The five-hour opera ‘Tristan und Isolde’ has been a great success after the Metropolitan Opera season opened on September 26. This love story has been able to touch the hearts of the audiences, with the music of the famous German composer Richard Wagner.
Since the Met’s theater plays do not tour anymore, they will now be streamed on video. October 8’s matinee will be transmitted live and will be hosted by Deborah Voigt in the St James Cavalier Cinema, among other places.
Who features in this play?
Conducted by James Rattle, Tristan und Isolde has been described as mesmerizing and incredible. The Swedish Nina Stemme, who is recognized as one of the finest Wagnerian sopranos, plays the role of Isolde and the Australian Stuart Skelton, a brilliant tenor, represents Tristan.
Ekaterina Gubanova plays Brangare, Isolde’s maid, Evgeng Nikitin is Kurwenal, Tristan’s servant, and Rene Pape is King Marke, the ruler who comes between the lovers. The final two performances will be conducted by Asher Fisch, who led Wagner’s Parsifal in the 2012-13 season at the Metropolitan Opera.
Stemme describes her role as challenging, one that you must give your 100 percent to really enter the world the couple lives in. The performers’ dedication plus the hard work of the directors, the design team (Ioland and Bluebeard’s Castle), the sonic design of Boris Kudlicka, the costume design of Marek Adamski and Tomasz Wygoda’s choreography are the elements that made this scene a magical one, in which the public goes through a marathon, a big journey.
Of course, we cannot forget the music by Wagner, which has left speechless many people since 1985, when he first debuted at the Munich Court Theatre. The influences of this composition go from Gustav Mahler and Richard Strauss, to Arnold Schönberg and Benjamin Britten.
What is the story of Tristan und Isolde about?
Tristan und Isolde tells the medieval tragic love story of Isolde, an Irish princess, and Tristan. Isolde, alongside her maid, are on Tristan’s boat to meet and marry King Marke.
Because of a love potion, they both fall in love. But trouble comes between the couple’s attempt at happiness and Tristan faces a deadly wound. It is the tale of love and death in a mystical and antique world.
The sponsorships who made the transmissions possible are the Neubauer Family Foundation and Bloomberg Philanthropies. The tickets cost $25 for adults, $23 for seniors and $17 for children. It will be broadcasted with subtitles in more than 2,000 cinemas from 72 countries, including Jamaica.
Source: The Telegraph