CANDIDE

Constance Hauman rose to international prominence when Leonard Bernstein chose her as a last-minute replacement for an ailing June Anderson, assuming the role of Cunegonde in “Candide” on twenty-four hour notice, for the momentous occasion of the composer conducting the renowned operetta with the London Symphony Orchestra. As a result, Miss Hauman went on to perform Candide in a four-month engagement at the Ahmanson Theater in Los Angeles (Gordon Davidson directing), a new production for Opera Theatre of Saint Louis, and the first French translation on a tour of France. She subsequently has been heard as a soloist with orchestras around the world and in the United States in concerts featuring the aria “Glitter and Be Gay.”

LULU

“If the production was acclaimed on opening night, it was largely because of a young American soprano, Constance Hauman, who was singing the role of Lulu for the first time. Not only did critics praise her handling of the immensely taxing score, but also she injected deep poignancy into her portrayal of Lulu’s fall from cruel splendor to humiliation and death.” [LULU – Gronnengårds Teatret, Copenhagen]
— New York Times

EXILES IN PARADISE

(written, directed and performed by Constance Hauman ©1997)

“The … audience … was treated to one of the most original chamber concerts in recent memory. Highlighting the transitional music of these Jewish composers whose works were banned by the Nazis and largely forgotten, Miss Hauman’s thought-provoking program was a brave attempt to restore a portion of this largely lost 20th-century repertoire…. Miss Hauman proves an incomparable interpreter of these difficult, challenging songs. Catching every nuance with nearly perfectly crafted phrasing, she channeled the composers, the music and the period directly to the audience with uncanny precision. From Berg’s troubled musings to the toxic sexuality of Schoenberg’s cabaret songs, Miss Hauman successfully resurrected the brooding end of a civilization largely invisible to us for nearly a century.” [Recital of post-romantic German art song – Austrian Cultural Forum at the Austrian Embassy] — Washington Post | exilesinparadise.com

THE NEW YORK TIMES
“Constance Hauman, a wonderfully fresh, flexible soprano, gives us a spectacular performance as Cunegonde. Ms. Hauman’s superb comic timing is matched by an ability to convey vulnerability and sweetness.”

THE WASHINGTON POST
“The … audience … was treated to one of the most original chamber concerts in recent memory. Highlighting the transitional music of these Jewish composers whose works were banned by the Nazis and largely forgotten, Miss Hauman’s thought-provoking program was a brave attempt to restore a portion of this largely lost 20th-century repertoire…. Miss Hauman proves an incomparable interpreter of these difficult, challenging songs. Catching every nuance with nearly perfectly crafted phrasing, she channeled the composers, the music and the period directly to the audience with uncanny precision. From Berg’s troubled musings to the toxic sexuality of Schoenberg’s cabaret songs, Miss Hauman successfully resurrected the brooding end of a civilization largely invisible to us for nearly a century.” [Recital of post-romantic German art song – Austrian Cultural Forum at the Austrian Embassy] —

THE NEW YORK TIMES
“If the production was acclaimed on opening night, it was largely because of a young American soprano, Constance Hauman, who was singing the role of Lulu for the first time. Not only did critics praise her handling of the immensely taxing score, but also she injected deep poignancy into her portrayal of Lulu’s fall from cruel splendor to humiliation and death.” [LULU – Gronnengårds Teatret, Copenhagen]

THE NEW YORK TIMES
“And then there was Constance Hauman. This woman is going to be a star – a flat prediction. She was wonderful as Ariel in Lee Hoiby’s ‘Tempest’ last summer in Iowa, and she was even more wonderful as Zerbinetta in this fiendishly difficult version, with a sweet little coloratura soprano, ample agility and loads of personality. Ms. Hauman’s heroics justified a visit to this fascinating revival all by themselves.” [ARIADNE AUF NAXOS – Long Beach Opera]

LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Constance Hauman, the acclaimed virtuosic, erotic Zerbinetta of “Ariadne” found the perfect balance between hot sensuality and cool brilliance as Tytania.” [Martin Bernheimer]

THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
“Constance Hauman a lustrous coloratura soprano of wide-ranging tastes and versatility, made headlines on music pages all over Europe as the waif/sex-goddess in Alban Berg’s Lulu. Her gleaming soprano can be heard on a live recording on the Chandos label; but meanwhile her performance piece Exiles in Paradise, backed up by research worthy of a Ph.D. is tossed off with the pizzaz of a diva. And damned if Ms. Hauman doesn’t lead with ‘Falling in Love Again’ caressing Friedrich Hollander’s tune with a sensuality of phrase and brilliance of tone that owes not a lick to Marlene.”

