Lise Davidsen

Davidsen opens her 24/25 season with a much anticipated stage debut as Puccini’s Tosca which she performs at the Staatsoper Berlin, Bayerische Staatsoper, Metropolitan Opera and the Wiener Staatsoper. Other highlights include her return to Royal Opera & Ballet as Sieglinde Die Walküre in Barrie Kosky’s new Ring Cycle under the baton of Sir Antonio Pappano, a role which she also performs in Bayreuth; Fidelio at the Metropolitan Opera; and a further double appereance at the Wiener Staatsoper as Sieglinde and Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier. On the concert platform Davidsen makes her debut as Isolde in a performance of the 2nd act of Tristan und Isolde with the Bayerische Rundfunk and Sir Simon Rattle; and as Senta The Flying Dutchman with the Norwegian National Opera Orchestra and Edward Gardner. Other appereances include a concert with Matthias Goerne at Gran Teatre del Liceu; Sieglinde in a performance of the 1st act of Die Walküre at the Tiroler Festspiele Erl together with Jonas Kaufmann; her return to the Verbier Festival as Santuzza Cavalleria rusticana; and recital appereances 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 Wiener Philharmoniker and Andris Nelsons in front of an audience of over 100,000 people; a new production of La forza del Destino at the Metropolitan Opera; a double appearance at the Bayerische Staatsoper as Giorgetta Il Tabarro and Lisa Queen of Spades; 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 in Santa Monica at Broad Stage Theatre; the Wiener Staatsoper; 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 stars today, Davidsen regularly appears on the most renowned stages such as the Metropolitan Opera (Marschallin Der Rosenkavalier, Eva Die Meistersingers von Nürnberg, the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos, Chrysothemis Elektra and Lisa Queen of Spades); Royal Ballet & Opera, London (Elisabetta Don Carlo, Elisabeth Tannhäuser and Leonore Fidelio); Wiener Staatsoper (Sieglinde Die Walküre, Ellen Orford Peter Grimes, Ariadne auf Naxos); Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona (Giorgetta Il Tabarro); Lyric Opera of Chicago (Jenůfa); Bayerische Staatsoper (Elisabeth Tannhäuser); Deutsche Oper Berlin; Staatsoper Berlin (Elisabeth Tannhäuser); Bayreuth Festival (Elisabeth 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 theatre after the Covid closure with a solo concert under the baton of Maestro Riccardo Chailly.

A multifaceted artist, she regularly performs with orchestras such as Orchestre de Paris, Wiener Philharmoniker, Oslo Philharmonic, London Philharmonic Orchestra and Philharmonia; Bergen Philharmonic Orchestra; Berliner Philharmoniker and Berliner Staatskapelle to just name a few and is a dedicated recitalist. She has held artistic residencies at the Barbican in London, Bergen International Festival and with the Bergen Philhamonic 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 Norway in December 2023; a recording of Grieg songs together with fellow Norwegian Leif Ove Andsnes and the Grammy nominated Concert for Ukraine together with Metropolitan Opera. She has also recorded Der Freischütz and Fidelio, both released 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 by the International Opera Awards; 2020 Anders Jahres Art and Culture Prize, 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 stars featured by the Metropolitan Opera as part of their celebrated series: Met Stars Live in Concert. In 2021 the Norwegian Opera Company released a feature film Lise set to music by Richard Strauss.

A 2014 graduate of the Opera Academy in Copenhagen, she has studied under Susanna Eken, previously gaining a degree from the Grieg Academy of Music in Bergen. In 2015, Davidsen was crowned winner of 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. She is also a triple winner at the 2015 Hans Gabor Belvedere Singing Competition in Amsterdam.