. « Going out in my own terms. I could not have had a more loving andtalented group of people to be with for my final show. My first opera was Figaro and my last was as well. I have no more contracts so decided at 65.5 years of age and after 42 years singing professionally, it was a good time. »
Susanne Mentzer is best known for singing trouser roles, such as Cherubino in Mozart’s Le nozze di Figaro, Idamante in Mozart’s Idomeneo, Octavian in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier and the composer in Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, as well as other music of Mozart, Strauss, Rossini, Berlioz and Mahler. She sung at all the major opera houses and made many recordings.
Through 2012, she served on the faculty of Rice University’s Shepherd School of Music. She previously served on the faculty of DePaul University. She has a private studio based in San Francisco and in Carmel. In 2016, she became a full-time Professor of Voice at the San Francisco Conservatory of Music
