Tristan at the Met

[uffeviking]

Greta, until you have a chance to read the book, try the chapter Isolde's Liebestod - Or is it? in the highly informative blog: Sounds & Fury

http://www.soundsandfury.com/soundsandfury/2004/08/isoldes_iliebes.html

[bhodges]

I was listening to music with some friends and didn't see this video broadcast, but it sounds like they botched it.  Split-screens?!    That would remove all magic from the production, I'm afraid. 

In person, the production is quite beautiful, but it does use a lot of space, with the singers sometimes standing far away from each other.  I would be disappointed to see cameras used to artificially place them nearer.  Sounds like this one may have been a misfire.

PS, right after the production debuted in 1999, PBS showed it on TV, IIRC--but completely different from the live broadcast and probably available somewhere.  I should see if anyone I know taped it.

--Bruce

[uffeviking]

Here is the letter a friend of mine sent to Mr. Gelb, it gives you a better picture of what has been done to this opera production by an incompetent video director:

Mr. Gelb,

Those who attend the operas of Richard Wagner do not suffer from short attention spans.  To the contrary, lovers of Wagner's operas expect to be able to immerse themselves for long periods in the profundity and majesty of his music dramas; they not only can concentrate on the music and poetry, but they are likely to be swept away by a great performance.

Tristan und Isolde is one of those operas.  It is not a tennis match, not a political convention, not a rock concert.  No one who enters a theater for a performance of that opera needs or expects to be "entertained" by visual gimmickry of the kind associated with televised sport events.  Nonetheless, as the cries of outrage and frustration you have no doubt begun to hear will indicate, the satellite transmission of a great performance of Tristan und Isolde was marred, even ruined, for many by the thoughtless and aesthetically destructive games of the video "director" you assigned to the task.  Shrinking screens receding into the distance, balanced images of minor characters, etc.: none of it enhanced the experience of the opera; all of it created distractions from the aesthetic experience of one of the greatest works of art in our tradition

I would request that as a way of repairing some of the damage done by that vandalism, you plan to use a video free of the gimmickry for the PBS telecast.  Then those of us who loved the performance will be able to see it without the annoyance of the director's uninformed and pointless manipulations. 



                                                                                    Sincerely,

[bhodges]

Interesting letter, Lis.  IIRC the version I saw on PBS didn't have any of that gimmicky camerawork--just lots of long, slow panning from one side of the stage to the other, coupled with some long shots of the entire stage.  It all worked quite well, and I recall noticing the cast and the opera itself, not the director. 

Just found a little bit on it here and the director was Brian Large, one of the best in the business, so it's no surprise it was good.

This is all too bad, since mostly these broadcasts have been topnotch, IMHO. 

--Bruce

[Mark G. Simon]

Greta, until you have a chance to read the book, try the chapter Isolde's Liebestod - Or is it? in the highly informative blog: Sounds & Fury

This has got to be a first! The first time AC Douglas' blog is recommended by someone who isn't AC Douglas in disguise.

[uffeviking]

Mark, I was trying to explain to Greta about Isolde's Verklärung and remembered there is somebody out there who already has done it and far better than I ever could! 

[Haffner]

TheWagner Operas by Ernest Newman. Princeton University Press.

I pull that one out all the time.

[uffeviking]

Yup! Well worn and dogeared; couldn't get along without it. Odd use of language though in places, don't even dare to repeat here. The dear nuns who taught me English missed a few!  0:)

[Haffner]

Yup! Well worn and dogeared; couldn't get along without it. Odd use of language though in places, don't even dare to repeat here. The dear nuns who taught me English missed a few!  0:)

(laughing and nodding) I'm soon finishing up the 4-volume Wagner biography by Newman. Excellent, entertaining, and informative, though a bit outdated.

[uffeviking]

My hat off to you, young Man! That's a biography I had not even bought yet to put on my "to read stack. I just now bothered to read Newman's vitals: 1868 to 1959, no wonder his language is a bit outdated - or advanced?

Andy, don't tell me that next on your list is Cosima's diary?? 

[Greta]

LOL, yes, my acts were all confused. I was referring to the Met's ending leaving a question as to whether Isolde really dies, compared to the ending of the 2007 La Scala production, with Waltraud Meier as Isolde, where clearly she does.  

http://www.youtube.com/v/oOGs8TtnwoI&

What does Isolde actually die of though physically? That is what I didn't quite understand.

[Haffner]

My hat off to you, young Man! That's a biography I had not even bought yet to put on my "to read stack. I just now bothered to read Newman's vitals: 1868 to 1959, no wonder his language is a bit outdated - or advanced?

Andy, don't tell me that next on your list is Cosima's diary?? 

