"Tristan" is a work I was very familiar with in my misspent youth, experienced, libretto in hand, mainly listening to Solti's Decca recording on 5 LPs, with Birgit Nilsson.
Oh the magic of those old boxed sets! I've just pulled it out of my record collection for the first time in many years (to take this photo), and I can tell you right now, if I had a working record deck, that would be me for the rest of the day.As a result, most of my previous experience of Wagner, and Tristan in particular, is in sound only. The "pictures" were all in my head. I have to say, there were a few times in last night's performance, where I closed my eyes and just soaked up the music. This was particularly so in the three overtures, which were rich and moving - and the tone from the orchestra pit gave a dimension to the music missing from my old black vinyl and the Spotify version I've been using to re-familiarise myself with the work. Sometimes the presence of the audience was a bit of an intrusion on a very personal experience. Of course, once the actors were on stage, there was plenty to see, and the modern use of surtitles means that I can now follow the details of the libretto every bit as well in the theatre as I used to when listening at home. Wagner really needs that detail. There are few, if any, show-piece arias and no Italian-style sing-along numbers. This is all about the drama, and it is all done in music at every step of the way. If you don't know what they are singing about at any given point, it's actually extremely difficult to appreciate either the music or the drama.
Now; an essential skill for the opera aficionado is the ability to suspend disbelief. After all, life isn't generally sung! But there's even more suspending to do when the heroic tenor medieval knight turns out to have had far too many super-size meals from McD's. My apologies to any comfortably-built tenors who may read this, but I just can't picture you taking on the warrior hero of Ireland and giving him a drubbing in hand to hand combat! However, close your eyes, and the voice is simply wonderful. Ben Heppner (Tristan) really came into his own in the third act, when his wounded hero gets the chance to sing his love and agony away from the vocal shadow of Isolde.
In many ways, it's all easier when listening to records and matching the real (and amazing) voice to an imagined hero. However, the bottom line is the music, and Wagner totally nails it here. If you are not familiar with Wagner, this is not a great place to start. You really need to have spent some time getting your head round his way of working and expressing emotion and drama. I can see how inaccessible it must sometimes appear - but how it is worth it! Once you've worked your way into the Wagner mindset, it becomes a magical, transporting place. The music sucks you into the drama and the inner emotional lives of the protagonists. In the dénouement of the WNO production, as she sings her epic final piece, Isolde removes her black cloak to reveal a white gown; the dress for her wedding to Tristan. Ultimately, we are left with nothing but the internal emotions of Isolde - everything else has fallen to nothing. In many productions, Isolde finishes by collapsing dead on Tristan's body. The WNO production instead achieves more by gradually dimming all light on the stage to leave finally nothing but Isolde's face illuminated. So absorbing was Anne Petersen's Liebestod that it was a while before I even noticed that everything else had disappeared. In the drama, Isolde is singing her own death - but her song is desperate and blissful. It is entirely appropriate that the audience is effectively drawn into Isolde's personal, isolated inner world, to the exclusion of all else. That is the real end of the drama - and it's utterly wrenching. Of course I cried like a big baby. I knew I would, but it speaks volumes for this performance that it hit me so hard. I even had another blub when Anne Petersen came out for applause at the end.
Draining. Wonderful. If I could go to this again today, I would.
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