What a pleasure to enjoy the artists in their full bloom! Today, everyone in the German opera world is talking about the Norwegian soprano Lisa Davinsen. Since winning the Operalia competition in 2015, she has already performed at the most important opera houses in the world in cities such as Milan, Berlin, Vienna, London, New York and Bayreuth. In Athens, he appeared on October 15 at the Christos D. Lambrakis Hall in a solo concert with the State Orchestra of Athens conducted by Cornelios Michaelides.

Mainly because of her young age, Davinsen has so far taken on Wagner’s sensitive “blondes” such as Eva in The Nuremberg Singers, Elisabeth in Tannhäuser and Sieglinde in The Valkyrie. However, it is becoming increasingly clear that the voice is already ready for more dramatic roles, such as Isolde and even Brunnhilde, who today are often performed by tweeters with much more limited capabilities or often also with brighter voices. Davinsen’s voice is impressively powerful and consequently imposing in every way, but comparisons with the past are probably meaningless, since it is doubtful that anyone living today heard her famous compatriot Kirsten Flagstad “live”, with whom they compare her.

Hearing a healthy voice “live” filling the room is a great pleasure.

Even more impressive is the way Davinsen manages this colossal voice, as seen in Verdi’s “Hail Mary” from Verdi’s Otello, performed in a low voice and with extremely dense musical phrases. She was no less appreciated in the famous aria “I Lived for Art” from Puccini’s opera “Tosca”, which the soprano performed outside the program.

If there is anything to comment on, it is, perhaps, that it was precisely this voice control, especially in excerpts from Italian opera, that seemed extremely calculated and perfectly controlled. The nuances have become much less due to the expressiveness and emotionality of the lyrics and music. The voice itself may not be the most appropriate instrument for this particular Italian repertoire, as despite its extraordinary richness, it has more of a metallic sheen than expected sensuality. In both the German repertoire and the Italian repertoire, the haughty Princess Turado may prove to be a better role in the future than the fragile Disdemona. In any case, to hear such a voice “live”, filling the hall with absolute comfort, without worrying about the orchestra, which could be extremely noisy, as in the aria from his “Don Carlo” by Verdi, is a great pleasure.

The most successful were excerpts from the German repertoire, not so much the aria of gentle Agatha from “Sniper”, but the aria of Elizabeth from “Tannhäuser” and, of course, two songs by Richard Strauss “Cilicia” and “Tomorrow”, which also sounded outside the program, successfully closing the evening.