Wagner - Tristan Und Isolde [2007] [DVD] [2010]

This Tristan arrived with plenty of hype and is certainly about as good as one dare hope for in these times. The staging, although conceptual, is at least imaginative and visually striking without being completely foolish or haphazard. Yet,as is always the way with opera nowadays, there are annoying details, mannerisms, which will pall on repeated viewing.

Nina Stemme, it must be presumed, will blossom into the great Wagner soprano of this quarter of the new century. At the moment, her acting leaves a little to be desired. There is little sense of consuming passion, erotic love or transcendence in this performance. Her constant smirk during Marke's despair is truly painful to watch.

The tenor, Robert Gambill, looks impressively deranged in Act Three, somewhat goofy in Act Two where his voice is horribly strained and wobbly. I know, it's a uniquely taxing opera for singers. They simply have to be heroic in their capacity and although he looks the part, his voice and characterisation leave much to be desired.

The support from the other singers, not for the first time, is exemplary. Belohlavek and the LPO offer a strong but insufficiently exciting interpretation of Wagner's torrential music. Camera work and lighting is satisfactory despite one or two peculiarities.

Better than this, although dated as films (grainy images) are the two available performances by the incomparable Birgit Nilsson. Amazon offer the 1973 performance at Orange with the remarkable John Vickers as Tristan and the superb Karl Bohm conducting. Unless you're fussy about sound quality, this is the one you should buy. The other one, from Japan alongside Windgassen's Tristan, is very hard to find but well worth it.

I so wanted to give this recording five stars: the overall impression it leaves is so profoundly beautiful it seems churlish not to. Unfortunately there are a few rough edges, and so I'm reluctantly marking it down to four.

The opera itself is, of course, utterly amazing, and is always a strong contender for the most emotionally powerful music ever written. The performance of it here is generally excellent. Jiri Belohlavek goes for an intimate interpretation in his conducting, low on orchestral fireworks and big noises, and well suited to the Glyndebourne venue. His control of the orchestra never falters, and the London Philharmonic certainly live up to their excellent reputation. The singing, too, is very good, though some of the acting is less so.

Nina Stemme is simply magnificent as Isolde. Her voice is beautiful and secure in the role, and her acting is subtle and intelligent. Robert Gambill as Tristan has a good, masculine, baritonal edge to his voice, but he seems less comfortable as an actor, and in fact he seems to act best when he's forgetting to act at all. The slightly wayward wig that he wears for the first two acts probably didn't help him. Rene Pape is wonderful in the role of King Marke, and he gives the character real depth and interest. Bo Skovhus gives a great performance as Kurwenal, and Katarina Karneus is a sensitive Brangaene. Stephen Gadd sings Melot very well, but I felt his acting was a bit basic.

The problems with this recording are really in the production and its presentation on DVD. Although the acting is generally very good, one or two moments - the fight scenes, really - don't work. Kurwenal's slow-motion killing of Melot is a cliché, and the fight between Tristan and Melot is poorly choreographed. Some of the camerawork is less than perfect, too - in some of the close-ups, the scenery gauzes that enhance the lighting effects are plainly and painfully visible.

Having said this, the production is strikingly beautiful. I was doubtful at first of an opera with very little action being played out on a single, static set. But Lehnhoff's idea of the `womb/cage' set is a stroke of genius, and its simplicity means it never gets in the way of the music. Lit in various colours from different angles, the set can indeed look like the timbers of a ship, the arching branches of a tree, or the ramparts of a castle, and the sliding backdrops and gauzes allow for some clever and intelligent lighting work. Lehnhoff says in his interview that this opera is a `dramaturgy of light', and his production is a manifestation of this principle.

Sound and picture quality are very good. There are a number of extras including interviews with some of the singers and production team. Despite the few quibbles here and there, this is a great recording and I highly recommend it.

What a disappointment, and a hugely expensive one to purchase at that. This is a Nikolaus Lehnoff production, and as such is absolutely stunning it its presentation. Unfortunately, they must have used a high school student as a sound engineer and you can hardly hear the singers. Lehnoff had the same problem with his Tannhäuser, but solved it admirably with his Lohengrin and Parsifal. I recommend the last two highly, but not this Tristan. Don't get me wrong. The sound of the orchestra here is sublime, but the singing is drowned out and indistinct despite the noblest efforts of the cast. Singers at the back of the stage are virtually mute. It looks as if they are miming in a silent film with loud music. Those at the front are only marginally better off. You certainly can't understand them, unlike the singers in the suberb Deutsche Grammophon Barenboim Bayreuth Tristan (also on DVD). In that production, Siegfried Jerusalem and Waltraud Meier give you goose bumps. The only singers you can hear clearly in this Opus Arte Tristan are those who sing off-stage directly into the mike. What a disservice to the performers! I would have loved to have heard them. Must have been an experience to be in the hall.