Luvrs: Tristan und Isolde at SF Opera

Second in Kim’s entry of Wagner works in San Francisco, Tristan und Isolde is a bold and inspired choice, led by two of the finest Wagnerians of today. I ultimately found this performance to be incredibly satisfying but lacking the last bit of oomph to really push the performance over the line from a really good night at the opera to a great night at the opera.

Tristan und Isolde, is a prime candidate for my favorite opera. It’s around 4 hours of glorious, through-composed music that’s unrelenting and hypnotic in its sense of tension whether it be sexual, or internal, or both. With total creative control, Wagner created a work that delves into the depth of adult sexuality and desire, and the tension between fate and honor. The deaths of both Tristan and Isolde feel like foregone conclusions, yet as an audience we’re spellbound in Wagner’s vision.

My first time seeing the opera was in Paris in 2018, with Andreas Schager as Tristan, Martina Serafin as Isolde, René Pape as Marke, and Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangaene. I remember being enthralled by the totality of the work, and feeling myself swept along. Schager was in great voice that night, indefatigable and passionate in act 3, with a cerebral Pape and solid Gubanova. Serafin was fine, but the role was too big. Still, the hypnotic intensity got to me and I quickly saw the work again a few days later.

The accusation that nothing happens in this opera is not inaccurate, but also not entirely accuate. While it’s true that each act spans only a few hours, we’re presented with critical moments that come together to paint a complete picture. Act I is a few hours as Tristan’s ship arrives in Cornwall, while Act II happens over the course of one night, and Act III recounts Tristan and Isolde’s final hours. Despite this lack of action, the opera is filled with important backstory, and action, as the long discourses on the nature of night and day are central to the overall arc and message of the work. Thus, while outwardly not much happens, inwardly all characters explore their feelings in depth. I personally don’t find the lack of action boring, as the discourse between the two lovers is interesting in and of itself.

The love potion in Tristan is less of a transformation. As Isolde recounts, there was already feelings between the two when Tristan washed ashore and went by Tantris. Thus, the potion is not creating something that wasn’t there, but rather unburdening the lovers from their previous loyalties and hesitations. Isolde is free from fighting the feeling of loving her captor, and Tristan is free from the guilt that betraying Marke brings.

Rarely heard in the US, Anja Kampe’s Isolde showed her experience with the role. Act one belongs to Isolde, and a good soprano in the role must cover the gamut of emotions c from rage, to sarcasm, to regret, and to ecstatic love. Kampe’s Isolde was imperious from the beginning, conveying Isolde’s deep sense of pride. I really enjoyed her acting and appreciated her commitment to her conception of Isolde. Here was an Isolde that was mad at herself for loving Tristan, yet unable to resist the urge to do so. Kampe was more of a stage animal than I expected, and I found her conception of the character to be one of the most satisfying aspects of the night.

Kampe’s voice is not huge, though it is big. I’ve seen Nina Stemme and Lise Davidsen, and Kampe’s voice is smaller than both. Despite its lack of sheer grandness in size, the voice is big enough for Isolde, and Kampe never had audibility issues. Her voice is more lyric in tone, lacking the plushness of Stemme or the gleam of Davidsen. However, while I never struggled to hear her, I felt that Kampe had intermittent projection issues, and that the tone could occasionally harden at forte. Still, for a singer who basically exclusively sings heavy roles, the voice is in remarkable shape. Compared to her 2009 recording of Tristan the voice’s lyric core remains intact, with only the edges beginning to understandably fray. I did however find the occasional raw quality of the voice to add to her characterization. A

Matching Kampe was Simon O’Neill’s Tristan. His voice is not a typical heldentenor, as it lacks the baritonal core and darkness that defined so many great heldentenors. Despite this seeming limitation, O’Neill’s Tristan is sensitively sung, and his voice never failed. Vocally, I found him more consistent than Kampe and his long act III ravings were impressive and produced his best, most passionate singing of the night as he unleashed his voice to its full strength.

His characterization of Tristan was not as strong as Kampe’s Isolde. O’Neill is not the strongest actor, and when placed next to Kampe, this is made more apparent. Yet, his Tristan was shown in Act I to be stoic, and one could detect that he and Kampe were in sync in conveying the underlying tension and romance between their characters. His act 3 ravings, while strongly sung, lacked the kind of abandon and torture that I think defines a great Tristan. I missed the virility of Schager. A-

Annika Schlicht was a name I was unfamiliar with before this run, but her Brangäne was strong. Her Brangäne is more of a sister figure than maid, which was a choice that I didn’t mind except for the odd moment. However her direction was the weakest part of the characterization, as she was there to provide random moments of comedic relief for no reason, and at times her Brangäne came off as a little ditzy. While I don’t necessarily mind this, it felt incongruous with the serious tone of the opera, and I think Tristan is one of the few operas where humor is not really welcome.

Schlicht’s voice projects well and easily filled War Memorial’s cavern. The production did her dirty making her stand at the back of the stage to sing her warnings, but Schlicht was unphased as she still was able to be heard in the balcony section. I don’t find Schlicht’s voice to be particularly beautiful but she’s a singer I’d be glad to hear again. B+

I wasn’t terribly impressed with Kwangchoul Youn’s Sarastro in SF Opera’s Die Zauberflöte, but here as King Marke, Youn was impressive. His role is really one monologue for about twenty minutes, yet I felt that Youn painted a good picture of Marke, conveying his sense of betrayal and bewilderment. You felt that Youn’s Marke was genuinely surprised by Tristan’s betrayal. A-

Wolfgang Koch's Kurwenal was fine.

A successful Tristan und Isolde requires not only two incredible singers, but an amazing conductor as well. Kim, tackling the score for the first time, led an excellent reading of Wagner’s score, providing support to her singers without overwhelming, and pacing the opera well. Good performances of Tristan have an underlying tension which I felt that Kim lacked at times, specifically in the Act I prelude where Kim’s approach to the music felt exceedingly tender and romantic, but lacking tension. Still, her reading felt compatible with her singers, providing a more lyrical take on the score to accompany her somewhat atypical Wagnerian singers. Kim has shown again and again her ability to command Wagner, and next season’s Parsifal should surely be a delight. A-

In my opinion, successful stagings of Tristan und Isolde don’t require elaborate staging. With so much of the action focusing on the inward, barer takes on the setting are not inappropriate. Here, I enjoyed Paul Curran’s staging for the most part. Act 1 revolves around Isolde in the ship, with simple large panels to depict the underbelly of the ship. Act two takes place in a courtyard of Marke's castle with a large tree dominating the stage, while Act III returns to Act 1’s staging, though changed to represent Tristan’s castle. For the most part the directorial vision was well thought-out and showed an understanding that Wagner’s vision of this work is enough without a director needing to superimpose their own vision onto the work. My only gripe was the placement of Brangane during her Act II calling to the lovers. They had a window, I don't know why they didn't use it.

Stray Thoughts

This libretto probable killed on 1865 tumblr

Why did they make Kurwenal gay as hell for Tristan

Everyone kinda gay for Tristan tho

I find it hard to believe that Isolde couldn’t figure out Tantris was Tristan like it’s really not that big of a leap.