How Lise Davidsen became opera’s most important star

From my monthly essay in The Critic:

Stars have been falling out of opera like apples in late summer. Jonas Kaufmann, a serial drop-out, now has a second career as a festival manager. Anna Netrebko is blacklisted for past Putin affinities. Vittorio Grigolo was fired for harassment. Roberto Alagna is over 60. Renée Fleming is 65. The box office has almost run out of lights.

With one singular exception: Lise Davidsen commands the art in a way no dramatic soprano has done since Birgit Nilsson and, before her, Kirsten Flagstad. That all three are Nordic may be more than coincidence, but hold that thought. Davidsen, 37 years old and six foot two, is the shining star on whom the opera world has hinged its future….

Read on here.