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Genre-defying ‘Diva’

Opera legend Racette out with live album of cabaret and standards

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Cover art for Patricia Racette's new album 'Diva on Detour.' (Image courtesy GPR Records)

Cover art for Patricia Racette’s new album ‘Diva on Detour.’ (Image courtesy GPR Records)

Opera legend Patricia Racette ā€” who was just in Washington last month for the lead in Washington National Opera’s production of “Manon Lescaut” ā€” is switching gears radically (at least temporarily) and has released a live album of cabaret-esque standards called, appropriately, “Diva on Detour.”

The album, recorded almost exactly a year ago, finds her covering standards such as “I Got Rhythm,” “Here’s That Rainy Day” and several French numbers associated with Edith Piaf (“La Vie En Rose” et. al.). For those of us who only know Racette by her stunning opera singing, this recording is a real jolt. I wondered, going into it, if she would still sound like an opera singer using, in some capacity, her opera voice ā€” kind of the inverse of what Aretha Franklin does when she tackles opera. No matter the aria, Franklin sings them as a soul/pop singer would. Racette, however, sings in a totally different register and little on the disc would indicate to those unfamiliar with her career, that she even possessed the stratospheric range she does.

Racette, down to earth and unpretentious with the audience, makes a joke of this telling of how her late mother Jackie used to admonish her to “sing in your chest voice.” Racette also tells how this was the music ā€” not opera ā€” on which she cut her musical teeth.

Racette, who’s performed cabaret sets at Alexandria’s Birchmere among other venues, is convincing throughout. Her interpretive abilities with this kind of material are impressive and she’s a master of phrasing and nuance. However the singer ā€” who’s been out as a lesbian for years ā€” would not likely have ever gained fame had she used this kind of music as her launching pad. While a delight to hear, no other recording I’ve heard comes close to illuminating the musical concept of tessitura ā€” the range at which a human voice is at its loveliest. It has nothing to do with range ā€” Racette handles these relatively low notes (for her) with ease. At no point on the album does she sound in the least bit strained or vocally “reaching.” And while it’s a delight to hear, she’s no Linda Eder or Patti LuPone when it comes to this kind of thing.While they could never hope to hit the high notes Racette hits in opera, their voices have a luster and sheen in this range that Racette’s voice lacks.

Still no one should begrudge Racette a side project like this. Her aforementioned interpretive abilities more than justify the disc. Music lovers, however, should know that this is ultimately a curiosity piece. Brilliant pianist Craig Terry ā€” the only accompaniment here ā€” is perfect throughout. He supports the singer skillfully by helping to keep things moving while never getting in the way. Go here to find out more about the project.

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Photos

PHOTOS: Walk to End HIV

Whitman-Walker holds annual event in Anacostia Park

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The 2024 Walk to End HIV is held in Anacostia Park on Saturday, Dec. 7. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

Whitman-Walker Health held the 38th annual Walk and 5K to End HIV at Anacostia Park on Saturday,Ā Dec. 7. Hundreds participated in the charity fundraiser,Ā despite temperatures below freezing. According to organizers, nearly $450,000 was raised for HIV/AIDS treatment and research.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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PHOTOS: The Holiday Show

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington performs at Lincoln Theatre

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The Gay Men's Chorus of Washington perform 'The Holiday Show' at Lincoln Theatre. (Washington Blade photo by Michael Key)

The Gay Men’s Chorus of Washington performed “The Holiday Show” at Lincoln Theatre on Saturday. Future performances of the show are scheduled for Dec. 14-15. For tickets and showtimes, visit gmcw.org.

(Washington Blade photos by Michael Key)

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Books

Mother wages fight for trans daughter in new book

ā€˜Beautiful Womanā€™ seethes with resentment, rattles bars of injustice

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(Book cover image courtesy of Knopf)

ā€˜One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Womanā€™
By Abi Maxwell
c.2024, Knopf
$28/307 pages

“How many times have I told you that…?”

How many times have you heard that? Probably so often that, well, you stopped listening. From your mother, when you were very small. From your teachers in school. From your supervisor, significant other, or best friend. As in the new memoir “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman” by Abi Maxwell, it came from a daughter.

When she was pregnant, Abi Maxwell took long walks in the New Hampshire woods near her home, rubbing her belly and talking to her unborn baby. She was sure she was going to have a girl but when the sonogram technician said otherwise, that was OK. Maxwell and her husband would have a son.

But almost from birth, their child was angry, fierce, and unhappy. Just getting dressed each morning was a trial. Going outside was often impossible. Autism was a possible diagnosis but more importantly, Maxwell wasn’t listening, and she admits it with some shame.

Her child had been saying, in so many ways, that she was a girl.

Once Maxwell realized it and acted accordingly, her daughter changed almost overnight, from an angry child to a calm one ā€“ though she still, understandably, had outbursts from the bullying behavior of her peers and some adults at school. Nearly every day, Greta (her new name) said she was teased, called by her former name, and told that she was a boy.

Maxwell had fought for special education for Greta, once autism was confirmed. Now she fought for Greta’s rights at school, and sometimes within her own family. The ACLU got involved. State laws were broken. Maxwell reminded anyone who’d listen that the suicide rate for trans kids was frighteningly high. Few in her town seemed to care.

Throughout her life, Maxwell had been in many other states and lived in other cities. New Hampshire used to feel as comforting as a warm blanket but suddenly, she knew they had to get away from it. Her “town that would not protect us.”

When you hold “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” you’ve got more than a memoir in your hands. You’ve also got a white-hot story that seethes with anger and rightful resentment, that wails for a hurt child, and rattles the bars of injustice. And yet, it coos over love of place, but in a confused manner, as if these things don’t belong together.

Author Abi Maxwell is honest with readers, taking full responsibility for not listening to what her preschooler was saying-not-saying, and she lets you see her emotions and her worst points. In the midst of her community-wide fight, she reveals how the discrimination Greta endured affected Maxwell’s marriage and her health ā€“ all of which give a reader the sense that they’re not being sold a tall tale. Read this book, and outrage becomes familiar enough that it’s yours, too. Read “One Day I’ll Grow Up and Be a Beautiful Woman,” and share it. This is a book you’ll tell others about.

The Blade may receive commissions from qualifying purchases made via this post.

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