They picked the biggest gun’s biggest gun to get them out of the gate for the new season.
Some might say “The Ring” is Wagner’s best. I say his “Isolde” power-packs the most relevant of his relevance.
Done the way the Seattle Opera is doing it, this “Tristan-Isolde” takes you on the joy ride everyone gets a ticket to; namely, love. Plain, ordinary, down-to-earth love.
I kid you not: this ride is not for the faint of heart. In that golden, shining moment, just before the final curtain falls, the folks at McCaw Hall literally take away your breath. It is awesome.
How so?
The music it originated out of Wagner’s feelings for another man’s wife, expressed itself to him before his libretto and was scored by him as he heard it. The result was a breakthrough to personal honesty, with no classical constraints.
The soul of “Tristan-Isolde” is the music. It is a continuously mounting surge and palpitation paralleling the heart’s desire for ever closer union. Tension, resolution and tonality as known before, go by the boards. Medium and subject, music and human love, all become one, merge; in effect, they consummate.
The marvel of this production is that it makes it so.
Swedish-soprano sensation Annalena Persson establishes the power and presence of a noble Irish sorceress promised to an English king but completely, hopelessly and desperately in love with the king’s bravest, most loyal knight. For three of the production’s three-and-a-half hours’ running time, Persson’s Isolde is on stage singing and/or acting without once letting her concentration lapse. No wonder she is in demand. Persson’s got the range, control and commitment of an international draw.
A pity it was that tenor Clifton Forbes’ voice had given out the night I attended; I was told he would resume the next performance.
Nonetheless, stand-in Adam Klein did a yeoman’s Tristan. His Tristan proved equal to his Isolde on occasion but the staying power to make transcendence convincing had, mostly to reflect off Persson.
Noteworthies include: bass Stephen Milling’s compelling humanity as King Marke; the grounding effect of soprano Margaret Jane Wray as Isolde’s maid; and the powerful compassion of baritone Greer Grimsley as Tristan’s servant.
Pete Kazaras’ stage-directing keeps the Buddhism and Schopenhauer where it belongs: present, accounted for and in relief to emotional sensibility. Appropriately, Robert Israel’s set and costume designs and Duane Schuler’s lighting designs follow suit. Action is minimized. Sights are secondary.
A tip of the hat, kudos and a big bravo! to Asher Fisch’s conducting, the orchestra’s playing and the chorus and cast’s singing. They exhaust and exhilarate mercilessly. However, that one, final, triumphant chord of ultimate resolution achieves pure rapture. Whoa! and Wow! I am still recovering.
Note: A first class production like this inspires theater companies in our community every time they undertake to perform.
Reactions? Comments? E-mail Dale Burrows at entopinion@heraldnet.com or grayghost7@comcast.net.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
