From a correspondent who attended last night’s season premiere of Ariadne auf Naxos at the Met:
“This immense 35-year-old talent sings Ariadne at the Met now (sadly to shockingly empty houses). It is a remarkable performance, utterly devoid of artistic touches — which I say with the greatest of admiration, for with nature there is no need for self-consciousness or even originality, just for music and good taste. It is thus simultaneously a modest, self-effacing approach and an electrifying one. Any comparison to Nilsson is off: Davidsen has a warm tone and eclectic vibrato that balances her secure pitch with a hint of danger. She is a bit more of what I think of as the Flagstad sound. And yet there is a pleasing harshness when the decibels go off the chart, common to Nilsson and other very large voices, as if the mask vibrations are slamming into one another, which leaves a lovely bitter aftertaste, like a great Burgundy, to remind us that we are dealing with living matter here. One might say that, like a great burgundy, this is a voice with a large nose. Here is the first great Ariadne of the work’s second century.
The supporting cast is more than adequate, including a charming Isabel Leonard as the Composer, the smartly-sung sweetness of Brandon Jovanovich as Bacchus. Marek Janowski conducted with authority and taste through the brass could use a bit more discipline. Brenda Rae flitted and flirted and even sang some of her most difficult music while hoisted aloft by her compatriots; one can only imagine the condition of her abdominal muscles. The staging was fresh; it seemed fresher than when the production was new.
The comedians were quite amusing, almost Dadaesque. The Major-Domo, Wolfgang Brendel, may have mugged just a bit too much but he certainly became a major character, perhaps even the prime mover of the whole event which, it was suggested, was payback for an intemperate remark of the Music Master; this is quite far from the sang-froid boredom of the late Nico Castel who seemingly could barely stay awake when addressing the rabble. Johannes Martin Kranzle as the Music Master and Brenton Ryan as the Dancing Master provided solid support above and below. The three desert island dames were wonderful, particularly Tamara Mumford as Dryad, a Lindemann laureate and potentially a major artist with her extremely warm color and ample volume – perhaps a Carmen someday soon.
Sean Michael Plumb making his debut as Harlekin has a bright, lyrical and very full sound and an equally bright future perhaps as Ford or Tonio. Welcome, sir.”