Program Books/Lise Davidsen, soprano; Malcolm Martineau, piano/Lise Davidsen
Lise Davidsen, a white woman with long brown hair, wearing a black-bedazzled dress smiles while looking at the camera.

Lise Davidsen

soprano

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, “opera’s newest star” (The Economist) has taken the classical music world by storm since winning the much coveted Operalia competition in 2015. Her resounding debuts in the most prestigious international venues have garnered overwhelming critical attention: “It’s been a long time since a singer has generated as much buzz,” wrote Gramophone in 2019 in its review of her debut album for Decca (which debuted at number one on the UK Classical charts), while in 2023, the Telegraph hailed her “the greatest soprano in the world.”

Davidsen opened her 2024–25 season with a much anticipated stage debut as Puccini’s Tosca, which she also performed at the Berlin State Opera, Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera, and Metropolitan Opera. Other highlights this season include her return to the Royal Opera & Ballet as Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre in Barrie Kosky’s new Ring Cycle under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, a role she also performs in Bayreuth; Beethoven’s Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera; and a further double appearance at the Vienna State Opera as Sieglinde and as the Marschallin in Richard Strauss’ Der Rosenkavalier. On the concert platform, Davidsen makes her debut as Isolde in a performance of the second act of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra and Sir Simon Rattle; and as Senta in Wagner’s The Flying Dutchman with the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra and Edward Gardner. Other appearances include a concert with Matthias Goerne at the Gran Teatre del Liceu; Sieglinde in a performance of the first act of Die Walküre at the Tyrolean Festival Erl together with Jonas Kaufmann; her return to the Verbier Festival as Santuzza in Mascagni’s Cavalleria rusticana; and in recital appearances at the BroadStage Theatre in Los Angeles and at the Gstaad Festival.

Last season’s highlights included her star performance at the Last Night of the Proms; a sold out solo recital on the stage of Metropolitan Opera; her triumphant company and role debut as Salome at the Opéra national de Paris; the much-coveted Summer Night Concert in Vienna together with the Vienna Philharmonic and Andris Nelsons before an audience of more than 100,000 people; a new production of Verdi’s La forza del destino at the Metropolitan Opera; and her Carnegie Hall debut with Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder with the Metropolitan Opera Orchestra and Yannick Nézet-Séguin. Audiences around the world saw her in recital at the Vienna State Opera, Teatro de Zarzuela in Madrid, Wigmore Hall in London, Palau de les Arts Reina Sofia in Valencia, Gran Teatre del Liceu, and the Salzburg Easter Festival.

One of the most in-demand vocalists today, Davidsen regularly appears on such renowned stages such as the Metropolitan Opera (The Marschallin in Der Rosenkavalier, Eva in Wagner’s Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg, Lisa in The Queen of Spades, and the title role in Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos and Chrysothemis in the composer’s Elektra; Royal Ballet & Opera, London (Elisabetta in Verdi’s Don Carlo, Elisabeth in Wagner’s Tannhäuser, and Leonore in Fidelio); Vienna State Opera (Sieglinde in Die Walküre, Ellen Orford in Britten’s Peter Grimes, Ariadne auf Naxos); Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (Giorgetta in Il Tabarro); Lyric Opera of Chicago (Janáček’s Jenůfa); Deutsche Oper Berlin; Bavarian State Opera; and Berlin State Opera (Elisabeth in Tannhäuser); Bayreuth Festival (Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Sieglinde in the new Ring Cycle); Glyndebourne Festival (Ariadne auf Naxos); Festival d’Aix-en-Provence (Ariadne auf Naxos), and Teatro alla Scala Milan, where she reopened the theater after the Covid closure with a solo concert under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Chailly.

A multifaceted artist, Davidsen regularly performs with orchestras such as the Orchestre de Paris, Vienna Philharmonic, Oslo Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia; Berliner Philharmoniker and Berliner Staatskapelle, to name a few, and she is also a dedicated recitalist. Davidsen has also held artistic residencies at the Barbican in London, Bergen International Festival, and with the Bergen Philhamornic Orchestra.

An exclusive Decca artist, her discography includes two solo orchestral recitals (Lise Davidsen and Beethoven–Wagner–Verdi); Christmas From Norway, which she toured across that country in December 2023; Grieg songs together with fellow Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes; and the Grammy-nominated Concert for Ukraine together with the Metropolitan Opera. She has also recorded Fidelio and Weber’s Der Freischütz on Pentatone and Sibelius’ Luonnotar on Chandos.

Davidsen has graced the covers of numerous publications and her many prizes and awards include the 2022 Opera News Awards, 2021 Female Singer of the Year from the International Opera Awards, 2018 Gramophone Young Artist of the Year Award, Statoil Talent Bursary Award, Léonie Sonning Music Prize, and the 2015 Kirstin Flagstad Award. In August 2020, she was one of the first artists featured by the Metropolitan Opera as part of its celebrated Met Stars Live in Concert series. In 2021, the Norwegian Opera Company released the feature film Lise, set to music by Richard Strauss.

A 2014 graduate of the Opera Academy in Copenhagen, Davidsen studied under Susanna Eken, having previously earned a degree from the Grieg Academy of Music in Bergen. In 2015, she won both the Operalia and the Queen Sonja competitions. Her breakthrough performances won her the First Prize, the Birgit Nilsson Award, and the Audience Prize at the Operalia competition in London as well as the prize for the best performance of Norwegian music and the Ingrid Bjoner Scholarship at the Queen Sonja International Music Competition.

Lise Davidsen is represented by MWA worldwide.