Lyric Opera 2023-2024 Issue 4 - Jenufa

13 | Lyric Opera of Chicago On London’s classical-music scene, the most coveted engagement for any artist is surely the Last Night of the Proms, the concluding event of the Royal Albert Hall’s prestigious BBC Promenade Concerts. A singer appearing as the featured performer on the Last Night program is invariably someone who has achieved truly exceptional eminence worldwide. The fact that both Nina Stemme (2017) and Lise Davidsen (2023) have headlined the show says much for the stature each holds among today’s operatic elite. There’s much else that connects Stemme and Davidsen. They both hail from Scandinavia— Davidsen is Norwegian, Stemme Swedish. Each owns a dramatic voice of astonishing size and breadth, deployed with deeply impressive musicality—and greeted by unrivaled critical acclaim. Among Stemme’s past roles are six that Davidsen now includes in her repertoire. At both the Metropolitan Opera ( Elektra ) and the Deutsche Oper Berlin ( Die Walküre ), the Stemme/ Davidsen partnership has provided some of the most memorable performances of recent seasons. Now these two incandescent artists are paired again, this time at Lyric. Here’s a brief overview of their recent triumphs, showing why they are ideally suited to the fearful demands of their roles in Jen ˚ufa. NINA STEMME The Swedish soprano’s Isolde has set new standards for that most intimidating of roles. Stemme exudes consuming rage in the first act, noble womanliness in the second, and deeply moving, unearthly exultation in the “Liebestod” of Act Three. When she sings Isolde’s final blissful notes, we can almost see them floating into the infinite. Watch and listen to Stemme’s Brünnhilde, in Götterdämmerung . In phrase after phrase, she colors her voice with such expressive eloquence that one can hardly imagine hearing the role being sung any other way. At the same time, she confirms her reputation as one the most utterly natural physical actresses in opera, completely believable is every move she makes. Following her 2017 performance at the Bavarian State Opera, France’s distinguished journal L’Avant-Scène Opéra reported that “her Immolation Scene reached historic heights. At the final curtain, when she appeared alone, the audience rose to their feet, screaming their joy.” Aida is often a perilous role for Wagner sopranos. Stemme sails through not just the grand-scale outbursts but also the most softly floated moments. Her portrayal reveals the pride of Verdi’s heroine as well as the hurt—and when she’s coaxing her lover into fleeing Egypt with her, it isn’t just Radamès who’s seduced. Those portrayals exemplify the ease with which Stemme has mastered the pinnacles of dramatic-soprano repertoire. By mid-career it became abundantly clear that she was the true heir of her compatriot, the late Birgit Nilsson. Stemme’s voice navigates with unshakeable confidence in high climaxes, but she also boasts a glorious warmth in the lower-middle range that didn’t figure in Nilsson’s mighty vocal armory. Hearing Stemme in Opposite: Nina Stemme (left) as Ortrud in Lohengrin at the Vienna State Opera and Lise Davidsen (right) as Elizabeth of Valois in Don Carlo at the Royal Opera House. Nina Stemme as Isolde at the Metropolitan Opera. Kristian Schuller / Metropolitan Opera