# Lise Davidsen



## Belowpar (Jan 14, 2015)

My cup runneth over. In recent weeks I've been thrilled by Elizabeth Llewellyn as Luisa Miller and Natalya Romaniw as Cio-Cio San but yesterday....

Lise Davidsen is a new name to me and yesterday she was given an opportunity to shine with Papanno conducting the forces of the ROH, opposite Jonas Kaufmann in a new production of Fidelio.

Such a huge and sumptuous voice, I've never had formal training but she seemed to be singing with ease and naturalness throughout, wonderful. At 6'2" she certainly has presence.

But I wasn't the only one stunned by her performance. I expect more plaudits will follow.

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/opera/w...royal-opera-royal-opera-house-stagings-silly/

Upcoming visits to Bayreuth perhaps suggest her long time future, but I hope to see her in other roles as well. We can but hope.






PS I'm aware there was a previous thread where 2nd hand comments were made about her debut disc saying it wasn't all that. But I can't see its relevant here. Lets start again as she's ascended to new heights.

https://www.talkclassical.com/61688-lise-davidsen-2.html?highlight=Lise+Davidson


----------



## JoeSaunders (Jan 29, 2015)

She's a real one to watch. I've only ever heard good things about her live performances, and I absolutely cannot wait to see how her career unfolds. The review from this Fidelio is quite reassuring, so I'll be sure to see the ROH broadcast at my cinema


----------



## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I am a big fan, though I have not yet managed to hear her live. The biggest motivation for my trip to Germany last year was to hear her as Elisabeth in _Tannhäuser_ in Munich. Sadly, she missed the night I had a ticket for (and only that night in the run). Now I'm hoping to make it to the Met in December when she'll be in _Fidelio_ there.

She first came on my radar when she sang Ariadne at Glyndebourne in 2017. She sang it at Aix in 2018 and I was blown away listening via the stream (would love to have that DVD). I'm excited to hear more from her.


----------



## Dyolf (Mar 3, 2020)

New member here, and this is my first post. Miss Davidsen has received a lot of accolade in the resent year, and yet, nothing can begin to prepare the listener/viewer, for the entrance of the young soprano on stage. I was fortunate to see her in Oslo in Cavalleria Rusticana back in 2018, and even before she opens her mouth, she owns the stage. And then when she does open her mouth……, she is that kind of person you simply love to love. Every tone just seem to leave the stage effortlessly, and soaring over the orchestra. Her in Norway she is compared to the legend Flagstad, but Lise Davidsen has the chance and the skills to go even further.


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

She sang an outstanding Elisabeth in the Tannhauser at last year's Bayreuth.

Went searching, it's on Youtube still:









edited to add--I missed that earlier thread where her solo album was discussed. I hadn't heard it until now, but it is notable that that habit wkasimer mentioned about how she starts notes without vibrato then swells into it is present in this live performance, but significantly less frequently than in her studio album.


----------



## haydnguy (Oct 13, 2008)

I was part of the earlier thread that discussed her album. (First album). 

I was disappointed when I first heard it but I will dig it out of the pile and listen again. Part of the disappointment may have been the hype that initially discussed her. Obviously from the Youtube clip above she has a wonderful voice so I judged her too soon.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

haydnguy said:


> I was part of the earlier thread that discussed her album. (First album).
> 
> I was disappointed when I first heard it but I will dig it out of the pile and listen again. Part of the disappointment may have been the hype that initially discussed her. Obviously from the Youtube clip above she has a wonderful voice so I judged her too soon.


I also wasn't impressed with the debut album, but I've now listened to some of the live stuff on youtube and find her much more impressive. I'm not sure if it is a voice I will ever love, but that comes down to personal taste. I've never really liked Nilsson's either. I also note that, at 33, she is not that young, which is a good thing for a dramatic soprano. She's obviously been taking things quite slowly.

