A singer for the ages: Lise Davidsen a triumphant Ariadne at the Met

By Robert Levine, 10 March 2022

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“then, Lise Davidsen, our Ariadne, opens up and it's as if the room has a pulse”

Reviewed at Lincoln Center: Metropolitan Opera House, New York City on 8 March 2022

Strauss R., Ariadne auf Naxos

Metropolitan Opera

Marek Janowski, Conductor

Elijah Moshinsky, Director

Michael Yeargan, Set Designer, Costume Designer

Gil Wechsler, Lighting Designer

The Metropolitan Opera Orchestra

Lise Davidsen, The Primadonna (Ariadne)

Brenda Rae, Zerbinetta

Isabel Leonard, Composer

Brandon Jovanovich, The Tenor (Bacchus)

Sean Michael Plumb, Harlequin

Johannes Martin Kränzle, Music Master

Wolfgang Brendel, The Major-Domo

Asmik Grigorian strengthens the Met’s revival of Eugene Onegin

Susan Stempleski, 20th April

The Lithuanian soprano’s riveting performance as the central character in Tchaikovsky’s operatic masterpiece lights up Deborah Warner’s mostly bland production.

****1

Innocence: Saariaho’s final opera receives New York premiere

Kurt Gottschalk, 6th April

At the Metropolitan Opera, Innocence proves a gripping and perhaps divisive piece which feels real because it is a reflection of our reality, with no realistic hope of finding peace.

*****

Tristan und Isolde at the Met: staging gets in the way of the music

No’a L. bat Miri, 9th March

Michael Spyres shines in his debut as Tristan alongside powerhouse soprano Lise Davidsen as Isolde in Yuval Sharon's new, beguiling production at the Metropolitan Opera.

***11

Ailyn Pérez is the perfect Butterfly in the Met’s revival

Robert Levine, 13th January

Good Butterflys are not that difficult to come by but great ones are very very rare. Ailyn Pérez fits the bill in this revival of Anthony Minghella’s classic staging.

*****

Vocal thrills in Met’s traditional staging of Bellini’s I puritani

Susan Stempleski, 31st December

Marco Armiliato conducts a finely balanced rendition of Bellini's final masterpiece with a stellar cast headed by Lisette Oropesa and Lawrence Brownlee.

*****

Porgy and Bess returns stronger than ever at the Met

Robert Levine, 7th December

Back to Catfish Row for another revival of The Gershwins’ Porgy and Bess and James Robinson’s show continue to wow our writer.

*****

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Robert Levine

Robert T. Levine is a New York born-and-bred music writer with a particular interest in music for the voice. His work has appeared in many periodicals and newspapers. He is the author of many books, including The Story of the Orchestra, four volumes in the Black Dog & Leventhal Opera Library, and, most recently, Maria Callas: A Musical Biography.