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A30 PEOPLE & ARTS
Thursday 29 augusT 2019
Lise Davidsen triumphs in Bayreuth debut

BAYREUTH, Germany (AP) opened in 1876, was built
— When Lise Davidsen de- to Wagner's specifications
scribes her Bayreuth audi- and to this day the audito-
tion as a chilling experi- rium has no heating or air
ence, she isn't being meta- conditioning lest they inter-
phorical. fere with the acoustics.
Deep in the winter of 2017 The temperature at the
she had journeyed to this time: 16 degrees.
city in northern Bavaria "I had my coat on in the
to sing Elisabeth's two dressing room and then
arias from Richard Wag- before I went on I took it
ner's "Tannhauser" on the off, because that's what
stage of the Festspielhaus. you do, but they told me it's
The opera house, which OK to keep it on," the Nor-

This image released by the Bayreuth Festival shows Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, right, and
Manni Laudenbach in a scene from Wagner's "Tannhäuser," in Bayreuth, Germany.
Associated Press

wegian soprano recalled. "It's weird. You wonder what time to relax and savor her
Still shivering from the cold, the audience thinks," she Bayreuth triumph. Com-
she made it through the first said, "but you know your ing up in three months is
aria with no problem, but in job ... so by the time you her Metropolitan Opera
the second — an extend- take applause, even if they debut, singing the role of
ed prayer — "with all those would have booed, I think Lisa in Tchaikovsky's "The
long phrases that require I would have thought, 'OK, Queen of Spades." In the
absolute breath control, I but then I am in the wrong spring she'll headline a new
think there was a little bit of place,' because I couldn't production of Beethoven's
extra vibrato!" have done anything differ- "Fidelio" alongside tenor
No matter. She sufficiently ently." Jonas Kaufmann at Lon-
impressed festival co-di- "Of course it would have don's Royal Opera House.
rector Katharina Wagner hurt," she added. "I would And she's invited back to
— great-granddaughter of have cried for days, but Bayreuth next summer, to
the composer — to be en- you're focused on doing repeat Elisabeth and sing
gaged for the role in a new your job and the applause Sieglinde in a new produc-
production that opened is just a huge bonus." tion of the "Ring" cycle.
this summer's festival. This And quite a bonus it was. At just 32, Davidsen is de-
time there was no danger The audience, which in- termined to "hold on to the
of anyone freezing: The cluded German Chancel- lyric, lighter sound of my
temperature on opening lor Angela Merkel, em- voice as long as possible"
day in late July was 102. braced her, as did the and take her time building
For a Wagnerian soprano, critics. A lesser singer might to the most taxing roles of
it was the highest-profile have taken second billing the Wagnerian repertory.
assignment imaginable: to the production itself — a That means no Brunnhil-
singing in front of 2,000 radical reinterpretation by des or Isoldes for "at least
well-heeled opera-goers director Tobias Kratzer that eight to 10 years" — a pro-
who travel from all over portrayed the goddess Ve- nouncement that is sure
the world to worship at the nus as an anarchist cavort- to disappoint many of her
master's shrine. ing with a drum-playing fans. Meanwhile, she'll con-
"To be standing there on dwarf and a black drag tinue giving frequent song
the opening night, in such queen. recitals and take on some
a special house, I was like, But Mark Swed wrote in the Strauss heroines and what
this is just too much, in a re- Los Angeles Times that the she calls "some of those
ally good way," Davidsen evening's "loudest cheers" Verdi ladies."
recalled in an interview at were "for the sensational For advice on how to pace
the Festspielhaus between emerging Wagnerian so- her career, she relies heav-
performances. Even if I had prano Lise Davidsen." Shir- ily on her London-based
my doubts and insecuri- ley Apthorp in the Financial agent Maria Mot.
ties, I still feel like it's a good Times said she "raises the "I told Lise a long time ago
place to be insecure." level of the evening from that her career was going
With no curtain calls be- passable to miraculous to be built on things she
tween acts, Davidsen had with every note she sings." turns down rather than the
to wait until the end for a With a career that "goes ones she accepts," Mot
solo bow. in high speed," there's little said in an email. q