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SEPTEMBER 2004

Special to Education Update from Vienna
Richard Wagner's Tristan & Isolde at the Vienna Staatsoper

by Irving Spitz

Acoustically Magnificent but Visually Disappointing

The Vienna Staatsoper premiered a new production of Wagner's great epic Tristan and Isolde last season especially for the American Soprano Deborah Voigt. Their confidence in her was certainly not misplaced. If there were any doubts of her ability to pull off the daunting and arduous role of Isolde, they were immediately dispelled with her spectacular and unforgettable performance which I attended in the current season. Voigt's voice remained pure and sumptuous even after performing for four gruelling hours and her closing liebestod was unforgettable. She now joins the distinguished roster of other legendary Wagnerian sopranos, which include Nordica, Flagstad, Traubel, Varnay and Nilsson.

Earlier this year, there was a huge rumpus when Voigt was dropped by the Royal Opera, Covent Garden from her scheduled performance of Ariadne, in Ariadne aus Naxos, one of her signature roles. Ostensibly the reason was her rather excessively proportioned body, which according to the director was deemed incompatible with the proposed production. Voigt is unquestionably a big woman, but in no way did this detract from her performance of Isolde and the intensity of her delivery, the incisiveness of her attacks and the steely force of her top notes. This is a soprano at her artistic and vocal peak and she brought floods of cool radiant sound, arching lyrical beauty, crisp diction and sheer vocal charisma to the role. Covent Garden certainly miscalculated badly in this instance.

Tenor Thomas Moser sung the role of Tristan. Although not a heldentenor in the classic mould of Lauritz Melchior, his portrayal was dignified and masterful. His voice is large and rich, with a marvellous range of color. He succeeded in delivering a most expressive performance, with his last act monologue particularly impressive.

The rest of the cast was also basically strong. Robert Holl as the undeserving victim, King Marke, also sung with fervor and succeeded in capturing the pathos of the complex role. Mihoko Fujimura as Isolde's servant Brangane blended well into this distinguished group of singers which also included Peter Weber as Tristan's henchman Kurwenal and Markus Nieminem as the knight to King Marke. But there is no doubt that this was Voigt's evening. The whole action revolved round her.

The Staatsoper orchestra certainly lived up to its reputation. This house is a bastion of German Romanticism and this is their music. Under the dynamic German conductor Christian Thielemann, they conveyed the drama to perfection with subtle, nuanced and exciting playing. Thielemann ravished much energy on each phrase and succeeded in capturing the music's pulseless, shimmering radiance. Under his authoritative conducting, there was wonderful responsive playing from the orchestra. He drew energetic and incisive performances from the orchestra without drowning out the singers. The only disconcerting feature in this wonderful evening of music making was the inexplicable and meaningless production of Gunter Kramer. It had been thoroughly condemned by public and critics alike at the premiere last season and to me, this was understandable. Act 1 with sets of sliding doors is set in a steamer. If not for the telltale evidence of the ship's ugly turbine engines, Gisbert Jakel's sets could have been placed anywhere. In Act 2 during the famous love duet, there was no contact between the protagonists. They stood far apart, motionless and frozen, doing their own thing, enveloped in their own exclusive world. To really appreciate this musical extravaganza, one simply had to close one's eyes and just listen to this extraordinary evening of music making. To the ear this was heaven. To the eye, well that's another matter....#

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