Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Stemme, Pape - Lehnhoff, Glyndebourne 20073*DVD9 - NTSC - 4:3 - All Regions - LPCM, DTS - German - 358min -
Subtitles: German, English, French, Spanish, Italian
BBC / Opus Arte 2008
Tristan: Robert Gambill, Isolde: Nina Stemme, Brangäne: Katarina Karnéus, Kurwenal: Bo Skovhus, King Marke: René Pape, Melot: Stephen Gadd, Young Sailor/Shepherd: Timothy Robinson, Steersman: Richard Mosley-Evans
The Glyndebourne Chorus, London Philharmonic Orchestra, Conductor: Jiří Bĕlohlávek
Awards & Accolades:
'BEST OF THE YEAR' 2008 - Opera News (January 2009), BEST DVD OF THE YEAR The Metropolitan Opera (January 2009), R10 Classica Répertoire (March 2008)
Reviews
‘I don’t think that I have ever witnessed a more perfect realisation of a Wagner opera than this superb Tristan und Isolde. …[Jiří Bĕlohlávek] is scrupulous with the score, and takes his time over it: the pauses and silences are immense and there is no factitious attempt to whip up excitement by speeding. …a great and unforgettable occasion’ - The Daily Telegraph
"One of the titles in our catalogue Ilike best is Glyndebourne's production of Tristan und Isolde, because it is so solemnly beautiful, evocative and meditative. Some people might interpret it as 'static' but I love how stage director Nikolaus Lehnhoff approaches Wagner's psycho-erotic masterpiece with a deep emotional and philosophical insight that matches the intense performance of the soloists, and conductor Jirí Belohlavek's remarkable exposure of depths in the score that I have never experienced before.
Their combined efforts and Roland Aeschlimann's universal set design call up classical Greek drama for me, a 'space-time-womb' resembling an amphitheatre. Physical gestures are minimal but not overly stylised, and each movement of a hand, or the turn of a head speaks volumes, as the related emotion floats up from the brilliant orchestra. I think it is a tremendously clever as well as moving achievement, focussing on the deep emotions as pure feelings, and not as predictable bodily or theatrical expressions, which, for me, can quite easily turn into pastiche. Nina Stemme is a beautiful Isolde, in turn fragile and furious, and Robert Gambill's Tristan is superbly lyrical and distant, as if he does not belong in this world. I also love the extra feature in which professor Trimborn gives a personal and direct 'lecture' from the piano on the musicological & philosophical backgrounds of Tristan und Isolde; emphasising the Buddhistic depths and the ideals of 'detachment', explaining why true, untainted earthly love is impossible. All in all, this disc set offers a deeply overwhelming experience every time I watch it."
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