This is Decca’s eighth release featuring Lise Davidsen, following hard on the heels of a Live at the Met recording released earlier this year. This is her first album devoted to Verdi, and it includes scenes from Macbeth, Un ballo in maschera, La forza del destino, Don Carlo and Aida.
As readers surely know, Davidsen is considered by many to be one of today’s greatest operatic sopranos. The Metropolitan Opera’s Peter Gelb describes her as “the greatest Wagnerian talent since Birgit Nilsson and Kirsten Flagstad,” and conductor Antonio Pappano describes her voice as “one-in-a-million.”
The singing on this album makes it hard to argue with such superlatives: Davidsen has tremendous power and consistency across an extended vocal range, although her control is such that she produces an impressively soft, silvery color when needed. The many high climactic notes heard in this recital ring out with a glistening brilliance that few can match. Yet despite this superb technique, not everything proved moving.
I should acknowledge that I am not a fan of these “bleeding chunks” recitals. The publicity argues that there is a coherent framework for the selections, an exploration of the “emotional worlds of five remarkable women.” But with several selections lasting less than five minutes, a stop-and-start engagement is inevitable. The London Philharmonic plays wonderfully, with lots of energy, but sometimes there seems to be a generalized emotional mood from the podium that lessens the partnership between orchestra and singer.
An impressive version of Nel dì della vittoria (track 1) opens the program. Davidsen captures the dark manipulative drive of Lady Macbeth, yet in Shirley Verrett’s two performances (La Scala/Abbado/DG and Teatro Comunale di Bologna/Chailly/Decca) I find an even more vivid characterization, even if Verrett’s is less opulent than Davidsen’s, and both Abbado and Chailly find more menace in the score.
Lise Davidsen. Photo © Fredrik Arff.
The three selections from Un ballo in maschera are more captivating (the orchestra also plays the Prelude to Act II, track 6). Both Ma dall’arido (track 8) and Morrò, ma prima in grazia (track 9) demonstrate Davidsen’s superb vocal control. In the latter she finds a heart-breaking vulnerability as she begs to see and hold her son before she dies (Kristina Blaumane’s cello solo adds to the potency of this aria). The accompaniment seems more engaged throughout these scenes.
The selections from Don Carlo are excellent, though I find Callas’s willingness to act, even at the expense of vocal beauty, even more compelling. And I would be hard pressed to argue that Davidsen is more affecting or beautiful than Montserrat Caballé’s recording with the Covent Garden forces led by Carlo Maria Giulini (Warner Classics). The emotional temperature rises with the involvement of the Apollo Voices chorus in two selections from La forza del destino: La vergine degli angeli (track 11) is the most moving performance on the album.
The recital closes with a wonderful reading of Ritorna vincitor! (track 15) from Aida, yet it does not eclipse Leontyne Price’s reading from her recording with forces from the Rome Opera House conducted by Solti (Decca).
Despite the caveats mentioned above, this is an impressive achievement and there is no doubt that Davidsen’s many admirers will snap this up. It should also prove attractive to listeners who have yet to hear this uniquely gifted singer. Decca’s booklet is still unavailable on most digital media, which keeps many listeners from accessing full texts and context for recital programs like this one.
Recommended Comparisons
Verdi: Soprano Arias and Scenes
Maria Callas, Rescigno | Leontyne Price | Anna Netrebko, Noseda | Sondra Radvanovsky, Orbelian
