Lise Davidsen triumphs in first major Verdi role

When her “Dich, teure Halle” scorched through the Royal Opera House to secure her 2015 Operalia triumph, it was clear that Lise Davidsen was destined for a big career in Wagner and Strauss. And so it has proved, the Norwegian soprano singing Ariadne, Chrysothemis, the Marschallin, Sieglinde, Eva and Elisabeth (Tannhäuser) on the world’s great stages. But what of the other Elisabeth (de Valois)? Davidsen kept her audiences waiting for her first major Verdi stage debut (she sang Emilia at Royal Danish back in 2013). Their patience was rewarded with this excellent Covent Garden Don Carlo revival. 

Initially, she reined in her powerful instrument to present the girlish Elisabetta who meets Carlo in the forest of Fontainebleau, a charming love-at-first-sight encounter immediately dashed when, for political reasons, she is betrothed to his father, Philip II, instead. But Davidsen soon unleashed her full power, presenting a dignified queen burying her tortured emotions deep, caught between love and duty. Her dark soprano is simply outstanding, the attack on the notes so clean, rock solid, seemingly effortless. 

The test of any Elisabetta is the demanding Act 5 aria, “Tu che le vanità”. At the end of a long evening, she sounded as fresh as she did at the start, her soprano riding the orchestra imperiously in long, breathtaking arcs. Davidsen is easily the most outstanding Elisabetta I’ve heard live, a luxury voice in this most luxurious of Verdi operas. 

Was there luxury casting to match? Not quite, but there were some very welcome surprises. Luca Micheletti was a superb Marquis de Posa, Carlo’s loyal friend, his baritone vibrant and supple. He displayed just enough power in squaring up to John Relyea’s Philip II, but beautiful legato in Posa’s great death scene. The voice may be on the light side for the great Verdi baritone roles at present, but he’s young and, with sensible management, could have a big career. 

Relyea made a really strong impression as Filippo, his inky bass firm, biting into the text with relish, prowling the stage with suspicious menace. “Ella giammai m’amò” was taken swiftly, a more dramatic expression of loneliness than usual, and he battled Taras Shtonda’s implacable Grand Inquisitor well, spanning the concluding two-octave phrase to plumb the final bottom F with impressive ease. 

Brian Jagde’s role debut as Don Carlo was mixed. He started aggressively, a turbo-charged “Io la vidi” and insensitive in duet with Davidsen’s Elisabetta. He eased on the throttle in the middle acts, well-paired with Micheletti’s Posa, but can afford to dial down the dynamics elsewhere. Yulia Matochkina is one of those Eboli’s who is stronger in “O don fatale” than the Veil Song, where she was tentative in the agile ornaments. Her Eboli was properly scornful, her rich mezzo packing quite a punch, even if she ran out of steam at the end of her big Act 4 scene. Alexander Köpeczi’s Monk – later revealed as Carlo V – was strongly sung, a Filippo in the making, and Sarah Dufresne was a suitably angelic Voice of Heaven at the end of an auto-da-fé which, minus the barbecued heretics, doesn’t quite excite as it did when Nicholas Hytner’s production was new. 

Elsewhere, Hytner’s staging stands up well, the claustrophobic atmosphere of Philip II’s Spain evoked in Bob Crowley’s weighty designs. Mark Henderson’s lighting, the day-night transitions, are superb, particularly the blood red skies over San Yuste as Posa evokes the butchery of Flanders. 

Bertrand de Billy is a dab hand at this opera and drew plenty of nuance and grandeur from the Orchestra of the Royal Opera House, backed up with powerful brass playing at the start of the auto-da-fé, where the Royal Opera Chorus sang fervently. 

A most welcome revival, unmissable for Davidsen’s Elisabetta.