美国国家公共电台 NPR--Norwegian opera singer Lise Davidsen is on the verge of superstardom

Norwegian opera singer Lise Davidsen is on the verge¹ of superstardom

Transcript²

Norwegian opera singer Lise Davidsen is on the verge of superstardom: Her voice has been described as "one in a million," but surprisingly, the 35-year-old singer never even saw an opera until she was 20.

Davidsen has a commanding stage presence – her charisma³, her height, her acting⁴ – and then, that voice. "She really is in sort of a world of her own," says Peter Gelb, General Manager of the Metropolitan⁵ Opera, where she's singing three leading roles this season. "This is a voice that seems to be miraculous⁶ in that it is unlike any voice that I've heard in my tenure⁷ at the Met. I really see her being kind of the vocal⁸ flagship of the Met in the decades to come."

It's been quite a trip for Davidsen, who grew up in a non-musical family in Stokke, a small town in Norway, about an hour-and-a-half from Oslo. She was more interested in playing handball, until she discovered singing in high school choirs⁹ and Christmas pageants¹⁰. She even learned guitar, in the hopes of becoming a singer/songwriter. "There was something about singing that I found a place where I could talk about some things," Davidsen remembers.

She became serious enough about music that she went to the Grieg Academy, a conservatory¹¹ in Bergen. It's where she saw her first opera, but Davidsen thought she'd sing Bach and Handel as a mezzo soprano soloist¹², with small ensembles¹³. When she continued her studies in Copenhagen, her voice teacher, Susanna Eken, saw bigger and, well, higher things for her.

"She realized for me that no, no, you're not a mezzo, you are soprano," says Davidsen. "And I was like, OK, OK. So, with her, I discovered the world of opera."

Davidsen immersed herself in study – learning vocal technique, how to connect her body to her voice, how to act onstage. When she was in a student showcase, of scenes from Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos and Arabella, she had her lightbulb moment. "I remember like, 'Oh yes, this is it. This is where I want to be,'" she says, "because then I felt more comfortable onstage and I was like, 'This is not Lise. This is the character that I want to play.' And to be able to do that is a gift in a way."

Shortly after she graduated in 2015, Davidsen won two major vocal competitions: Operalia in London and the Queen Sonja Competition in Oslo. All of a sudden, the world came calling: Glyndebourne, the Royal Opera House, Bayreuth, the Berlin Opera, the Met.

New York Times music critic Zachary Woolfe has raved¹⁴ about her performances at the Metropolitan Opera (where she made her debut¹⁵ in Tchaikovsky's Queen of Spades in 2019), calling her voice sumptuous¹⁶ and her acting grounded. "It is a grand instrument, even when she's singing piano [softly]. And yet that grandeur¹⁷ can, I think, really be scaled up and down. And she is clearly interested in, and I think does really beautiful work, in the song repertory and even orchestral song repertory."

In addition to performances around the world, Davidsen has recorded a couple of albums of opera excerpts¹⁸ for Decca and, and after recovering from COVID in 2020, an album of art songs by Norwegian composer Edvard Grieg, with her fellow countryman, pianist Leif Ove Andsnes. "Her voice is dark and velvety¹⁹ and dramatic and big," Andsnes explains, "but flexible and can do all sorts of things."

Davidsen is currently starring in Richard Strauss' Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met, where she is playing both a comic prima donna and a regal princess. Marek Janowski is the production's conductor and he sees a great future for her: "It's absolutely clear that, if everything goes normally in her career, she will be, say, in about three to five years, one of the very important real heavyweight Wagnerian sopranos."

Lise Davidsen sees those big roles – Brunhilde, Isolde, as well as roles in dramatic Italian operas – in her future, too. But only when she feels ready to do them. "I plan with things that I think are right," Davidsen says, "So, like with these roles, I could, I feel that, OK, I could, in theory, work on them tomorrow. But that doesn't mean it's right to do now. I need more time. I need to study them properly."

When asked what he'd like to hear Davidsen sing, Gelb says, "Every major dramatic soprano role that she wants to do is hers as far as I'm concerned. She basically has the key to the Met."

Which, Davidsen says is kind of crazy for a singer who had never even seen an opera until fifteen years ago. "Yeah, it's surreal," she says, laughing. "Sometimes I need to pinch my arm and just remind myself of that."

In addition to Ariadne (which can be seen in Met HD broadcasts on Wed²⁰., March 16 at selected theaters), Lisa Davidsen will be appearing in Elektra next month.

Tonight, she will be performing live on the stage of the Met in a benefit concert for Ukraine, which will be broadcast on many NPR stations.

