Liederabend Lise Davidsen

The internationally acclaimed soprano Lise Davidsen comes from Norway. Since winning the Operalia singing competition in London and the International Queen Sonja Competition in 2015, she has made a name for herself particularly as an interpreter of Wagner, Strauss and Verdi, making her debuts at such prestigious venues as the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Royal Opera House in London, Teatro alla Scala in Milan, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Vienna State Opera, the Festival d’Aix-en-Provence, the Bayreuth Festival and the Glyndebourne Festival. On the concert stage, she has appeared at the BBC Proms and the Vienna Philharmonic's Summer Night Concert, among others, and has performed with the Orchestre de Paris, the London Philharmonic Orchestra and the Berlin Philharmonic, among others. Most recently, she has appeared as Isolde at the Gran Teatre del Liceu in Barcelona and at the Metropolitan Opera in New York, as Leonore ("Fidelio"), also at the Met, and as Tosca in Vienna, Munich, Berlin and New York. In the 2026/27 season, Lise Davidsen will sing Verdi's Lady Macbeth at the Met's season opening and make her debut as Brünnhilde ("Die Walküre") at the Salzburg Easter Festival. At the Berlin State Opera, she will appear as Leonora ("La forza del destino") and at Zurich Opera House, where she was last heard as Agathe ("Der Freischütz"), as Elisabetta in "Don Carlo". In 2026, she most recently released a Verdi album with the London Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Edward Gardner. The album "Live at the Met", featuring pianist James Baillieu, was also released in 2026.

The pianist James Baillieu comes from South Africa. He is one of the leading song and chamber music pianists of his generation and has worked with numerous renowned artists, including Benjamin Appl, Jamie Barton, Ian Bostridge, Louise Alder, Tara Erraught, Lise Davidsen, Dame Kiri Te Kanawa, Véronique Gens and Pretty Yende. As a soloist, he has performed with the Ulster Orchestra, the English Chamber Orchestra and the Vienna Chamber Symphony, among others. Baillieu regularly performs at many of the world's renowned music centres, including Carnegie Hall and the Metropolitan Opera in New York, the Concertgebouw Amsterdam, and the Konzerthaus venues in Berlin and Vienna. An innovative programme curator, he has curated numerous song and chamber music festivals, including series for Wigmore Hall and Perth Concert Hall, as well as for the festivals in Verbier, Brighton and Bath. He is a prize-winner of the Wigmore Hall Song Competition, the International Song Competition "Das Lied", the Kathleen Ferrier Awards and the Wigmore Hall Richard Tauber Prize. In addition to his concert career, James Baillieu serves as a jury member for the Tenor Viñas Competition and teaches in the Associate Artist Programme of Welsh National Opera. He is Senior Professor at the Royal Academy of Music in London, a coach in the Jette Parker Young Artist Programme at the Royal Opera House, a course leader at the Samling Foundation and Head of the song programme at the Atelier Lyrique of the Verbier Festival Academy. His recordings include several albums with baritone Benjamin Appl, works for violin and piano by C. P. E. Bach with violinist Tamsin Waley-Cohen, and "A Lionel Tertis Celebration" with violist Timothy Ridout.