{"id":58445,"date":"2019-02-01T18:07:12","date_gmt":"2019-02-01T23:07:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/?p=58445"},"modified":"2019-02-01T20:26:33","modified_gmt":"2019-02-02T01:26:33","slug":"scrutiny-lise-davidsen-makes-resplendent-canadian-debut-in-tsos-die-walkure","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/2019\/02\/01\/scrutiny-lise-davidsen-makes-resplendent-canadian-debut-in-tsos-die-walkure\/","title":{"rendered":"SCRUTINY | Lise Davidsen Makes Resplendent Canadian Debut In TSO\u2019s Die Walk\u00fcre"},"content":{"rendered":"
\"Lise
Lise Davidsen, Sir Andrew Davis, Simon O’Neill (Photo: Jag Gundu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Wagner: Die Walk<\/em>\u00fcre (Act One). Lise Davidsen (Sieglinde), soprano; Simon O\u2019Neill (Siegmund), tenor; Brindley Sherratt (Hunding), bass. Toronto Symphony Orchestra, Sir Andrew Davis, conductor. At Roy Thomson Hall, January 31, 2019. Repeats Saturday, Feb. 2. Details, here<\/a>.\u00a0<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

To the inveterate Wagner fan, any performance of his operas is an occasion. And when it\u2019s Die Walk<\/em>\u00fcre<\/em> (albeit only Act One) featuring a dream cast, it\u2019s extra special. Last evening at Roy Thomson Hall, a modest-sized but highly enthusiastic and appreciative audience was treated to a superb performance led by Sir Andrew Davis conducting the Toronto Symphony Orchestra.<\/p>\n

Sir Andrew is a familiar and much-loved figure in these parts, having been at the helm of the TSO from 1975 to 1988. \u00a0A self-professed Wagnerian, with him back as Interim Artistic Director, can opera be far away?\u00a0 Voice fans wax nostalgic when Sir Andrew was in charge of the TSO, and complete operas in concert were the norm \u2014\u00a0Capriccio, Daphne, <\/em>and Der Rosenkavalier<\/em> come to mind. Ah, the good old days!<\/p>\n

Last evening was the first of two performances of Act One Die Walk<\/em>\u00fcre<\/em>. It might have been frigid outside, but inside Roy Thomson Hall it was pure white-hot, with three world-class singers lighting up the stage. The most accessible of the Ring operas, Act One is often presented in concert form. It requires a big band, and last night the TSO was out in full force, with nearly a hundred on stage.<\/p>\n

The \u201cRide of the Valkyries\u201d from Act 3 opened the proceedings. This warhorse (pun intended) requires big sonorities and there was no shortage of decibels.<\/p>\n

Under Sir Andrew, who\u2019s an old hand with Wagner and the Ring Cycle<\/em>, it was a poised, well-judged and eloquent reading, with just enough showiness but not over-the-top, with just the right tempo; altogether thrilling but refined and never bombastic, a five-minute thrill ride that was over much too soon.<\/p>\n

This was followed by Alban Berg\u2019s Three Pieces for Orchestra, Op. 6 (revised version)<\/em>. While Berg\u2019s reputation as \u201cbox office poison\u201d is unjustified, this expressionist work is indeed a challenge to those not fond of the Second Viennese School. To that end, Sir Andrew gave an illuminating introduction. Even with huge orchestral forces, there was no loss of clarity and delicacy so important to this piece. The showy third movement with its hammer blows were enough to strike fear of God in one\u2019s heart.<\/p>\n

\"Lise
Lise Davidsen, Sir Andrew Davis, Simon O’Neill (Photo: Jag Gundu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

The second half was taken by Walk<\/em>\u00fcre<\/em>, unstaged, with Siegmund and Sieglinde standing on either side of the conductor. Hunding walked on and off for his brief scene. Despite this static arrangement, I didn\u2019t feel I was missing anything. \u00a0The text was projected on two giant screens above the choir loft.\u00a0 Without stage action, one focuses entirely on the musical end of things.<\/p>\n