1 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

2 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

3 charisma   

n.(大众爱戴的)领袖气质，魅力

参考例句：

• He has enormous charisma. He is a giant of a man.他有超凡的个人魅力，是个伟人。
• I don't have the charisma to pull a crowd this size.我没有那么大的魅力，能吸引这么多人。

4 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

5 metropolitan   

adj.大城市的，大都会的

参考例句：

• Metropolitan buildings become taller than ever.大城市的建筑变得比以前更高。
• Metropolitan residents are used to fast rhythm.大都市的居民习惯于快节奏。

6 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

7 tenure   

n.终身职位；任期；(土地)保有权，保有期

参考例句：

• He remained popular throughout his tenure of the office of mayor.他在担任市长的整个任期内都深得民心。
• Land tenure is a leading political issue in many parts of the world.土地的保有权在世界很多地区是主要的政治问题。

8 vocal   

adj.直言不讳的；嗓音的；n.[pl.]声乐节目

参考例句：

• The tongue is a vocal organ.舌头是一个发音器官。
• Public opinion at last became vocal.终于舆论哗然。

9 choirs   

n.教堂的唱诗班( choir的名词复数 )；唱诗队；公开表演的合唱团；（教堂）唱经楼

参考例句：

• They ran the three churches to which they belonged, the clergy, the choirs and the parishioners. 她们管理着自己所属的那三家教堂、牧师、唱诗班和教区居民。 来自飘（部分）
• Since 1935, several village choirs skilled in this music have been created. 1935以来，数支熟练掌握这种音乐的乡村唱诗班相继建立起来。 来自互联网

10 pageants   

n.盛装的游行( pageant的名词复数 )；穿古代服装的游行；再现历史场景的娱乐活动；盛会

参考例句：

• It is young people who favor holding Beauty pageants. 赞成举办选美的是年轻人。 来自互联网
• Others say that there's a fine line between the pageants and sexual exploitation. 其他人说，选美和性剥削之间只有非常细微的界线。 来自互联网

11 conservatory   

n.温室，音乐学院；adj.保存性的，有保存力的

参考例句：

• At the conservatory,he learned how to score a musical composition.在音乐学校里，他学会了怎样谱曲。
• The modern conservatory is not an environment for nurturing plants.这个现代化温室的环境不适合培育植物。

12 soloist   

n.独奏者，独唱者

参考例句：

• The soloist brought the house down with encore for his impressive voice.这位独唱家以他那感人的歌声博得全场喝彩。
• The soloist had never performed in London before.那位独唱者过去从未在伦敦演出过。

13 ensembles   

整体( ensemble的名词复数 )； 合奏； 乐团； 全套服装（尤指女装）

参考例句：

• I love to play in all types of ensembles. 我喜欢参与吹奏各种各样的合奏曲。
• The 5th Brigade is now taking 895 Land Warrior ensembles to Afghanistan. 第五旅现在携带895套陆地勇士装备去阿富汗。

14 raved   

v.胡言乱语( rave的过去式和过去分词 )；愤怒地说；咆哮；痴心地说

参考例句：

• Andrew raved all night in his fever. 安德鲁发烧时整夜地说胡话。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• They raved about her beauty. 他们过分称赞她的美。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

15 debut   

n.首次演出，初次露面

参考例句：

• That same year he made his Broadway debut, playing a suave radio journalist.在那同一年里，他初次在百老汇登台，扮演一个温文而雅的电台记者。
• The actress made her debut in the new comedy.这位演员在那出新喜剧中首次登台演出。

16 sumptuous   

adj.豪华的，奢侈的，华丽的

参考例句：

• The guests turned up dressed in sumptuous evening gowns.客人们身着华丽的夜礼服出现了。
• We were ushered into a sumptuous dining hall.我们被领进一个豪华的餐厅。

17 grandeur   

n.伟大，崇高，宏伟，庄严，豪华

参考例句：

• The grandeur of the Great Wall is unmatched.长城的壮观是独一无二的。
• These ruins sufficiently attest the former grandeur of the place.这些遗迹充分证明此处昔日的宏伟。

18 excerpts   

n.摘录，摘要( excerpt的名词复数 )；节选（音乐，电影）片段

参考例句：

• Some excerpts from a Renaissance mass are spatchcocked into Gluck's pallid Don Juan music. 一些文艺复光时期的弥撒的选节被不适当地加入到了格鲁克平淡无味的唐璜音乐中。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He is editing together excerpts of some of his films. 他正在将自己制作的一些电影的片断进行剪辑合成。 来自辞典例句

19 velvety   

adj. 像天鹅绒的, 轻软光滑的, 柔软的

参考例句：

• a velvety red wine 醇厚的红葡萄酒
• Her skin was admired for its velvety softness. 她的皮肤如天鹅绒般柔软，令人赞叹。

20 wed   

v.娶，嫁，与…结婚

参考例句：

• The couple eventually wed after three year engagement.这对夫妇在订婚三年后终于结婚了。
• The prince was very determined to wed one of the king's daughters.王子下定决心要娶国王的其中一位女儿。