As part of their 2026 “Invincible” tour, the Ukrainian Freedom Orchestra under founder Keri-Lynn Wilson is offering programs at Lincoln Center’s David Geffen Hall. The opening concert, on August 25th, presented the packed hall first with a 13 minute suite from Maxim Kolomiiets’ yet-to-be presented opera The Mothers of Kherson, which is slated to premiere in Poland in October and will arrive at the Metropolitan in 2028; it was commissioned by the Met's Peter Gelb.
The dark subject matter surrounds the intense 3,000 mile journey by Ukrainian mothers to Crimea to rescue children who were being held captive by the Russians. The suite is an emotional ride for huge orchestra beginning with a low rumble on the timpani which leads into an elegiac solo for cellos before a huge orchestral outburst featuring wind solos vaguely reminiscent of Mahler, but without the Czech ethnicism normally associated with him. The brief piece takes us through a cinematic interlude with low brass and a hopeful glockenspiel riff before ending with a triumphant Allegro. Traveling through tonality and atonality, this is a powerful suite.
The key to the concert’s mass appeal was the appearance of Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen, singing Strauss’s Four Last Songs. After the turmoil of Kolomiiets’ work, the serenity, embracing and musical and emotional acceptance came as a balm for the soul. Davidsen’ gifts in opera have been proven in the brief time she’s been around, and she brought her impeccable pitch and enormous, potent voice to Geffen Hall. What she also brought was the ability to sing for long, long periods with soothing tone; the overall quality of the voice remains the same at all volume levels. Strauss’s orchestration is large and can be dense, but he uses it here for color and mood, and it never overpowers the singer. Maestra Wilson led cautiously and with great sensitivity, allowing Ms Davidsen plenty of room and fine support.
From the opening notes of “Frühling” opening notes, so half-lit but clear, these were mesmerising performances. The gorgeous violin solo in “Beim Schlafengehen” was played beautifully but with far less vibrato than I prefer; it is anything but matter-of-fact and Wilson missed the opportunity. But the staggering crescendo for voice that followed it was transcendent. In “Im Abendrot”, both orchestra and Davidsen performed the closing pages with otherworldly warmth and hushed tones, coupled with an amazing and understated intensity without the tone turning too dark. I’ve heard, at other times, too much overt sentimentality in these songs, but not here: just resignation and calm, almost eerily beautiful. Davidsen acknowledged the stunning work of the horn player in her acceptance of the grand ovation that followed the songs.
After the interval, with a wild mood change, Wilson led a breakneck reading of Beethoven’s Seventh symphony, which the composer referred to as “a return to life.” Wilson conducted to showcase the virtuosity of the fine orchestra; each movement brings a different dance rhythm; it never stops moving. But within each movement, a theme is fiercely accented on the first note, and at the wild if exciting tempi chosen by Wilson the heavy accents got swallowed up. Beethoven's habit here of repeating phrases or specific notes – he repeats a solid E over 60 times in the first movement – lost much of the fantastic sinewy strength that is at its core.The players were nothing if not deliberate in their obedience to Wilson’s beat and with the vigor Beethoven requested for a triple forte to end the piece. The Allegretto, with its mournful theme, is best when played very slowly to contrast with the other movements, but was a bit too jaunty here. The whole symphony was exciting, but it was played to the gallery, almost as a stunt, rather than for the sake of its contrasts. Still, it was impossible not to get caught up in it; the gallery greeted it with great enthusiasm.
