'Tristan' Triumphs Even in Death
/By Elsa Tranter
10/29/2024
Photo credit: Cory Weaver
anja kampe as isolde, simon o’neill as tristan (act 2)
For the first time since 2006 San Francisco has mounted a production of Richard Wagner’s powerful opera (or music drama) Tristan and Isolde. It was definitely worth waiting for! I have seen several other productions in the past 40+ years and this one ranks right at the top. From quiet start to quiet ending with a lot of BIG sound in between, the music, singing, staging were all of a piece and very well done.
Wagner was in the middle of the decades-long process of writing his massive Ring of the Nibelung and had completed the first two of the four operas in 1857 when he fell in love with the poet Mathilde Wesendonck, whose husband was his major financial supporter. At about the same time he discovered the philosophy of Schopenhauer, which posits (among other things) that we can find transcendence through love. Both these influences inspired him to stop work on the Ring and write Tristan and Isolde. The opera-loving world is grateful for this ‘thinking outside the box’.
Annika Schlicht as bragaene, simon o’neill as tristan (act 1)
The basic story of Tristan and Isolde is rooted in medieval legend and is fairly simple. Tristan is delegated by his liege the old King Marke to bring the young Irish princess Isolde to Cornwall to be his wife. Tristan and Isolde have a past relationship (somewhat complex) and decide to take a death potion rather than go through with the wedding, but Brangäne, Isolde’s chaperone/confidante, gives them a love potion instead. Of course there is trouble and the evening ends in most everyone dying, but transcended by love.
The sets were somewhat abstract and multi-purpose, using the same basic structure and re-arranging it. In the first act it was the ship coming to Cornwall; in the second act it was the King’s castle; and in the third act it was Tristan’s castle in Brittany (a long way from Cornwall). At a Wagner Society talk a week ago, the acclaimed Scottish director Paul Curran told of his budget being cut by a lot so having to do more with less; he succeeded quite well. The production designer was Robert Innes Hopkins, who has a long history with San Francisco Opera. The lighting was very ably designed by a newcomer to SF Opera, David Martin Jacques. This production premiered in Venice in 2012.
The costumes were also basic, not showy, and neither added to nor subtracted from the action on stage. Isolde wore a green gown which went well with her reddish hair; Brangäne wore a rust one which contrasted well with the green. Those two colors were pretty much the only ones that stood out on stage—everyone else was in neutral colors. The only odd costume was for Kurneval (Tristan’s ‘man’), who was wearing dirt-stained pants and a blazer of sorts—a much more modern style.
The orchestra was in the most capable hands of Music Director Eun Sun Kim. Her energy and mastery of the music is quite remarkable and the orchestra was in very good form. With this production she continues her initiative of conducting an opera of Verdi and Wagner each season. I heard nary a mis-note and was quite swept away by the music. I was happy that the ending of each act was noted by a quick blackout; this is a much better solution to the problem of premature applause than the slow lowering of the curtain that used to be the norm.
On to the music!! It was glorious. With Wagner, often too much of a good thing is still not enough. That was certainly the case here. From the opening ‘Tristan Chord’ which is unsettling harmonically, to the 30-minute long very erotic love duet, and on to the closing Liebestod 4 ½ hours later, when that unsettling opening chord finally gets resolved, the evening was transformative.
Simon O’Neill, the New Zealand tenor, who was well-received as Lohengrin last year, was our Tristan. He did some of his early training at San Francisco’s Merola Opera Program. His vocal ability was remarkable and his acting adequate, if not always on par with his voice.
Kwangchul Youn as king marke, simon o’neill as tristan (act 2)
Our Isolde was German soprano Anja Kampe. She made her well-received debut here in 2011 as Sieglinde in The Valkyries. Her acting was much more physical, but the two were well matched vocally and went from strength to strength in the over 4 hours they were on stage. They both have powerful voices and projected well even when singing softly. The chemistry between them seemed to increase over the evening. Paul Curran, in his talk, also mentioned that Ms Kampe has back issues and has trouble standing for long, so the staging included positioning her so that she could be sitting some of the time. That appeared very natural and did not detract in any way.
Annika Schlicht makes her SF Opera debut as Brangäne and bass-baritone Wolfgang Koch, makes his SF Opera debut as Kurvenal. They were both in excellent voice in their secondary roles and moved extremely well on stage. Korean bass Kwangchul Youn had a limited role as King Marke, but was most passionate vocally in his times on stage. He last sang the role of Sarastro in The Magic Flute here last summer and is celebrated as a Wagnerian interpreter. Smaller roles were sung and acted at a high level by tenor Christopher Oglesby as a young sailor and tenor Thomas Kinch as the betrayer Melot.
The orchestra, under the superb leadership of Eun Sun Kim, sounded terrific. There were some excellent extended solos, many offstage, adding to the magic of the night. Among the most spellbinding was the English horn playing of Benjamin Brogadir.
Wolfgang Koch, as Kurvenal, simon o’neill as tristan (act 3)
All in all it was a magnificent, emotional, exhausting and ultimately transformative opera experience. Performances continue on Sunday October 27 at 1:00pm, Friday November 1 and Tuesday November 5, both at 6:00pm, though I think all performances are pretty well sold out. There is always standing room if you have good legs.
The October 27 matinee performance will be live-streamed for those who want to watch from the comfort of their own homes. See it if you can!
Elsa Tranter is a Bostonian who has lived in Berkeley for over 50 years and has been an opera goer for most of those years. She worked as a graduate student adviser at UC Berkeley and still attends Cal Performances regularly. Her favorite composer is Wagner and her favorite opera is Les Troyens.