Tristan und Isolde at SF Opera
October 24, 2024
* Notes *
San Francisco Opera presented a 2012 production of Tristan und Isolde (Act II pictured, photograph by Cory Weaver) from La Fenice for the second time last night. The orchestra sounded utterly clear and beautiful under Maestra Eun Sun Kim.
Kim has the orchestra sounding transparent, every line is palpable. You can feel the music perfectly stacked up and almost see it, but it still feels very alive. The strings shimmered, the woodwinds plaintive, the harp sumptuous. The brass only had one blunder in Act II, but otherwise was very good. The soli seemed effortless, English horn soloist Benjamin Brogadir and holztrompete soloist John Pearson were great.
The staging is dull, there is a lamp that moves with the waves and the box with potions that lights up in Act I, and those were the most interesting elements of the whole set for me. Act II features a bulbous tree and Act III is a destroyed version of Act I sans lamp or box.
There was some strong singing. The chorus sang well, cohesive and together as ever. Tenor Christopher Oglesby sounded lovely as A Shepherd and a Sailor. His "Westwärts schweift der Blick" that starts of the opera is still in my ears, and was very haunting. Bass Kwangchul Youn is a moving, sympathetic King Marke.
Mezzo-soprano Annika Schlicht has a deep, textured voice that contrasts well with the soprano, one could never mistake one for another. Her Brangäne is believable. heart-wrenching as Amelia. Baritone Wolfgang Koch is a little light as Kurwenal, it was hard to hear his low notes over the orchestra.
Tenor Simon O'Neill made it through the opera as Tristan, his timbre is reedy and not baritonal in the least. At his best he borders on sweetness but lacks warmth. He did sound best in the last act and considering how much he has to sing, it was impressive. Soprano Anja Kampe is strong as Isolde, her high notes are incisive without being ugly and her resonant lower register is well-supported.
* Tattling *
Because this opera has no cuts and runs 4 hours and 44 minutes, the performance started on time.
The audience was pretty quiet, there was little chatter or electronic noise. People did drop a lot of stuff though, bottles, purses, and the like.