Yes. Seriously. You guessed! So I'm a weirdo!

[Haffner]

LOL, yes, my acts were all confused. I was referring to the Met's ending leaving a question as to whether Isolde really dies, compared to the ending of the 2007 La Scala production, with Waltraud Meier as Isolde, where clearly she does.  

http://www.youtube.com/v/oOGs8TtnwoI&

What does Isolde actually die of though physically? That is what I didn't quite understand.

Grief, right? Or did it all happen inside of Tristan's head/heart?

[Shrunk]

I attended the HD broadcast in Toronto, my first time at one of these events.  I share the displeasure with the "Brady Bunch" style split-screen technique, and am glad to hear it's not a regular feature at the broadcasts.  I also found Smith's acting a bit tentative in the first act (nor surprisingly, perhaps, as they apparently had no rehearsal time for the performance), but no problems with his voice, that's for sure, especially Act III.  Those minor quibbles aside, I greatly enjoyed the broadcast, and think I'll be going to more of these.  Certainly cheaper than plane fare to NYC.

As it happens, we brought our two daughters to the show (ages 10 and 12), admittedly with some apprehension.  But as it turned out, they were enraptured thru the whole thing.  At bedtime, the older girl called down, "That was a really good opera.  Thanks for taking us, dad!"   

(The younger one is looking over my shoulder, and insists I add, "It was really cool!")

[uffeviking]

Yes. Seriously. You guessed! So I'm a weirdo!

I never thought of you as that! I must admit though, the picture of you and your guitars and lovely hairdo is not exactly the image I had of a Wagner cognoscente. That'll teach me to judge a person by his look. Thank you Andy, for the valuable lesson! 

[uffeviking]

As it happens, we brought our two daughters to the show (ages 10 and 12), admittedly with some apprehension.  But as it turned out, they were enraptured thru the whole thing.  At bedtime, the older girl called down, "That was a really good opera.  Thanks for taking us, dad!"   

(The younger one is looking over my shoulder, and insists I add, "It was really cool!")

My gratitude, Shrunk! Your daughters remarks made up for all the disappointment! Great kids and thanks to Dad too for taking them! 

[gmstudio]

Here is the letter a friend of mine sent to Mr. Gelb, it gives you a better picture of what has been done to this opera production by an incompetent video director:

Mr. Gelb,

Those who attend the operas of Richard Wagner do not suffer from short attention spans.  To the contrary, lovers of Wagner's operas expect to be able to immerse themselves for long periods in the profundity and majesty of his music dramas; they not only can concentrate on the music and poetry, but they are likely to be swept away by a great performance.

Tristan und Isolde is one of those operas.  It is not a tennis match, not a political convention, not a rock concert.  No one who enters a theater for a performance of that opera needs or expects to be "entertained" by visual gimmickry of the kind associated with televised sport events.  Nonetheless, as the cries of outrage and frustration you have no doubt begun to hear will indicate, the satellite transmission of a great performance of Tristan und Isolde was marred, even ruined, for many by the thoughtless and aesthetically destructive games of the video "director" you assigned to the task.  Shrinking screens receding into the distance, balanced images of minor characters, etc.: none of it enhanced the experience of the opera; all of it created distractions from the aesthetic experience of one of the greatest works of art in our tradition

I would request that as a way of repairing some of the damage done by that vandalism, you plan to use a video free of the gimmickry for the PBS telecast.  Then those of us who loved the performance will be able to see it without the annoyance of the director's uninformed and pointless manipulations. 



                                                                                    Sincerely,

That was written with a much cooler head than mine...as mine contained a couple of profanities that I even surprised myself with...I had been looking forward to this production for almost a year.

Mr. Gelb interviewed the HD Video director during the Act I intermission...I don't recall her name, but it was only the second opera she's ever directed (the first being the New Year's Day transmission of Hansel & Gretel.)

[bhodges]

As it happens, we brought our two daughters to the show (ages 10 and 12), admittedly with some apprehension.  But as it turned out, they were enraptured thru the whole thing.  At bedtime, the older girl called down, "That was a really good opera.  Thanks for taking us, dad!"   

(The younger one is looking over my shoulder, and insists I add, "It was really cool!")

Great story!  And I would add that they obviously have a very cool dad, to think of taking them in the first place. 

--Bruce

[Haffner]

Great story!  And I would add that they obviously have a very cool dad, to think of taking them in the first place. 

--Bruce

JA!

[bhodges]

Somewhat amusingly, every single performance of this run of Tristan has been reviewed in The New York Times.  Here is the latest, of Tuesday night's performance, when Ben Heppner appeared--but Deborah Voigt got sick.

--Bruce