True dramatic sopranos who can do justice to Wagner’s and Strauss’s most powerful heroines are among the rarest commodities in opera. In Strauss’s Elektra this month, Met audiences have the rare opportunity to experience two of them at the same time, as Nina Stemme reprises her overpowering portrayal in the title role and Lise Davidsen makes her eagerly anticipated role debut as Chrysothemis. On their first day of rehearsal together (pictured above), the two sat down with the Met’s Jay Goodwin to discuss their onstage partnership, Strauss’s twisted sisters, and Patrice Chéreau’s uncommonly insightful staging.
Jay Goodwin: I know that the two of you sang
together in a Walküre in Berlin in 2020. But is that the only time you’ve
worked together so far?
Nina Stemme: No, there was also a
Götterdämmerung at Covent Garden three and a half years ago.
Lise Davidsen: Oh yeah, that’s true, I was
doing the Third Norn. And I also sang one of the Valkyries.
NS: Oh, of course! So we’ve actually been in
three different productions together.
LD: But Sieglinde and Brünnhilde in Berlin was
our first close collaboration.
JG: What memories stand out from those first
performances together?
LD: Well, of course I knew everything about
Nina. And when you know you want to do the same repertoire one day, you listen
in a different way because you learn a lot from seeing someone do it. It was
also special for me because it was my first Sieglinde. It will be the same
here, doing my first Chrysothemis. But I’ve watched Nina as Elektra on video.
She’s so amazing, and people should just know how extremely hard the role is at
all levels.
NS: This opera is so tricky the first time you
do it. And even when you revive it—it’s been three years since I sang Elektra.
LD: Oh, so you might need to run it once or
twice. [Laughter]
NS: For me, I remember the first time we sang
out in the London Walküre, and I heard your voice. I’d heard about you and read
about you, but when I finally heard you sing, I just thought—finally, here is a
real singer coming through. I also wanted to know what kind of colleague you
would be, and it’s been wonderful to see how hardworking you are, and what a
grounded and straightforward, nice person. I just wish we’d had more time to
get to know each other.
LD: Me too. People think we all know each other very well, but in Berlin, we were amid Covid and between two lockdowns. So it was very strict—rehearsals, testing, and that’s it. No after-party, no socializing, nothing.
NS: But I could tell right away that you knew,
even though you’d have people trying to push you, that you have to take it slow
in order to develop naturally and to find as many colors as possible in your
fantastic instrument.
JG: Earlier in your career, Nina, did you feel
that same pressure to move onto other roles before you were ready?
NS: I was lucky there because I started out as
a lyric or maybe a big lyric soprano, singing Madama Butterfly, so nobody would
have guessed that I would eventually sing the roles I’m doing now. But then
with every big role I took on, my voice grew, so I was constantly studying new
repertoire. That gave me a chance to be the dark horse. I made an impression
because people didn’t know where I came from.
LD: Or where you were going. Yeah, I didn’t
have that. I mean, I remember going to auditions with Mozart roles and being
told that I was born ten years too late because everyone was casting Mozart so
light—nobody was using a Contessa or a Fiordiligi of my type. But then, when
you sing Elisabeth [in Tannhäuser], people think that tomorrow is Brünnhilde.
NS: It’s a wonderful thing you have ahead of
you, but people have to know that an instrument like yours needs time.
JG: Lise, it’s obvious that you really admire Nina as an artist.
Does that go back to before you met her? Did you see her perform or listen to
her recordings?
LD: I remember when I was studying Agathe in Der Freischütz, I
watched a video on YouTube of Nina doing the big aria. And I said to my boyfriend
at the time, well, I’m not doing this. There’s no point, I can’t do it like that. The
legato, everything, was just so perfect.
JG: Coming back to Elektra, Nina, did you ever
sing Chrysothemis?
NS: No, I skipped that. I actually had an
offer to sing it for a revival at Covent Garden, but I would only have had two
weeks of rehearsals. And having sung the Fifth Maid as the very first role I
did on my contract in Cologne in 1995, I realized that Chrysothemis is not very
easy, and I would need more time. Also, if you are just thrown into this role,
it’s easy to make her less important than she really is. She’s really not the
hausfrau that you think at first.
JG: How have you found learning the role,
Lise? What has been most
rewarding?
LD: I think the most rewarding thing is to be
part of this production. It’s very thought-through—I mean, Chéreau would never
do otherwise—and I think it will be nice to do a very close-to-reality
production.
NS: It means we can make our characters closer to ourselves. And the Chrysothemis in this version is one I can relate to as an artist. I know it will be perfect for you, and a challenge for me, with such a strong singer in the role.
LD: There’s so much hope in her, and so much
love for Elektra. There’s fear, but fear for her, not of her. It’s a way of
portraying the other side of Elektra, the other side of her nature. They’ve
been dealt different cards and gone different ways, but they’re still sisters.
NS: Exactly. I really think they’re two sides
of the same coin.
JG: Nina, how would you describe your Elektra in this production?
NS: Well, it has been six years since the last time, so of course
I’m going to try other ways of reacting with different colleagues on stage. But in this production, I can show the love that Elektra bears within. And also, that she
has chosen to stay here and not to run away. Nobody really keeps her there, so
why does she stay? She’s waiting for revenge to be taken, but she doesn’t have
the guts to do it herself. Maybe I can put some more edge to her this
time. But I’m staying
open, and we will see.
https://www.metopera.org/discover/articles/two-in-a-million/
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