THE GUARDIAN
‘Constance Hauman’s Morgan le Fay was sung with breathtaking ease and beauty of tone’

METRO
“Constance Hauman a Morgan le Fay has a crystal clear upper register that makes you want to melt into a puddle on the floors.”

EVENING STANDARD
“…the cast has some superb newcomers: especially Constance Hauman as Morgan le Fay”

FINANCIAL TIMES
“Constance Hauman sang the role of Morgan le Fay with fluent skill , seizing her musical opportunities in the 2nd act.”

THE OBSERVER
“There was super charged eroticism in the Constance Hauman’s Morgan le Fay; Hauman made her a wonder to behold and the sounds she made were quite beautiful.”

THE TIMES
“Constance Hauman’s Morgan le Fay is simply sensational, high flying lines and words crisply projected.”

CLASSICAL MUSIC
“…a fine Morgan le Fay from Constance Hauman.”

LOS ANGELES TIMES
“Constance Hauman is the best of a new generation of opera stars who can act, move and take interpretive chances without sacrificing their magnificent technique”

LOS ANGELES TIMES
~ Lulu recording
“Constance Hauman, one of the most exciting American singers on the lyric stage today and now we have her gripping, sultry new recording of ‘LULU’ on Chandos”

OPERA NOW
~ Die Schweigsame Frau
“Constance Hauman, who learned the devilishly difficult role of Aminta in a month due to Natalie Dessay’s cancelation, brought sumptuous Straussian tone and spine tingling Timbre redolent of Lucia Popp.”

NEW YORK NEWSDAY
~ Viennese 20th century composers recital
“Constance Hauman-who recently triumphed in the role of Alice/Renee in Olga Neuwirth’s opera ‘LOST HIGWAY’ is sensitive to the larger issues as well. She has made The music of 20th century German Jewish composers her specialty. She is a performer whose presence obviously fills a big stage but can make intimate, sensual moments flirting between poetic texts and seductive lyrical tonality, yet bringing out the disturbing shadows of dissonance.”

FINANCIAL TIMES
~ Lost Highway
“Curvaceous, crystalline-voiced Constance Hauman throws so much sex around the stage as Renee/Alice it borders on illegal.”

LOS ANGELES TIMES
~ Lost Highway
“Lynch reportedly resists, saying hey would feel theatrically confined by an opera score. Now however the avant-garde Austrian composer, Olga Neuwirth has taken matters into her own hands and undertaken an opera based on on Lynch’s film , “Lost Highway”. Moreover, Neuwirth is writing her opera for soprano Constance Hauman, best known for her sultry Lulu.”

CONSTANCE HAUMAN BIO

Constance Hauman made her debut as a songwriter, pianist and producer with her debut solo album, Falling Into Now, chosen by The Guardian UK as #8 of the top 10 critics’ picks for the best pop album of 2015. Her 2nd solo album, High Tides, was released to critical acclaim and extensive radio play in January 2019.

She has toured the US, Europe, Australia and Japan with George Clinton and Parliament Funkadelic for most of 2017-2019 with the indie funk rock band, Miss Velvet and The Blue Wolf for which she is the music director, keyboardist, co-producer and co-writer for both their debut and sophomore albums.

Ms. Hauman’s debut with the Vienna Statsoper (Dec. 2019) as Queen Elizabeth in Olga Neuwirth’s adaptation of Virginia Wolff’s Orlando marks her return to the classical stage.

Holding many credits in the classical world, Constance is perhaps best known for having the only live recording of Alban Berg’s Lulu (Chandos) in the fiendishly difficult title role; this historic recording has been reissued several times to continued acclaim since it was first recorded in Copenhagen in a series of performances at the Queen of Denmark’s Castle, designed to celebrate Copenhagen as the Cultural City of Europe in 1996.

