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."
"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 handlng 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 Times