Aided and abetted by a quite superb Australian red (d'Arenberg, The Coppermine Road 2001), I have been absolutely enthralled this evening by a simply breathtaking performance of Wagner's masterpiece, Tristan und Isolde, on a DVD released a few years back by Opus Arte. Taken from a performance at Glyndebourne in August 2007, this must count as one of the greatest Tristans of modern times and you would have to go back to Karl Bohm's legendary 1966 performance at Bayreuth (preserved on an imperishable DG recording, which is itself only surpassed by Furtwangler's immortal 1952 recording on EMI) to find something that surpasses its intoxicating grandeur. Jiri Belohlavek makes the London Philharmonic sound like the world's greatest, which is certainly an achievement in itself, drawing out every nuance in Wagner's infinitely rich score. The production by Nicholas Lehnhoff is the best I've seen, sensibly minimalist whilst utilising some very effective lighting design.
Most importantly, the opera is cast from strength. Rene Pape is the best living interpreter of King Mark, bringing a very touching noble strength to this part. Brangane and Kurwenal (sung by Katarina Karneus and Bo Skovhus respectively) are genuinely sensitive characterisations, especially Kurwenal whose attachment to Tristan in the last Act is especially moving. Robert Gambill plays Tristan as a lovelorn teenager, eschewing any sense of nobility; he portrays a man absolutely bewitched by Isolde. Crucially, in this production, Lehnhoff sees Isolde as being synonomous with death. She is a witch that is directly responsible for Tristan's disgrace and suffering. So, therefore, this is not a traditional romantic production of Tristan und Isolde. And Nina Stemme's exceptional performance is directly in line with this. Hers is an unnervingly impassive persona that never wavers, not even in the midst of Tristan's greatest suffering. In the great showdown at the climax of the second Act between Mark and Tristan, she sits unblinkingly on the ground, silently observing the confrontation. In Lehnhoff's vision, if Tristan is yearning for oblivion, then you sense Isolde craves his destruction as a means of revenging her family.
In conclusion, a word about the singularly great Liebestod which can make or break a performance of Tristan, and represents one of the greatest emotional payoffs in all of opera as well as, potentially, a career benchmark for any soprano (in a similar way to Brunnhilde's Immolation Scene at the end of Gotterdammerung). Stemme's performance is unquestionably a great one, emotionally devastating in its execution, yet always remaining loyal to the director's vision of her role in this masterpiece as a bringer of death.
Here it is. Personally speaking, I find this some of the very greatest and most moving of all music.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5_URHPD05oI