I'm assuming that, like Nilsson, it's a large, cutting voice and I wonder if the engineers had difficulty capturing it in the recording studio. After all these days, they are much more used to recording small to medium sized voices.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

From what I've heard so far, I like Davidsen's voice more than others currently doing dramatic repertoire (Nina Stemme, Christine Goerke, and others I like still less such as Evelyn Harteros). I don't want her to rush into the heaviest parts; Elisabeth and Elsa, and maybe Sieglinde, would seem good fits right now. Flagstad didn't do her first Isolde until her late thirties, so maybe Lise will follow in the footsteps of her countrywoman. I wish her, and us, the best.

Now for a heldentenor...


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

It is just killing me that I will be out of the country in December when she is going to be at the Met with "Fidelio."
I pray that she will start doing more at the Met -- and soon. She is a wonder!


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

She's doing Sieglinde and reprising her Elisabeth this year's Bayreuth, for those of you who want to make some travel plans.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> From what I've heard so far, I like Davidsen's voice more than others currently doing dramatic repertoire (Nina Stemme, Christine Goerke, and others I like still less such as Evelyn Harteros). I don't want her to rush into the heaviest parts; Elisabeth and Elsa, and maybe Sieglinde, would seem good fits right now. Flagstad didn't do her first Isolde until her late thirties, so maybe Lise will follow in the footsteps of her countrywoman. I wish her, and us, the best.
> 
> Now for a heldentenor...


IS there an Evelyn Harteros? I am only familiar with an Anja Harteros.


----------



## vivalagentenuova (Jun 11, 2019)

She obviously has tremendous natural talent. Like Sutherland, it's a naturally large voice. But like Sutherland, I don't at all care for the way she has cultivated it. While she thankfully lacks the stridency of many dramatic sopranos today, her sound is still fundamentally based on a falsettish sound. That's not the kind of sound I'm interested in. It's a shame, because she could indeed be like a Flagstad or Destinn with different training.


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

nina foresti said:


> IS there an Evelyn Harteros? I am only familiar with an Anja Harteros.


I think Woodduck probably meant Evelyn Herlitzius. :lol:


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Barbebleu said:


> I think Woodduck probably meant Evelyn Herlitzius. :lol:


I meant Evelanja Hartelitzius. I don't care for her voices.


----------



## Bonetan (Dec 22, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> I meant Evelanja Hartelitzius. I don't care for her voices.


I said it out loud :lol:


----------



## Barbebleu (May 17, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I meant Evelanja Hartelitzius. I don't care for her voices.


:lol:xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx


----------



## Becca (Feb 5, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I meant Evelanja Hartelitzius. I don't care for her voices.


Isn't that the soprano with the split personality?


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Becca said:


> Isn't that the soprano with the split personality?


You may be thinking of Birgsten Nilsstad. Or maybe Marthrid Varnodl.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Just don't mention Manata Cabaldi, her fans get really snarky!

N.


----------



## Hermastersvoice (Oct 15, 2018)

I saw her as Cherubini’s Medea in Wexford in 2018. The singing was amazing, as good as the greatest Medeas on record. Unfortunately, the staging was so inept that the audience forgot to listen. They didn’t even applaud at her big aria.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Hermastersvoice said:


> I saw her as Cherubini's Medea in Wexford in 2018. The singing was amazing, as good as the greatest Medeas on record. Unfortunately, the staging was so inept that the audience forgot to listen. They didn't even applaud at her big aria.


Well, arguably, there's only one great Medea on record (both live and studio), so if she's as good as her, she must be truly amazing.

I had the opportunity to hear her in Fidelio on Tuesday evening, sadly taken away from me by the closure of the ROH due to coronavirus.


----------



## Hermastersvoice (Oct 15, 2018)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Well, arguably, there's only one great Medea on record (both live and studio), so if she's as good as her, she must be truly amazing..


I should qualify my statement. I am only familiar with Olivero and Borkh and Mme Davidsen was as strong as either.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Hermastersvoice said:


> I should qualify my statement. I am only familiar with Olivero and Borkh and Mme Davidsen was as strong as either.