At only 32, Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen (Sieglinde) has already reached the pinnacle, having won many awards including Operalia and Queen Sonja. Hers is a typical jugendliche dramatischer sopran<\/em>, ideal as Elsa, Elisabeth, Eva, and certainly Sieglinde. The timbre is bright, rich, even up and down the scale, capable of a whole spectrum of tone colours and dynamic levels. In other words, it\u2019s a \u201cforce of nature,\u201d a term reserved for very few singers \u2014 I can only think of her countrywoman Kirsten Flagstad and American soprano Jessye Norman.<\/p>\n

Opposite her as Siegmund was acclaimed New Zealand tenor Simon O\u2019Neill, an experienced Wagnerian, in possession of a beautiful, bright and secure tenor. The third singer was renowned British bass Brindley Sherratt, a voice unfamiliar to me.\u00a0 I had the good fortune of attending a rehearsal under the auspices of the Toronto Wagner Society, and I was totally blown away by Sherratt, whose dark bass rivals that of the great Kurt Moll and Matti Salminen. It really whetted my appetite for more.<\/p>\n

\"Brindley
Brindley Sherratt, Lise Davidsen (Photo: Jag Gundu)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

And I was not disappointed, as last evening was one of the most thrilling moments in the concert hall for me in recent memory. Top honours belonged to Davidsen, who was totally thrilling as Sieglinde, singing with gleaming tone, observant of all the dynamic markings, and with power to shake the walls if she had wanted to. The beauty and ease of production in \u201cDer Manner Sippe\u201d and \u201cDu bis der Lenz\u201d were stunning.<\/p>\n

Orchestrally too it was a wonderful evening, almost flawless playing under the assured and inspired baton of Sir Andrew. I say \u201calmost\u201d because there were a few fluffed notes by the horns and brass, the most obvious was one by the solo horn during the Sword Motive, in a cruelly exposed moment in the beginning of Scene Three. There was a less obvious one, during Sieglinde\u2019s \u201cDer Manner Sippe.\u201d Oh well, that\u2019s life! Almost all musicians will tell you perfection is a myth, or at least extremely rare. A few fluffed notes do not affect my enjoyment and my overall appreciation of the wonderful playing by the TSO. There were many striking moments, one in particular was the gorgeous solo by Principal Cello Joseph Johnson in the beginning of the extended Siegmund-Sieglinde scene.<\/p>\n

Dramatically, If I were to nitpick, I would like a touch more passion, more urgency, and more connectedness<\/em> between the lovers. O\u2019Neill had the requisite ardent qualities, but I find there was a reserve, a certain shyness in Davidsen. I fully understand it\u2019s not easy to emote in a concert setting, without costumes and sets. It\u2019s only a minor quibble. In the final minutes, Siegmund moved to Sieglinde\u2019s side and the two linked hands, the only moment of physical contact between the two. But with voices like these two, I will accept the non-drama in a heartbeat.<\/p>\n

At the end, the audience rose to its collective feet and showered the artists with extremely loud and totally deserved ovations. As I was making my way home, the music kept coming into my head \u2013 when Wagner is so well done, one doesn\u2019t want it to end. If you missed it \u2014 or better yet, if you would like a second helping \u2014 there\u2019s one more performance Saturday<\/a>, 8 p.m. Not to be missed!<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

It might have been freezing outside, but inside it was pure white-hot, with three world-class singers lighting up the stage for TSO’s Die Walk\u00fcre.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":22,"featured_media":58448,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"om_disable_all_campaigns":false,"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false},"categories":[25164,76,19,52,63],"tags":[26475,4920,26474,26473,3360],"yst_prominent_words":[26466,26460,26464,26458,26467,26461,26445,26450,26470,26463,26457,26469,6850,6674,26468,26462,6915,6913,26465,26459],"acf":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/2\/2019\/02\/TSO-Die-Walkure.jpg","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9bakr-fcF","amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58445"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/22"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=58445"}],"version-history":[{"count":9,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58445\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":58457,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/58445\/revisions\/58457"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/58448"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=58445"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=58445"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=58445"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.ludwig-van.com\/toronto\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=58445"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}