Met Opera 2023-24 Review: Lise Davidsen in Recital
Lise Davidsen in recital, with adoring fans (Karen Almond/Met Opera)
What better way to welcome the 2023-24 season than with a smashing, double-encore, spine-tingling recital from La Davidsen?
Because Lise is the Queen of Opera. Call her the new Callas, Nilsson, Flagstad, as you like it, but she’s really the one and only Lise.
Few singers get a recital on the Met’s stage. Sonya Yoncheva and Kristin Chenoweth each did one in the 2021-22 season, but at 36, Lise is the youngest ever to sing a solo concert here. Her meteoric rise to the top of the opera world has been incredible to watch and even more so to hear, and I was determined not to miss her recital. With James Baillieu at the piano, it was a night to remember.
Lise has stunning control over her stunning instrument. Her “Ave Maria” from Verdi’s Otello was heartbreakingly quiet, rising to a lovely pianissimo at the end, and for most of the first half of the concert, she seemed to be moderating her colossal sound — I saw her Ariadne and know that she’s capable of filling every atom of the theater. “Let me know if you want more sound,” she joked (someone a few rows forward said “yes”). Deafen us, please! One of the few times Lise fully unleashed her sound in Part 1 was in “Dich, teure Halle” from Tannhäuser, her signature aria. It was a taste of what was to come in the second half, but part of what makes her The Queen is that her voice isn’t merely huge, but beautiful and expressive too.
James Baillieu and Lise Davidsen take one of many bows (Karen Almond/Met Opera)
I loved the Schubert lieder, especially Erlkönig and Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen. Erlkönig, a ghost story, which Lise delivered with intensity and suspense, in contrast to Aller Seelen, which was almost like a lullaby. However, the highlight of the evening for me was the csárdás, “Heia! heia! In den Bergen ist mein Heimatland.” I was looking forward to it, since it was also a highlight of Lise’s online pandemic recital, but I wasn’t expecting it to be this amazing. “Heia! heia!” is a lively, fun earworm of a song, and Lise invited us to clap along to Baillieu’s solo part, but when she let it rip!… The thrilling high note at the end threw the crowd (including me!) into a roar of rapture, and when she sang the same note in “I Could Have Danced All Night” from My Fair Lady, the audience screamed for an encore.
Well, we got not one, but two encores, plus about a dozen bows. When she appeared to perform her first encore, a man on the other side of Family Circle hollered, “I love you!” That got a laugh, including from Lise. The first encore was a gorgeous “Vissi d’arte” from Tosca, which only made the audience more excited, so she gave another encore: Grieg’s “Våren” (I didn’t know the song, but Lise was kind enough to write the name down for me later). “Våren” was more of a quiet goodbye, and though I thought/hoped we’d get a third encore, preferably “Es gibt ein Reich” from Ariadne auf Naxos, Lise took one more bow and left the stage for the evening. By this time, I was squealing with delight (fortunately masked by the ecstatic applause) and literally trembling, a visceral response that I sense is not unusual for Lise’s listeners.
With the Queen! (Violette Leonard)
After the concert, I had the pleasure of running into the wonderful coloratura soprano Erin Morley, and when Lise came out, I waited while Erin greeted her. Then I told Lise that she is extraordinary, doing my best to illustrate through gestures the effect her voice has on me. I don’t think I did very well, but I hope she got the sentiment. Another nice thing about Lise is that she has so much to brag about, but is still one of the humblest artists in opera. “Thank you,” I said, grateful for her and what she gives us. “Thank you.”
Thank you, Queen Lise.