She went on to perform the title role again in Ivo van Hove’s equally acclaimed new production of Lulu in Antwerp and Ghent which brought a collaboration with van Hove in the world premiere of this theatre piece Alice in Bed for New York Theatre Workshop.

In 2003 Hauman received stellar reviews for the world premiere of Alice/Renee in Olga Neuwirth’s and Elfriede Jelinek’s stage adaptation of David Lynch’s film Lost Highway which was an international event when Graz Austria was chosen as the Cultural City of Europe. Performances followed in Basel Switzerland. In 2004, the recording on Kairos was a recipient of the French Diaspon D’Or for outstanding new recording with Miss Hauman in the leading female role of Alice/Renee.

Constance catapulted to international success with the London Symphony when Leonard Bernstein chose her to fill in on 24 hrs. notice to replace an ailing June Anderson in the only performances he conducted of his operetta Candide. This legendary concert performance led her to over 150 performances of Cunégonde in Candide over a 6 year period.

She made her Royal Opera House, Covent Garden debut in 2000 for the re-opening of the Opera house in the role of Morgan le Fey in Harrison Birtwistle’s Gawain.

Her many credits include: performed and recorded with the Berlin Philharmonic and Chicago Symphony under Daniel Barenboim, San Francisco Symphony under Edo de Waart, London Symphony under Michael Tilson Thomas, Seattle Symphony under Gerald Schwartz and the Japan Philharmonic, the Orquestra de Lisboa and the Vara Radio Orchestra Amsterdam and Radio France. She has performed a wide range of roles with the New York City Opera, Los Angeles Opera, Long Beach Opera, Pittsburgh Opera, Dallas Opera, Washington National Opera, Michigan Opera Theater, Miami Opera, Toledo Opera, The Santa Fe Opera, Canadian Opera, English National Opera, Welsh National Opera, Opéra de Nice, Opéra de Marseille, Opéra de Tours, Opéra de Nantes, Opéra de St-Étienne, Opéra du Rhin, Opéra de Montpellier, Théâtre des Champs-Élysées, Opéra Comique, Opéra National de Paris, Rome Opera, Teatro Communale Florence, Spoleto Festival Italy, Spoleto Festival Charleston South Carolina, Spanga Festival Holland, Hong Kong Festival.

Constance is also the creator, writer, producer, performer of Exiles in Paradise, a documentary film/live performance recital with string quartet which spans the history, lives and Hollywood stories of Eastern Europe’s exiled composers in Los Angeles from 1932–1949. Exiles opened up the Jewish Museum in Berlin on September 10, 2001. It has been performed at the 92nd St. Y. New York City, Austrian Embassy, Washington D.C., Schoenberg Hall UCLA and in 2006 for a month of performances at the Falcon Theater (Garry Marshall) in Burbank, California.

A specialist in the Viennese School, Ms. Hauman has been championed for her recitals of the rare works of Zemlinsky, Berg, Schoenberg and Schrecker in Washington DC and New York City.

In February 2009 Ms. Hauman made her theatrical debut as Florence Foster Jenkins in Souvenir, A Fantasia on Florence Foster Jenkins at The Falcon Theatre in Burbank, California, to critical acclaim. She was nominated for Best Performance in a Duo Comedy by LA Theatre Awards.

Constance Hauman is a Richard Tucker Award recipient as well as being honored with a 2008 Alumni Merit Award from Northwestern University where she studied voice and political science. Originally from Toledo, Ohio, she received an Ohio Citizens Award in 2009 for Exiles in Paradise.

Merging her illustrious and varied classical career with her love for many musical genres, Ms. Hauman is the creator/founder of the independent record label Isotopia Records, distributed by Naxos USA and Proper Music UK.

In addition to her own label, Hauman has recorded on the Kairos, Teldec, Capitol, Chandos, Naxos and Sony labels. She can be seen as Kate Pinkerton in Frédéric Mitterrand’s critically acclaimed film, Madame Butterfly.