In the context of the release of a CD of songs by Evard Grieg, Lise Davidsen is on tour with a recital the first part of which mirrors the repertoire of the disc, while the second is devoted to the composers she is usually associated with: Wagner and Strauss.
While I am unfamiliar with most of the Grieg items, they offered an interesting perspective to Ms. Davidsen’s artistry. The German songs op. 48 showed her at her lightest and most crystalline, floating mezza voce at will and producing firm, radiant streams of sound, but the op. 67 – Haugtussa – in her native Norwegian brought about a spontaneity of tone, an almost pop like immediacy, an ability of tone coloring that made me wonder if this was not the best singing I have ever heard from her. The language did not pose any barrier between her and the audience – with the power of interpretation, an expressive face and a congenial personality she was able to put across the meaning of these texts.
After the intermission, the Strauss items sounded more similar to her usual operatic persona. The tone was immediately darker, big high notes filled the room without effort – and yet sometimes one felt that something slimmer and brighter would make her sound more natural, just like she had just done in the Norwegian items. As it was, Ruhe, meine Seele was drawn in a large dynamic range and Cäcilie was sung in a Valkyrian scale. In Morgen, she proved again capable of Innigkeit and polish. Maybe Befreit was the most interesting item in the set – Ms. Davidsen explored all possibilities of her voice in it, a tour de force.
In Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder the tone displayed a mezzo-ish quality that never stood in the way of refulgent, rich high notes. Maybe I’m too fond of Régine Crespin’s recording with Georges Prêtre, but I missed the sensuousness, the flexibility of line, the fantasy. Her pianist in the recording, Leif Ove Andsnes, had to cancel because of COVID, being replaced at the last second by James Baillieu, an accompanist with a good ear for color and bold use of the pedal, but not 100% clear in articulation and a bit percussive in the most “orchestral” moments. As it was, Träume proved to be their best item – at moments she almost found her Grieg-ian spontaneous voice and feeling for the natural flow of the line.
I HEAR VOICES 
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