On the beat: Graves's schedule takes her from Bucharest to Berlioz; Spencer's Light set to sing in Chicago; Eggerth awarded Austrian silver.(Denyce Graves)(Elizabeth Spencer's novella, The Light in the Piazza adapted to music by Adam Guettel)(Marta Eggerth receives Austria's Grand Decoration of Honor)(Interview)

Are there any other performers today who exhibit the kind of career dedication that DENYCE GRAVES does? Graves has the kind of professional sensibility that's hard to find these days; no matter what the project, she works like a demon, and she's got a rapidly growing following to show for it. Recently, I called her on her cell phone and found her--quite literally--on her way to the hospital for some minor surgery. I wouldn't have blamed her for hanging up; instead, she graciously took the time to fill me in on the highlights of her upcoming schedule.

Beginning September 10, Graves does her bit for the Berlioz bicentennial when she sings Marguerite in La Damnation de Faust at Los Angeles Opera, led by KENT NAGANO. She has performed the role in concert on four separate occasions, but the L.A. run will mark the first time she's sung it in a fully staged production. "I love the arias," she says. "'D'amour l'ardente flamme' is one of my favorites. I heard LEONTYNE PRICE sing it when I was just beginning studying, and I fell in love with it. I love L.A. too, even though there's an issue which is quite serious--I try to stay in Santa Monica where the air is cleaner. I'm looking forward to singing with SAMUEL RAMEY and PAUL GROVES. I've worked with both of them in Paris on The Rake's Progress."

Between opera engagements, Graves travels extensively on behalf of the U.S. State Department, which recently appointed her cultural ambassador. And in November, PBS will telecast a concert she recently performed at Philadelphia's Mann Center, with the Philadelphia Chamber Orchestra, STEVEN MERCURIO conducting. Backed up by guest artists TAKE SIX and PATTI LaBELLE, Graves plunges into a wide range of styles, from Bizet to Piazzolla to gospel to pop standards such as "Blues in the Night" and the old JUDY GARLAND number "The Joint is Really Jumpin' Down at Carnegie Hall."

For more than fifty years, she has been one of America's most prodigiously gifted novelists and short-story writers. Now, at age eighty-two, ELIZABETH SPENCER has had an experience known to only a handful of authors: the thrill of seeing one of her works set to music. The story -novella, actually--in question is her most famous one, The Light in the Piazza, which last June reached the stage of Seattle's Intiman Theatre in ADAM GUETTEL's new musical version. The book is by the Intiman's associate artistic director CRAIG LUCAS, who also staged the production. The show has received considerable press attention; not only is The Light in the Piazza a well-known property, but Guettel happens to be the grandson of ...