Wagnerian Forum

📰 Today's 𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐥, July 27, 2024, features a full-page article on 𝑻𝒓𝒊𝒔𝒕𝒂𝒏 𝒖𝒏𝒅 𝑰𝒔𝒐𝒍𝒅𝒆, which opened the 𝐁𝐚𝐲𝐫𝐞𝐮𝐭𝐡 𝐅𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐯𝐚𝐥 on July 25. 𝐂𝐡𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐚𝐧𝐞 𝐏𝐞𝐢𝐭𝐳 attempts to interpret the directorial approach led by 𝐀𝐫𝐧𝐚𝐫𝐬𝐬𝐨𝐧. "𝐴𝑏𝑠𝑐ℎ𝑖𝑒𝑑 𝑣𝑜𝑚 𝐻𝑒𝑙𝑑𝑒𝑛𝑡𝑢𝑚", declares the title, "𝐅𝐚𝐫𝐞𝐰𝐞𝐥𝐥 𝐭𝐨 𝐡𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐦". Indeed, it is true. In this production, 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 is anything but a love-struck hero; rather, he is a 𝐦𝐚𝐧 𝐝𝐫𝐚𝐢𝐧𝐞𝐝 by the decadence of possessions accumulated over a lifetime. 𝐈𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞 is Tristan's companion on this journey: both wish to 𝐚 𝐛𝐚𝐧𝐝𝐨𝐧 𝐡𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐲 to rise to a 𝐦𝐞𝐭𝐚𝐩𝐡𝐲𝐬𝐢𝐜𝐚𝐥 𝐥𝐞𝐯𝐞𝐥 that transcends Schopenhauerian representation. 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 is not a hero in deeds either. Arnarsson does 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐡𝐚𝐯𝐞 𝐡𝐢𝐦 𝐝𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐢𝐭𝐡 𝐌𝐞𝐥𝐨𝐭 at the end of the second act but instead has him 𝐝𝐫𝐢𝐧𝐤 𝐚 𝐩𝐨𝐢𝐬𝐨𝐧. Thus, 𝐝𝐞𝐚𝐭𝐡 will come from the effects of the potion while 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 lies among clutter in the 𝐡𝐨𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚 𝐬𝐡𝐢𝐩 whose keel is divided into several parts. The keel that was in one piece in the second act now 𝐛𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐤𝐬, 𝐝𝐞𝐜𝐚𝐲𝐬, 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐝𝐢𝐞𝐬. Like the entire 𝐰𝐨𝐫𝐥𝐝 𝐨𝐟 𝐚𝐩𝐩𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐚𝐧𝐜𝐞𝐬. (An observation 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐦𝐞𝐧𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐞𝐝 in the 𝐁𝐞𝐫𝐥𝐢𝐧 𝐝𝐚𝐢𝐥𝐲'𝐬 𝐚𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐜𝐥𝐞: it is hard to understand 𝐈𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐝𝐞'𝐬 𝐬𝐥𝐚𝐩 𝐭𝐨 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 before the love duet, nor the 𝐯𝐢𝐨𝐥𝐞𝐧𝐜𝐞 𝐨𝐟 𝐊𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐌𝐚𝐫𝐤𝐞 holding 𝐓𝐫𝐢𝐬𝐭𝐚𝐧 by the hair just before the close of the second act). 🎼 𝐒𝐞𝐦𝐲𝐨𝐧 𝐁𝐲𝐜𝐡𝐤𝐨𝐯 moves the audience by conducting an orchestra that releases 𝐜𝐡𝐚𝐦𝐛𝐞𝐫-𝐥𝐢𝐤𝐞 𝐬𝐨𝐧𝐨𝐫𝐢𝐭𝐢𝐞𝐬 due to the delicacy of the Russian maestro's interpretation. The 𝐯𝐨𝐢𝐜𝐞𝐬 are not without criticism, especially because they do not seem to convey the 𝐲𝐞𝐚𝐫𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 that the Wagnerian drama should evoke in the audience. 𝖶𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝖽𝗎𝖼𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇 𝖻𝖾 𝗋𝖾𝗆𝖾𝗆𝖻𝖾𝗋𝖾𝖽, 𝗈𝗋 𝗐𝗂𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗍 𝗀𝗈 𝗎𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗂𝖼𝖾𝖽? The 𝐓𝐚𝐠𝐞𝐬𝐬𝐩𝐢𝐞𝐠𝐞𝐥 article 𝐝𝐨𝐞𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐬𝐞𝐞𝐦 𝐭𝐨 𝐩𝐨𝐬𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐢𝐬 𝐪𝐮𝐞𝐬𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐟𝐨𝐫 𝐧𝐨𝐰.

Last night's first performance left many question marks, obviously from a directional and scenic point of view. In the first act, Isolde writes the very text of the play on her own dress. In the second act, Tristan himself wears a shirt with similar writing. Perhaps both are prisoners of their own lives of 'will and representation'? Is the junk in the ship's hold the stuff that accumulates over a lifetime? Does anyone else propose a different interpretation?

Happy 211th Birthday to the one who became a big part of our lives! Wotan and Brunnhilde welcome the Maestro into this world.