# Rome Tristan - anyone seen it?



## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

I'm planning to see _Tristan _tomorrow (at the cinema). This is Teatro dell'Opera di Roma's production, with Andreas Schager as Tristan and Rachel Nicholls as Isolde, conducted by Daniele Gatti.

I didn't like Rome Opera's _Cenerentola_ (the chorus shot themselves at the end of Act I) or _Favorite_ (set inside a giant plastic water bottle after a nuclear apocalypse).

Jack Buckley raves about it: http://www.seenandheard-international.com/2016/11/the-sting-and-seduction-of-tristan/.

Has anyone seen the _Tristan_? Is it worth seeing?


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

We have Idomeneo this night .


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## Morton (Nov 13, 2016)

I would be very interested to hear Rachel Nicholls sing Isolde now, I saw her back in 2013 sing Brunnhilde in a complete Ring, and a couple of years later Isolde, both at the small theatre at Longborough, which specialises in Wagner. I also saw her successfully transfer to the much bigger stage at the ENO London to sing Eva in Die Meistersinger, since when, sadly, I think she has mainly sang abroad.


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Images I've seen from the stage look stunning. I'd really like to see more.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

The singing is good, and the staging is basically straightforward. Those who like _Tristan_ will like it.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> The singing is good, and the staging is basically straightforward. Those who like _Tristan_ will like it.


How about the conducting Simon?

Daniele Gatti is the principal in Amsterdam, but the love in not growing as a matter of speaking.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Pugg said:


> How about the conducting Simon?
> 
> Daniele Gatti is the principal in Amsterdam, but the love in not growing as a matter of speaking.


I'm going to review this one here: http://www.talkclassical.com/28094-our-own-reviews-operas-20.html


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> I'm going to review this one here: http://www.talkclassical.com/28094-our-own-reviews-operas-20.html


We're still waiting for that review.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

Woodduck said:


> We're still waiting for that review.


Come one Wood , show some mercy the guy is very buzzy writhing.


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

Pugg said:


> Come one Wood , show some mercy the guy is very buzzy writhing.


Don't worry.Templar can take it - and write a fine review when he wants to. :tiphat:


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Pugg said:


> Come one Wood , show some mercy the guy is very buzzy writhing.


Bzzzzzzzzzzzz. You make me sound like a dying bee.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> Don't worry.Templar can take it - and write a fine review when he wants to. :tiphat:


Challenge accepted! :tiphat:


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## Woodduck (Mar 17, 2014)

SimonTemplar said:


> Bzzzzzzzzzzzz. You make me sound like a dying bee.


Bees have been dying in alarming numbers of late. You may inadvertantly be swept up in efforts to save them. Could be fun.


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## Meyerbeer Smith (Mar 25, 2016)

Woodduck said:


> Bees have been dying in alarming numbers of late. You may inadvertantly be swept up in efforts to save them. Could be fun.


Review's up!

http://www.talkclassical.com/28094-our-own-reviews-operas-21.html


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

I'm going to see this tonight.


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## Pugg (Aug 8, 2014)

mountmccabe said:


> I'm going to see this tonight.


Do you mean, as in real or in the cinema, mountmccabe?


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Pugg said:


> Do you mean, as in real or in the cinema, mountmccabe?


In the cinema. It took that long to make it to the USA.

It was exceptional! More later!


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

Rachel Nicholls was a revelation. She sang with beauty and clarity, with a tight vibrato. I can't say how it sounded in the house, but on transmission it came across as effortless. She also really inhabited the character, especially effective as a haughty Isolde in the first act. 

Andreas Schager was a compelling Tristan, though he seemed overparted. There were a few rough entrances early in act 2, and as the liebesnacht went on he began to sound more pinched. There was a lot of detail in his approach, and he never sounded unpleasant. 

The rest of the cast was also very good, especially Michelle Breedt as Brangäne, and wonderful match for our Isolde.

Daniele Gatti's conducting was fine, though not much beyond that. The orchestra sounded good and was under control. There wasn't much for forward momentum, the long line was rarely evident, and it missed that extra bit that keeps the tension high.

Audi's production was quite something. The personal direction often tended towards non-naturalistic, but was purposeful, building tension. The careful lighting and set rearrangements made for a compelling stage picture, even though (or likely, because) it avoided literal-ism or another simplistic approach. It was largely clear enough, and focused on the big picture rather than fussy details. The staging also worked to ensure the singers were in spots that were conducive to singing, and that the stage pieces supported them rather than getting in their way. In the short intermission interviews he also explained the elements discussed very well (such as not have the lovers all over each other throughout the liebesnacht, in essence duplicating the score).


All together, this worked very well for me. And now I'm going to go listen to more from Rachel Nicholls, which looks like it will mostly be Bach, Handel, and such. (Over the past few years she has been singing dramatic soprano roles; her debut as Isolde was two years ago with Longborough Festival Opera and she has since sung it in Karlsruhe and Stuttgart).


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## mountmccabe (May 1, 2013)

SimonTemplar said:


> Review's up!
> 
> http://www.talkclassical.com/28094-our-own-reviews-operas-21.html


I will offer a direct reply to this:



SimonTemplar said:


> What it lacks is drama. _Tristan_ is a static, inward opera, and in some ways works best as a symphony of voices. In the nineteenth century, some of its admirers wanted boxes that didn't let them see the stage; today, it may be best enjoyed on disc.
> 
> For it to hold the audience's attention over three long acts requires great skill. Audi's production bores. Characters have intimate conversations without looking at each other (e.g., Brangäne and Isolde in Act I). In some ways, it's a throwback to the stand-and-deliver style - acceptable in a heroic bel canto opera, but disastrous for such an intimate work.


I absolutely disagree that _Tristan und Isolde_ is "best enjoyed on disc." I don't even know what to say.

The opera does not lack drama, but the drama is not in the outer trappings, nor is that how it is expressed. I really liked the rather minimalist approach seen here for expressing the inner tensions. The drama was focused on their voices, and supported by how they stood, their facial expressions, their movements. It did not look or work like a Hollywood movie, but I don't understand the confusion.

The latter paragraph stuck with me, so I was shocked by how much Brangäne and Isolde interacted; they were wonderful together in Act 1.


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