Isarphilharmonie, Munich, 1 November 2024
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde (Act 2)
Richard Wagner once described Tristan und Isolde as ‘a (single) love scene’. He wanted to “…erect a monument to this (sublimated) love, the most beautiful of all dreams”, as he wrote in a letter to Franz Liszt, and found the right material in the medieval tale, the greatest of all love dramas. The libretto was completed in 1857 and the opera two years later. However, it was not until 1865 that the work was performed at the Nationaltheater in Munich.
On All Saints’ Day, Simon Rattle took to the podium of the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra to conduct the second act of the epic musical drama Tristan und Isolde. Rattle is no stranger to Wagner’s music, having previously conducted Tristan with the Berlin Philharmonic at the Baden-Baden Festival, and is now in the final stages of his Ring project with the Bavarian Radio Symphony Orchestra, with Götterdämmerung still to come. Rattle has great merits as a Wagner interpreter, and he takes a symphonic approach to Tristan und Isolde with an immense sense of detail, but throughout the evening his interpretation lacked that theatrical tension and erotic magic. The BRSO plays superbly as usual, not least the brass section and the magnificent solo harpist Magdalena Hoffmann.
Ever since Lise Davidsen took the opera world by storm when she won first prize at both of Plácido Domingo’s major opera competitions, Operalia, opera audiences and critics have associated her with Kirsten Flagstad, and not just because of her Norwegian origins. Her voice has both remarkable volume and power, but with brilliant nuances, giving a multi-faceted, passionate and dramatic portrayal of the Irish princess Isolde. It is a wise decision to start with only the second act, but I hope her debut in the full role will come soon.
But while Davidsen’s career is improving, that of Stuart Skelton, tonight’s Tristan, is deteriorating and becoming less interesting. Although he is and has been one of the few ‘dramatic’ tenors capable of singing piano and with nuance, his voice now lacks the power and stamina for this repertoire. Throughout the evening he had no chance and was overpowered by Davidsen and the orchestra. In the other roles, Karen Cargill and Christof Fischesser (replacing Franz-Josef Selig) gave very fine performances as Brangäne and King Marke respectively.
