Lise Davidsen’s meteoric career has always been built around her potential as one of today’s great Wagnerians, but the Norwegian soprano has refused to be pigeonholed. She has sung Strauss opera and Schubert song, cherry-picked Puccini and starred in Beethoven. And alongside there always been Verdi – a passion that now results in an album dedicated to his music. It features five roles from five of his operas, some of which Davidsen has sung in the opera house, some of which she is about to sing, and one of which she simply loves.

It opens with the demanding role of Lady Macbeth, who she plays at the Metropolitan Opera in New York this season. As Davidsen reads a letter from her husband in “Nel di dell vittoria”, her spoken voice is all hushed intimacy, but then she sings – and immediately we are in the presence of a powerful queen, and that regal quality characterises her portrayal throughout. In Duncano sara qui, in which she urges the night to cover up their crimes, it’s her control of the virtuosic vocal fireworks that impresses, as well as the clarity of the musical ideas, handsomely supported by the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Darker hues and thrilling high notes are on offer in La luce langue, while the sleepwalking scene, with its haunting cor anglais, is remarkably controlled.

The sheer power of Davidsen’s voice is wielded to awesome effect in Ma dall’arido stelo divulsa from Un ballo in Maschera, where we shift from imploring intimacy to stormy explosion. Her portrayal of Amelia, a role she was due to sing in 2020 before Covid came along, is particularly moving. She chillingly conveys the icy fear, dread and terror of the gallows site and is later in heart-rending mode as she pleads to see her son before her death, the scene set by a striking cello solo. (In Morrò ma prima in grazia is also available on her recent Live at the Met album.)

It was also at the Metropolitan Opera, in 2024, that Davidsen made her role debut as Leonora in La forza del destino. Once again, she brings incredible poise and control, whether in the agitated Son giunta… Madre, pietosa Vergine or in the tender, stirring La Vergine degli Angeli. This sequence gives us a distilled shot of Verdi’s dramatic art, including vivid orchestral writing (and beautiful instrumental solos) and atmospheric choral writing (in the Chorus of Friars).

Elisabeth of Valois was Davidsen’s first major Verdi role in the opera house, a performance at Covent Garden that even surpassed expectations. We get a faithful snapshot of her portrayal here, tracing her journey from the generous young queen in Non pianger, mia compagna from Act II to the sorrowful figure of Act 5 in Tu che la vanita. The final number, Ritorna Vincitor!, is from Aida and a role she hasn’t sung on stage, but is well worth hearing here, rounding off an already impressive album with a whole rollercoaster of emotions.

Listen on Apple Music

Composer: Giuseppe Verdi
Works: Arias
Performers: Lise Davidsen, London Symphony Orchestra, Edward Gardner
Label: Decca 4872241