"Opera is outdated, it still believes that women must be shorter than men"

In the general drought of powerful voices that the world of opera is experiencing today, especially Wagnerian ones, Lise Davidsen, the young Norwegian soprano who made the leap to the great opera houses just before the pandemic, appears as the exception, the black pearl, the present and the future of the genre.

Thomas Osborne
Thomas Osborne
27 November 2022 Sunday 23:52
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"Opera is outdated, it still believes that women must be shorter than men"

In the general drought of powerful voices that the world of opera is experiencing today, especially Wagnerian ones, Lise Davidsen, the young Norwegian soprano who made the leap to the great opera houses just before the pandemic, appears as the exception, the black pearl, the present and the future of the genre... A voice among a million that can only be appreciated in its magnitude by listening to it live.

His resounding debut at the Liceu, this Sunday, like Giorgetta from Il tabarro, the opera with which Il trittico begins, finally gave meaning to the dimensions of the room. The public was ecstatic with what for her was the first Puccini. By the end of the year she plans other debuts in Richard Strauss's Rosenkavalier and Verdi's Don Carlo.

Feeling lonely at the pinnacle of the realm of great voices?

I'm not so alone. In the concert the previous Sunday at the Liceu, with Irene Theorin and Waltraud Meier, or in the operas in which I sing as the Valkyrie, in which I have often coincided with Brandon Jovanovich [Luigi in Il tabarro], I am surrounded by great voices. I wish I had more encounters with Meier, because we've sung the same roles and it's great to be able to share reflections on the repertoire.

And what about the pressure of being considered the promise of the present and the future?

The pressure of now scares me more than that of the future. Here at the Liceu, without going any further, people can think, "oh, it's wonderful", but then I come and I have to serve my first Puccini. That gives a lot of respect. It's something new that scares me more than being a potential Brünhilde in the Wagner cycle.

The phone rings above all to interpret German repertoire. Do you feel typecast?

No, I think I've been very lucky in my career, theaters have offered me different roles. The Liceu offered me this Puccini when I wasn't so well known. But it is true that there is a tendency to think that the soprano that Elisabeth and Siglinde sing can only do that. I have taken time to tackle the Italian repertoire, because I immediately entered the main opera houses. But I wish we could all feel that we can expand our repertoire.

Did the Liceu propose it to you?

I think they knew that I wanted to do Italian opera, and Víctor García de Gomar suggested this role. And I love it, because it's an intense, dramatic role, but not for five hours. It's like a test.

What attracts you so much about Italian opera?

You can spend your life singing verismo and Verdi. And Giorgetta is, in a way, a Puccini-style Wagner. Nothing is left to chance, and we have two-page arias with so many dimensions... The characters are human, neither good nor bad, but both. Giorgetta is one of us. And in the 55 minutes that the opera lasts you find all the emotions. I'm lovin 'it.

Why do you think Puccini is the quintessential vocalist?

Because you find that realism of verismo in the singing line. And that is very demanding, because it is very emotional. As a singer you can't go around crying, you have to find the balance. You can go from zero to one hundred in an instant with Puccini. Now that I am preparing Strauss's Rosenkavalier, it is hard for me to say what they have in common and what is different.

When you made your debut in Bayreuth, did you have to moderate your vocal power?

No, no, ha ha. Perhaps from the public it feels differently, but for me it is still giving everything and also the sweetest pianissimi. It is a unique room, you can sing with all the dynamics, even if there are a hundred musicians. When I heard that Bayreuth was like listening to chamber music, I thought it was nonsense, how can Wagner be chamber music. There I realized that yes, the orchestra sounds so mitigated that you can find those moments of delicacy.

He grew up in a small town in Norway. What childhood memories do you have?

Very protected. Until I was seven, my mother worked twice a week. She played handball and the team were my friends; my mother, the head of sports; my brother, the coach; and my father, the assistant. The singing came out of nowhere, a little at school, at church. I saw that she could express my emotions without speaking out loud. Listening to music is indescribable, it makes you sad or happy without being able to say why. And by singing I could express myself and I was at peace.

Has being so tall [almost 1.90] been a handicap in the opera?

It complicates the casting, because the opera is a bit old-fashioned, still believes that women have to be shorter than men to see them as a real couple. I do not see the problem. With Pablo García-López, who plays Il Tinca in Il trittico and is much shorter, we joke around a lot, because it's true that he's weird. It's a challenge, yes, but I'd rather be tall and visible than invisible.

Did you have complexes in your teens for that reason?

Yes, it was taller and bigger than people thought fit. Even today, people think they are giving you a compliment when they say “Oh my God, how tall you are!”. They don't see that they are making a comment about your body. Society has that pending, it would not occur to them to say, "God, how fat you are." In the end, the comment is worse, because men feel even shorter and I seem even taller.

Did you work on it psychologically?

Yes. Being comfortable with myself is part of me, it already was at school. It is not good to stage those problems. In the end, the stage is a safe space, where I am harder to reach. And I become another, because sometimes Lise can be somewhat annoying.

What do you think of MeToo? Would he stand up for Plácido?

I have never been in a situation worth reporting, but I have had colleagues who have and I have always sympathized.

He lives on the outskirts of Oslo. How do you see the border with the Russians?

I never thought that in my life I would experience a war. We are a small country and, even being part of NATO, I feel helpless, we have nothing… apart from money and oil, and you can't make war with oil.