She Risked Her Voice to Become a Mother

About this episode

<p>Lise Davidsen is one of the greatest opera singers of our time — a soprano with a voice so rare, critics reach back a century for comparison. This spring, she has been starring in a sold-out new production of Wagner’s “Tristan und Isolde” at the Metropolitan Opera. But she’s also at a crossroads: Her first performance as “Isolde” on the Met stage came just nine months after giving birth to twins.<br><br> Today on The Sunday Daily, Natalie Kitroeff talks with the Times writer Zachary Woolfe about his recent conversation with Davidsen, and the unexpected emotional weight she felt while returning to the stage as a new mother. They discuss how a production centered on birth, death and renewal gave Davidsen a way to work through this seismic shift in her life, all while tackling the role of a lifetime.</p> <p><strong>On Today’s Episode:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/by/zachary-woolfe" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer"><strong>Zachary Woolfe</strong></a> is a writer and editor for The New York Times.</p> <p><strong>Background Reading:</strong></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/17/arts/music/lise-davidsen-isolde-pregnancy.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">With Twin Babies, the Opera Star Lise Davidsen Wonders What Comes Next</a></p> <p><a href="https://www.nytimes.com/2026/03/08/arts/met-opera-peter-gelb-finances.html" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">The Met Opera’s Desperate Hunt for Money</a></p> <p>Photo credit: Amir Hamja for The New York Times</p> <p><p>For more information on today’s episode, visit <a href="http://nytimes.com/thedaily?smid=pc-thedaily"><strong>nytimes.com/thedaily</strong></a>. Transcripts of each episode will be made available by the next workday. </p><p> </p><p>Subscribe today at <a href="http://nytimes.com/podcasts">nytimes.com/podcasts</a> or on Apple Podcasts, Spotify and Amazon Music. You can also subscribe via your favorite podcast app here <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher">https://www.nytimes.com/activate-access/audio?source=podcatcher</a>. For more podcasts and narrated articles, download The New York Times app at nytimes.com/app.</p></p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>