Special
to Education Update from Vienna
Richard Wagner's
Tristan & Isolde at the Vienna
Staatsoper
by Irving Spitz
Acoustically Magnificent but Visually Disappointing
The Vienna Staatsoper premiered a new production of Wagner's
great epic Tristan and Isolde last season especially for the
American Soprano Deborah Voigt. Their confidence in her was
certainly not misplaced. If there were any doubts of her ability
to pull off the daunting and arduous role of Isolde, they were
immediately dispelled with her spectacular and unforgettable
performance which I attended in the current season. Voigt's
voice remained pure and sumptuous even after performing for
four gruelling hours and her closing liebestod was unforgettable.
She now joins the distinguished roster of other legendary Wagnerian
sopranos, which include Nordica, Flagstad, Traubel, Varnay
and Nilsson.
Earlier this year, there was a huge rumpus when Voigt was
dropped by the Royal Opera, Covent Garden from her scheduled
performance of Ariadne, in Ariadne aus Naxos, one of her signature
roles. Ostensibly the reason was her rather excessively proportioned
body, which according to the director was deemed incompatible
with the proposed production. Voigt is unquestionably a big
woman, but in no way did this detract from her performance
of Isolde and the intensity of her delivery, the incisiveness
of her attacks and the steely force of her top notes. This
is a soprano at her artistic and vocal peak and she brought
floods of cool radiant sound, arching lyrical beauty, crisp
diction and sheer vocal charisma to the role. Covent Garden
certainly miscalculated badly in this instance.
Tenor Thomas Moser sung the role of Tristan. Although not
a heldentenor in the classic mould of Lauritz Melchior, his
portrayal was dignified and masterful. His voice is large and
rich, with a marvellous range of color. He succeeded in delivering
a most expressive performance, with his last act monologue
particularly impressive.
The rest of the cast was also basically strong. Robert Holl
as the undeserving victim, King Marke, also sung with fervor
and succeeded in capturing the pathos of the complex role.
Mihoko Fujimura as Isolde's servant Brangane blended well into
this distinguished group of singers which also included Peter
Weber as Tristan's henchman Kurwenal and Markus Nieminem as
the knight to King Marke. But there is no doubt that this was
Voigt's evening. The whole action revolved round her.
The Staatsoper orchestra certainly lived up to its reputation.
This house is a bastion of German Romanticism and this is their
music. Under the dynamic German conductor Christian Thielemann,
they conveyed the drama to perfection with subtle, nuanced
and exciting playing. Thielemann ravished much energy on each
phrase and succeeded in capturing the music's pulseless, shimmering
radiance. Under his authoritative conducting, there was wonderful
responsive playing from the orchestra. He drew energetic and
incisive performances from the orchestra without drowning out
the singers. The only disconcerting feature in this wonderful
evening of music making was the inexplicable and meaningless
production of Gunter Kramer. It had been thoroughly condemned
by public and critics alike at the premiere last season and
to me, this was understandable. Act 1 with sets of sliding
doors is set in a steamer. If not for the telltale evidence
of the ship's ugly turbine engines, Gisbert Jakel's sets could
have been placed anywhere. In Act 2 during the famous love
duet, there was no contact between the protagonists. They stood
far apart, motionless and frozen, doing their own thing, enveloped
in their own exclusive world. To really appreciate this musical
extravaganza, one simply had to close one's eyes and just listen
to this extraordinary evening of music making. To the ear this
was heaven. To the eye, well that's another matter....#
