Five stars for Der Rosenkavalier at the Met — Lise Davidsen unleashes opulent sound

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen is the opera world’s next great hope for the big Wagner and Strauss roles, which require near-superhuman stamina and volume. But her latest role debut is no goddess or warrior-maiden, instead Strauss’s Marschallin, the elegant aristocrat at the heart of Der Rosenkavalier. Though it’s not a vocally demanding role for a voice like Davidsen’s, it requires an emotional maturity and finesse rare for a singer of her age.

Davidsen has never been the most natural actor, but her Marschallin at New York’s Metropolitan Opera demonstrated a newfound dramatic nuance. She nicely captures the humour and charm, as well as the wistful elegance, of the character, renouncing her younger lover, Octavian, after he falls for Sophie, another man’s fiancée. What she may lack in clarity of diction she more than makes up for with the opulence of her sound. Davidsen also displayed a newfound finesse in her singing, with carefully calibrated dynamics and exquisitely floated high notes. But it’s when she unleashes the full power of her soprano that you see why her voice is special — you could feel the Met’s walls vibrate during the high B that caps the final trio.

It almost feels unfair for Davidsen’s co-stars to have to compete with the power of her voice, but mezzo-soprano Samantha Hankey had a star-is-born moment as Octavian. Hankey has a rich, dark sound with a throbbing vibrato that captures the impetuousness of the character. She was convincing as a teenage boy, sulky and petulant with the Marschallin and instantly lovestruck upon meeting the young, beautiful Sophie. Erin Morley sounded exquisite in the ingénue role, with a pearly sound that projects nicely through all but the heaviest orchestration. Morley’s luminous high notes are an absolute marvel, making time stand still.

Günther Groissböck is younger and sexier than usual as Baron Ochs, Sophie’s boorish fiancé, and he relished the crude, entitled masculinity of the role. He’s a stage animal, imposing one moment and pathetic the next, even if his bass is no longer as resonant as it once was. Among the rest of the large cast, Brian Mulligan’s lyrical, Italianate baritone and Alexandra LoBianco’s imposing soprano as Sophie’s father and duenna, respectively, were the standouts.

In the pit, conductor Simone Young drew incisive playing from the orchestra, with fine attention to detail in Strauss’s dense orchestrations. She started out stiffly, missing out on the sparkling wit of the opening act, but settled into a lyrical account. Robert Carsen’s production is a known quantity, having travelled to the Met from London, but remains full of clever detail. Carsen updates the action to the turn of the century, placing the action into a decadent Vienna on the cusp of war. It doesn’t add much insight to the plot but provides Davidsen’s Marschallin with a spectacular entrance in the final act, costumed in a beaded art deco gown draped in furs and diamonds — a breathtaking look for a magnificent role debut.

★★★★★

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