Maybe you have an antipathy to Callas (some people do), but it's impossible to ignore Callas in any discussion of Cherubini's *Medea* and/or its recordings, and even people who don't like Callas usually admit that her Medea is _son pareil_. The opera was virtually forgotten until she sang the role in Florence in 1953 under Vittorio Gui, but, such was the success of it, that La Scala abandoned plans for a production of Scarlatti's *Mitridate Eupatore* the same year and replaced it with a new production of the Cherubini. Subsequently productions were mounted for her in Rome, Venice, Dallas, Covent Garden, Epidaurus in Greece, and again at La Scala in 1961. She was so much associated with the role that she even played the role in a Pasolini movie of *Medea* (not the opera but a free adaptation of Euripides).

The opera she sang is not exactly what Cherubini wrote (an _opéra-comique_ in French with spoken dialogue) but based on an 1855 German version with recitatives by Franz Lachner that was translated into Italian by Carlo Zangarini in 1909, but, unless you have heard the opera with Callas singing the title role, you haven't really heard *Medea* and there are six different recordings featuring her available, of which the best are Florence 1953, La Scala 1953 and Dallas 1958.

Incidentally, from what I've heard on youtube it would appear that Davidsen also sings the opera in Italian, though there appear to be fewer cuts. Davidsen is vocally quite impressive, I agree, but her diction is not good and she makes very little of the words.


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

The Conte said:


> Just don't mention Manata Cabaldi, her fans get really snarky!
> 
> N.


As proven just a couple of posts down from yours, you don't even need to mention her. All you have to do is mention a role she's performed while committing the crime of not having heard her performance in that role.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

howlingfantods said:


> As proven just a couple of posts down from yours, you don't even need to mention her. All you have to do is mention a role she's performed while committing the crime of not having heard her performance in that role.


No one has mentioned Manata Cabaldi, and the only person being snarky is you.


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> No one has mentioned Manata Cabaldi, and the only person being snarky is you.


Yes, nothing snarky about "Well, arguably, there's only one great Medea on record (both live and studio), so if she's as good as her, she must be truly amazing."


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

howlingfantods said:


> Yes, nothing snarky about "Well, arguably, there's only one great Medea on record (both live and studio), so if she's as good as her, she must be truly amazing."


I just thought that was an amusingly on-point response to an extravagant claim ("amazing, as good as the greatest Medeas on record"). After all, the claimant hadn't even HEARD the greatest Medea on record, and Tsaraslondon is clearly the man to close that gap in his knowledge.


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

You thought it was amusing because you disagreed with it. I thought it was annoying because once again, a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with Callas derails to a Callas lecture because someone had the temerity to mention a role that Callas once played without mentioning her.

So predictably, too. As soon as Hermastersvoice mentioned Medea, we all knew exactly what was coming. I think I let out an audible groan.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

howlingfantods said:


> You thought it was amusing because you disagreed with it. I thought it was annoying because once again, a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with Callas derails to a Callas lecture because someone had the temerity to mention a role that Callas once played without mentioning her.
> 
> So predictably, too. As soon as Hermastersvoice mentioned Medea, we all knew exactly what was coming. I think I let out an audible groan.


I was waiting for you to get on your high horse. Predictably you never disappoint. My response was merely informative, yours rude and snarky as ever. I expected as much.


----------



## howlingfantods (Jul 27, 2015)

Tsaraslondon said:


> I was waiting for you to get on your high horse. Predictably you never disappoint. My response was merely informative, yours rude and snarky as ever. I expected as much.


Yes, nothing rude about implying antipathy or ignorance on Hermastersvoice's side for not having listened to Callas's recording.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

howlingfantods said:


> You thought it was amusing because you disagreed with it. I thought it was annoying because once again, a thread that has absolutely nothing to do with Callas derails to a Callas lecture because someone had the temerity to mention a role that Callas once played without mentioning her.
> 
> So predictably, too. As soon as Hermastersvoice mentioned Medea, we all knew exactly what was coming. I think I let out an audible groan.


Someone seems to have got up on the wrong side of the bed today.

Hermastersvoice didn't seem offended at receiving a bit of clarifying information, whether or not she actually needed it. Perhaps she is most qualified to judge whether it seemed "snarky." Why not ask her?


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

howlingfantods said:


> Yes, nothing rude about implying antipathy or ignorance on Hermastersvoice's side for not having listened to Callas's recording.


