Susan Graham takes the stage in Carnegie Hall’s Stern Auditorium with Nicholas McGegan and the Orchestra of St. Luke’s on Thursday, April 7, highlighting two composers with a flair for the theatrical and with exceptional skill in setting the English language. She sings three works by Purcell: “Bess of Bedlam” from Silent Shades, “Music for a While” — originally composed as incidental music for Oedipus — and “Dido’s Lament” from Dido and Aeneas. Britten’s Phaedra follows, a modern take on the Baroque cantata tradition set to text from Robert Lowell’s translation of Racine’s Phèdre. The program is bookended by two late Haydn symphonies: Nos. 75 and 98. Find tickets and more information here.

On Wednesday, April 6, Susan joins Nicholas McGegan and the orchestra at the DiMenna Center for Classical Music for a discussion and concert preview, free for ticketholders.