Gran Teatre del Liceu, Barcelona, ​​January 12, 2026. 11:05 p.m. Lise Davidsen tackles the opening bars of Mild und leise, he Liebestod with which Wagner closes the opera Tristan and IsoldeIt's the crowning moment of a musically historic night at the Rambla theater: the birth of a new Isolde, following in the footsteps of Flagstad, Nilsson, Behrens, and Meier. The throne of Wagnerian soprano is now undoubtedly occupied by a young Norwegian woman (38 years old), who is returning to the stage for the first time since giving birth to twins. It is an honor and a privilege that he has chosen our theater For that comeback and for the debut of a role she will soon sing at the Metropolitan Opera, the anticipation was palpable, with an extraordinary group of journalists and music critics from all over the world present at the Liceu. And Davidsen not only did not disappoint, but gave it her all: hers is an expressive, committed, musically perfect, technically immaculate Isolde, and also possesses a full, compact, and exquisitely beautiful voice. Phrases like Der Mutter Rat gemahnt mi recht in the first act or does so sustained in pianissimo over the Lust! The concluding number that closes the opera will remain in the memory of many, especially those who, standing, repeatedly cheered a dreamlike performance.

Everything points to a historic milestone. The Gran Teatre del Liceu premieres its own production on Monday, January 12th at 6:30 pm. Tristan and IsoldeWagner's opera that marked "a point of no return," as the Liceu's artistic director, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, recalled this Thursday at a press conference. A world premiere, then, and with a stellar cast that has attracted journalists from international media outlets such as The Guardian and Le FigaroNorwegian Lise Davidsen, the finest soprano of her generation, will debut in the role of Isolde. "It's a role that all the singers I admire have sung," admits Davidsen. Also a Wagnerian at heart, American tenor Clay Hilley, who sang a few months ago Tannhäuser In Vienna, he will sing Tristan, a role he has tackled some fifteen times. "It's the most depressing role in opera, and the first time I sang it was in 2022," recalls Hilley, who doesn't forget the demands of Wagner's work: "There's no margin for error; any deviation is fatal. A lot of preparation is necessary, and no socializing for 48 hours beforehand. And no alcohol."

Two men close out their tenure at the Liceu at the end of the 2025-2026 season. Josep Pons, which is leaving after fourteen years and with one objective clearly achieved: to first recover and then consolidate the good performances of the Liceu Symphony Orchestra. On the other hand, the resident artist of the 2020, the stage director Àlex Ollé, who in addition to promoting newly created micro-operas has premiered a magnificent production of Lady Macbeth of Mtsensk, by Shostakovich. Pons and Ollé will be well represented in the 2025-2026 season of the Rambla theatre, which will open with The cunning fox, by Janáček, with stage direction by Barrie Kosky and musical by Pons himself. It will be the season of Lise Davidsen, the great soprano of the moment, takes on Wagner's Isolde in a new production at the Liceu directed by Bárbara Lluch. The theater will premiere another of its own productions, Figaro's Wedding, by Mozart, with stage direction by Marta Pazos.