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Lise debuts at Wiener Staatsoper in Ariadne auf Naxos

Lise makes another highly-anticipated debut this month as she gives her first performance at the Wiener Staatsoper on 23 November. Lise returns to the title role of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos, her third time singing the role this year after productions with Glyndebourne Festival Opera and the Arctic Philharmonic. She stars alongside Rachel Frenkel as the Composer, Stephen Gould as Bacchus and Erin Morley as Zerbinetta, who also sung the role at Glyndebourne. Sven-Eric Bechtolf’s production is also performed on 26 and 29 November, with Peter Schneider conducting. The performance on 29 November will be broadcast live on Wiener Staatsoper’s website – click here for more information.

Lise sings Ariadne again later in the season, starring in a new production at the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence. In December, she begins her Bergen Philharmonic artistic residency with a recital of songs by Grieg, Sibelius, Brahms and Strauss with pianist James Baillieu. The residency also features performances of Wagner’s Wesendonck Lieder and Sibelius’ tone poem for soprano and orchestra, Luonnator.

Lise was recently profiled in the Washington Times – click here to read the interview.

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Lise wins the Norwegian Critics’ Association Music Award

Lise has been announced as the winner of the Norwegian Critics’ Association Music Award for 2016/17. She was nominated for her performance in the title role of Richard Strauss’ Ariadne auf Naxos with the Arctic Philharmonic in March 2017. Announcing the award, Norwegian music critic Hilde Halvorsrød said:

“Lise Davidsen carried the whole show on her shoulders. The interesting thing about Richard Strauss’ Ariadne character is that the text does its best to make fun of her existential longing for a man who will never return, ending in an equally intense longing for death. Strauss writes in a gay group from a parallel story that tries to cheer her up and lets the loose figure of Zerbinetta try to persuade Ariadne to do as herself: just find a new man or two. But the music is always on Ariadne’s side, and Strauss does not put anything in between when he paints her pain. She is standing alone in her own world, faithful to love, and does not bend for anything. That is why the Music Prize Prize for the 2016/17 season is so well deserved by Lise Davidsen.”

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Lise nominated for the Norwegian Critics’ Association Music Award

Following her nominations for the Spellemann and Norwegian Music Export Awards in May, Lise has also been announced as one of three nominees for the Norwegian Critics’ Association Music Award. Lise has been nominated for her performances as Ariadne in Ariadne auf Naxos with the Arctic Philharmonic in March 2017.

The Norwegian Critics’ Association also awards prizes for achievements in theatre and dance. The winners will be announced at Oslo’s Litteraturhuset at 11am on Thursday 28 September.

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Debut at Glyndebourne in Ariadne auf Naxos

Lise makes her debut at Glyndebourne Festival Opera on 25 June, performing in the title role of Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos. Lise stars in a cast that also features Sir Thomas Allen, Erin Morley and Angela Brower. Katharina Thoma directs this revival of her 2013 production, which updates the opera to an English country house in the 1940s. Ariadne auf Naxos was the first opera to be performed at Glyndebourne in 1950 and remains the Strauss opera most performed at the house.

The production, which runs until 27 July, is Lise’s second Ariadne of the season, following a critically acclaimed performance with the Arctic Philharmonic and Symphony Orchestra. Watch her “ecstatic” (Bachtrack) performance of Ariadne’s aria, ‘Es gibt ein Reich’, below.

Looking ahead, Lise follows Ariadne auf Naxos with her debut at the BBC Proms on 10 August. She joins the BBC Philharmonic and conductor John Storgårds to perform Sibelius’ Luonnotar and excerpts from Grieg’s Peer Gynt. She also sings Ariadne again in November, this time at the Wiener Staatsoper.

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Role debut in title role of Ariadne auf Naxos with Arctic Philharmonic

Lise makes her debut in the title role of Strauss Ariadne auf Naxos this month with the Arctic Philharmonic, beginning the run at the Stormen Konserthus in Bodø on 17 March. The production is conducted by Christian Kluxen, with direction from Katharina Jakhelln Semb. Lise sings the role in Bodø again on 19 March as well as at Kulturhuset Tromsø on 21 and 23 March.

Lise reprises the role for her forthcoming UK debut with Glyndebourne Festival Opera in June. Her other highlights this season include Isabella in Wagner Das Liebesverbot at the Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires, and a Rosenblatt Recital at London’s Wigmore Hall.

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Glyndebourne 2017: Lise’s UK opera debut

Glyndebourne Festival’s 2017 programme was announced on Tuesday 3 May, and features Lise’s UK opera debut in the title role of Ariadne auf Naxos in Katharina Thoma’s production, opening on 25 June.

After her wins at the Operalia, Queen Sonja and Belvedere competitions, Lise has also been announced as an HSBC Aix en Provence Laureate, and the winner of the Gladsaxe Music Prize 2016 and the Statsoil Bursary Award. Other engagements next season include Agathe in a new production of Der Freischütz in Zurich, Four Last Songs at the Concertgebouw Amsterdam with Edo de Wart, Verdi’s Requiem in London with the Philharmonia and Edward Gardner, and Isabella Das Liebesverbot at Teatro Colon, Buenos Aires.

Full cast details of Glyndebourne Festival 2017 will be announced at a later date. Priority booking for the 2017 festival begins on 1 December, while public booking opens on 5 March 2017.