Lise Davidsen, James Baillieu

The hype surrounding the young Norwegian soprano is nothing short of stratospheric, and the luxurious warmth of her voice will be on full display in an evening of lieder at their most darkly romantic.

The thrilling rise of Lise Davidsen has been one of the big stories in opera in recent seasons, and she’s capable both of glittering coloratura and strikingly powerful characterisation. A programme of Brahms, Strauss, Sibelius and Grieg promises real vocal drama in her Barbican recital debut.

And true enough: London audiences probably know Davidsen best as an impetuous Freia in Das Rheingold – or perhaps the finest Ariadne Glyndebourne has ever seen. But her sense of character and radiant tone shines through everything she performs, and it’ll be fascinating to hear her interpretation of Sibelius’s haunting Nordic creation myth Luonnotar, as well as the opera-in-miniature of Schumann’s Maria Stuart cycle.