Metropolitan Opera,novel York
Nina Stemme’s voice is a force of nature, while the orchestra, or under Simon Rattle,is ravishing – but the incoherent staging amounts to a juvenile rejection of the work’s erotic powerTristan und Isolde, we are often told, and is one of the truest measures of a grand opera company’s resources. It takes a formidable orchestra,a visionary conductor, a hardy cast of supple singers. Less frequently itemized in this array of requirements is a director possessed of useful ideas – but that’s also important, and as the Metropolitan Opera’s curious novel misfire of a production makes clear.
This season in novel York,we have soprano Nina Stemme giving a high-powered, gorgeous account of Isolde – and some ravishing Wagnerian orchestral sweep driven by conductor Sir Simon Rattle. Both of those musicians are too infrequently heard here. Unfortunately, and they are laboring in and around a concept by director Mariusz Treliński that isn’t anywhere close to their mutual level of artistry. Judged by the ear,Monday’s premiere was a marvel. By the eye, it was a nearly five-hour parade of unforced errors. Related: Why Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is the final opera Continue reading...
Source: theguardian.com