I implied no such thing. I stated (truthfully) that some people have an antipathy to Callas's voice. I accept that.

Maybe I should have written in bold, "If you don't, then maybe you shoud try listening to Callas's Medea." I doubt anyone other than you would have found it in the least rude!


----------



## Hermastersvoice (Oct 15, 2018)

It is impossible not to be a fan of Mme Callas. However, the world didn’t begin or end with her. For temperament Magda Olivero is up there with her and so is Borkh. For beauty of tone, Lise Davidsen rivals them.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Hermastersvoice said:


> It is impossible not to be a fan of Mme Callas. However, the world didn't begin or end with her. For temperament Magda Olivero is up there with her and so is Borkh. For beauty of tone, Lise Davidsen rivals them.


I don't know enough of Borkh I'm afraid, so can't comment. Olivero I do know and like and she was undoubtedly a great artist, who had a long and illustrious career, particularly admired for her work in the field of _verismo_. I just wanted to point out that, whereas the role was central to Callas's career (in a way that, say, Adrianna Lecouvreur was to Olivero's) it was not to any of the other singers mentioned.

I did manage to find a youtube clip of the final moments of the Wexford performance with Davidsen. We get a much fuller version of the score than in any of the Callas performances, though it is still sung in Italian, or at least I think so. Davidsen certainly has a fine instrument with firm, ringing top notes, but her diction is poor and she makes very little of the words. Both Olivero and Callas are much more specific.


----------



## Tsaraslondon (Nov 7, 2013)

Bumping this thread after reading Conrad L Osborne's latest piece on his blog. http://conradlosborne.com/2021/11/22/ha-diese-meister/8/

I always find him an erudite and fair critic and here he discusses the latest Met *Die Meistersinger* in which Davidsen played Elsa, as well as her recording of *Fidelio* on Pentatone and the recital of *Wesendonck Lieder* and Italian arias. It's a very interesting read.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Bumping this thread after reading Conrad L Osborne's latest piece on his blog. http://conradlosborne.com/2021/11/22/ha-diese-meister/8/
> 
> I always find him an erudite and fair critic and here he discusses the latest Met *Die Meistersinger* in which Davidsen played Elsa, as well as her recording of *Fidelio* on Pentatone and the recital of *Wesendonck Lieder* and Italian arias. It's a very interesting read.


Thanks for reminding me that Osborne's blog was sitting unread in my inbox. He describes Davidsen's strengths and weaknesses fairly and well. I'd recommend his critical essays to anyone who wants to refine their hearing of voices, of how well or poorly they function and fulfill the requirements of music. Of Davidsen's Leonore he writes:

_'Pentatone's Fidelio is the best evidence I've yet been able to hear for Davidsen's oft-claimed standing as the next great Wagnerian...There is no point in trying to compare her with the likes of Leider, Flagstad, Farrell, or Nilsson. The voice is simply not of that format, and probably would not be even if its lower register were engaged and expertly incorporated into the instrument (though that would certainly help). Nor does her temperament seem to be a fiery and fearless one-but again, a proprioceptive sense of her limits no doubt restrains her. The presence of her free, open-throated upper range, often of striking beauty, is now so uncommon that it has led some commentators to think they hear Brünnhildes and Isoldes in the offing. And of course she may sing these parts, things being what they are, but to consummate them she will have to find some means of shoring up her lower octave. Singers don't embark on re-structuring once their careers have reached this high a plateau, and such strengthening won't happen by itself._ _If we keep in mind, though, that Leonore doesn't necessarily call for a Heldensopran, there's much to enjoy in Davidsen's singing of it, and some flashes of excitement, as well. In the traded-off passage in thirds with Marzelline in the Act 1 trio, the voice takes on an easy shine. Though of course we miss real bite in the "Abscheulicher!" recitative, her effort to sing into it confirms that there is more there than she allowed herself in her Eva. Her attempt to pull back on the upper G at "ein Far-ben-bo-gen" thins out, but once she has gotten onto the ascending line and slow, chromatically weaving divisions of "Komm, Hoffnung" she is in friendly territory, and there's a gentle womanliness in the timbre. In the allegro section, she handles the many intervallic jumps in good order, and at least does not allow the low C-sharps and B-sharps to throw her off track. In both sections, she's able to release into exhilarating high Bs. She sings well in the duo with Rocco at the end of Act 1, and rises to the confrontation in the dungeon scene with real mettle. At spots throughout the role, she gathers the voice toward more of a core, and toward the darker side of the spectrum, than I had previously heard from her.'
_
On her _Wesendonck Songs:_

