Lise Davidsen Makes Schubert Club Debut with All-Schubert Recital

Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen will make her Schubert Club debut on Friday, Oct. 23, 2026, opening the organization's 2026-27 International Artist Series with an all-Schubert recital at Ordway Concert Hall in Saint Paul, Minnesota.

Pianist James Baillieu joins Davidsen at the keyboard. The duo has built this Schubert program into a touring vehicle: after Saint Paul, the same recital travels to Carnegie Hall, the Bergen International Festival and Wigmore Hall.

What is on the program?

The first half concentrates on Schubert's most familiar Goethe settings and Mignon songs:

• "Am Bach im Frühling"
• "Ganymed"
• "Der Zwerg"
• "Gretchen am Spinnrade"
• "Mignons Gesang"
• Three of the "Mignons Gesänge" from "Wilhelm Meister"
• "Der Tod und das Mädchen"

The second half opens with "Der Musensohn" and continues through:

• "Lachen und Weinen"
• "Suleika I"
• "Auf dem See"
• "Der blinde Knabe"
• "Du bist die Ruh"
• "Die Allmacht"
• "Die junge Nonne"

The program closes with two of Schubert's most starkly contrasted songs: "Erlkönig" and "Litanei auf das Fest Aller Seelen."

Why does the date matter?

The Oct. 23 recital carries double weight. It launches the Schubert Club's International Artist Series for 2026-27, and it gives Minnesota audiences their first chance to hear Davidsen live under the organization's auspices.

The pairing of "Gretchen am Spinnrade," "Erlkönig" and "Der Tod und das Mädchen" in a single program places the recital squarely within the core dramatic German repertoire that has driven the soprano's recent recording activity, including her Metropolitan Opera appearances documented on Decca Classics' "Lise Davidsen: Live at the Met" and her forthcoming "Der Fliegende Holländer" release on the same label.

The Saint Paul stop also situates the Twin Cities on a map otherwise dominated by coastal and European venues. Carnegie Hall, Wigmore Hall and the Bergen International Festival anchor the tour's remaining dates.

For the Schubert Club, landing a singer of Davidsen's international profile as a season opener signals the caliber the 2026-27 series aims to sustain.