_'There are things to demur over, e. g., the soprano falling into the trap of whacking all the strong syllables at the opening of Stehe still! ("SAU-sendes, BRAU-sendes RAD der ZEIT"), then falling away on the weaker ones, rather than holding a steady, connected position against the orchestra's pulse, or resorting to straight tone on the rising line of "Dass in selig süssem Vergessen" in the same song. But for the most part, the sheer loveliness of timbre and the allowance of a somewhat deeper set to the voice, as well as Davidsen's obvious connection to the style and mood of these settings, make for satisfying listening.'_

Osborne finds her forays into Italian opera more problematic. His last paragraph puts it quite bluntly:

_'...then there's a series of Italian-language pieces, ranging from Beethoven and Cherubini to Verdi and Mascagni, in which the lack of chest register, of an ability to etch the pronuncia into the notes, or to fashion a continuous, vibrated line, along with Davidsen's habits of pecking at notes or straightening them, is in sum very costly. Of course there are passages where the quality and reach of the voice tell, but they cannot compensate for these deficits. Parts of the "Pace, pace mio Dio" are almost amateurish, and worst of all is the detached stab at Santuzza's "Voi lo sapete." Think Lina Bruna-Rasa; then think the opposite. Elder and his orchestra are clueless here, too-the players of the LPO sound utterly buffaloed upon meeting up with this obscure stuff called "Verismo." Davidsen has much work to do if she's to take on Italian repertoire of any era.'_

Here's Osborne's bi-weekly opera blog for anyone who would like to subscribe to it:

http://conradlosborne.com/


----------



## Seattleoperafan (Mar 24, 2013)

Tsaraslondon said:


> Bumping this thread after reading Conrad L Osborne's latest piece on his blog. http://conradlosborne.com/2021/11/22/ha-diese-meister/8/
> 
> I always find him an erudite and fair critic and here he discusses the latest Met *Die Meistersinger* in which Davidsen played Elsa, as well as her recording of *Fidelio* on Pentatone and the recital of *Wesendonck Lieder* and Italian arias. It's a very interesting read.


Yes, interesting read.


----------



## nina foresti (Mar 11, 2014)

Talk about "Pedanticism":
proprioceptive? -- intervalic jumps?
If ever I was brought down to my level, this gentleman did it.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

nina foresti said:


> Talk about "Pedanticism":
> proprioceptive? -- intervalic jumps?
> If ever I was brought down to my level, this gentleman did it.


I had to look up "proprioception" too. It's a sort of combination of "proper" and "perception," and it turns out to be a very precise concept, one perfectly applicable to the experience of singing. Wiki says, 'Proprioception, also referred to as kinaesthesia, is the sense of self-movement and body position. It is sometimes described as the "sixth sense".' It's our awareness of what our body feels like that guides us in using our physical powers. As an example, Kirsten Flagstad expressed her proprioception with the observation that when singing she felt as if she had no throat (which is no doubt why her voice held up so well with hard use).

Knowing our "level," and having a good tutor to help us raise it, is always healthy. Osborne was writing on opera back in the 60s when I was learning about music and singing, and I've found no one more knowledgeable and no one who expresses the relevant concepts more precisely, even if his prose can be a little dense by contemporary standards, which tend to favor word bites (the equivalent of sound bites). Sample this wonderfully exact explication, from the same blog on the Met's _Meistersinger,_ of what's required of singers for opera to make its proper effect:

_"There are two aspects to vocal presence. One is sheer tonal volume, created by the combination of the energy directed to the laryngeal vibrator and the amplification provided by the acoustical complex that lies above it. The other is continuity, the sustainment of this amplified vibration to form musical shapes the ear can track. Volume, of itself, stirs up the air and creates excitation, but continuity is required to tell a story. The presence created by volume and continuity may still not hold our attention for long-that depends on the artistry of the performer-but it is a basic condition for operatic narrative to move forward. The narrative also relies on the physical, actorly presence of the performers that enables the eye to receive it, and on the sonic presence of the orchestra. This last is of special value in Wagner, in whose orchestral writing there is such an aesthetic richness and power, such elaboration of the storytelling, that the listener can ride through longish stretches of mediocre singing and foolish acting without losing engagement with the work. Even at best, though, these last two presences cannot more than partially compensate for the concealment of the first. Opera is about the fates of characters who sing."_


----------



## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

This discussion on Davidsen, her Wesendonck, and Janowski (in Fidelio) prompts me to share this: *Cheryl Studer* singing the _Wesendonck Lieder_, 5 March 1999, Paris, Salle Pleyel, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, *Marek Janowski*.






Then there is this _Fidelio_.

10 August 1996, Salzburg, Großes Festspielhaus, Wiener Philharmoniker, Konzertvereinigung Wiener Staatsopernchor, *Sir Georg Solti*

Don Fernando - Peter Mattei
Rocco - René Pape
Don Pizarro - Tom Fox
Leonore|Fidelio - Cheryl Studer
Marzelline - Ruth Ziesak
Florestan - Ben Heppner
Jacquino - Roberto Saccà


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

ALT said:


> This discussion on Davidsen, her Wesendonck, and Janowski (in Fidelio) prompts me to share this: *Cheryl Studer* singing the _Wesendonck Lieder_, 5 March 1999, Paris, Salle Pleyel, Orchestre Philharmonique de Radio France, *Marek Janowski*.


Sampling Davidsen's _Wesendonck Lieder _on YouTube and Studer's here makes clear that the latter is a mature singer and musician while the former is not. But for the strongest comparisons I'd turn to others: Flagstad, Farrell, Ludwig, Baker and Norman come first to mind.


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> Sampling Davidsen's _Wesendonck Lieder _on YouTube and Studer's here makes clear that the latter is a mature singer and musician while the former is not. But for the strongest comparisons I'd turn to others: Flagstad, Farrell, Ludwig, Baker and Norman come first to mind.


Then there's also the question of whether it's fair to compare Studer's live version with Davidsen's studio recording. I'm also surprised that you don't include Schwarzkopf in your recommendations.

N.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Then there's also the question of whether it's fair to compare Studer's live version with Davidsen's studio recording. I'm also surprised that you don't include Schwarzkopf in your recommendations.
> 
> N.


I think it's fair enough. But did Schwarzkopf record the complete cycle? Or any of the songs with orchestra?


----------



## The Conte (May 31, 2015)

Woodduck said:


> I think it's fair enough. But did Schwarzkopf record the complete cycle? Or any of the songs with orchestra?


Oh wait, I had them confused with Strauss' Four Last Songs! 

Forgive me!

N.


----------



## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

The Conte said:


> Oh wait, I had them confused with Strauss' Four Last Songs!
> 
> Forgive me!
> 
> N.


Ah. Schwarzkopf does a nice "Traume" with Gerald Moore:






I think the Wesendoncks benefit most from a mezzo or a soprano with a full, warm lower register - the sort of voice that sounds good in _Das Lied von der Erde._


----------



## ALT (Mar 1, 2021)

Woodduck said:


> Sampling Davidsen's _Wesendonck Lieder _on YouTube and Studer's here makes clear that the latter is a mature singer and musician while the former is not. But for the strongest comparisons I'd turn to others: Flagstad, Farrell, Ludwig, Baker and Norman come first to mind.


So very true about the mature singer/musician bit. While I am most familiar with the others you listed, none, to me, go to the core of these songs as Studer does. Studer may lack the evenness and lower range of the others but that doesn't distract from the inner fire and spontaneity she brings. In comparison, the others, including Davidsen, seem restricted.


----------

