This mostly splendid DVD presentation of the Glyndebourne Festival's presentation of the piece is historic itself for at least one major reason. Glyndebourne's founder John Christie first envisioned his British festival as an English version of Wagner's own Bayreuth Festival. Logistics and a spouse who favored Mozart and Rossini put the kibosh on that plan until Christie's son expanded the festival, building a new concert hall able to handle the gargantuan musical forces (and frequently sets) needed to properly stage Wagner's work, and so Tristan und Isolde became the first Wagner opera to actually be staged for the Glyndebourne Festival.

For those unfamiliar with the opera, Tristan and Isolde are virtually the definition of doomed lovers. The opera begins with Isolde nearing the end of a long journey from Ireland to Cornwall, where Tristan is taking her to marry the elderly King Marke. It turns out that Tristan and Isolde have quite a history between them, Tristan having murdered Isolde's previous betrothed. Isolde naturally had revenge in mind upon first meeting Tristan, but that (as it always does in opera) turned quickly to love, though one unrequited and seemingly getting worse, as Tristan refuses to even acknowledge Isolde on the long boat trip to Cornwall. Through the machinations of Isolde's handmaiden (and the occasional secret love potion), Isolde's plan to poison both herself and Tristan (so that they can "live" in peace in eternity) is supplanted by eternal love, unfortunately one that cannot be acknowledged.

And that's just the first act.

Suffice it to say that things do not go swimmingly in the subsequent two acts, though Tristan and Isolde do get to profess their love in one of the most famous long sections of the piece, which takes up the bulk of Act II. Unfortunately when King Marke walks in on the lovers, one doesn't need a crystal ball to know that things will probably not end up well, though if you're expecting a Romeo and Juliet type denouement, you might be pleasantly surprised, or at least not too horribly saddened.

Tristan and Isolde melded Wagner's chromaticism with the equally thorny philosophy of Schopenhauer, so there is a lot of (some may think pretentious) libretto space given to dark and light, night and day, and the requirements of the phenomenal versus the noumenal worlds. What it all boils down to is the peculiar German philosophy that life is best lived dead, and why are we all wasting time in various torments here when it would be so much easier to off ourselves and move onto whatever next awaits us.

This production is superbly sung by Nina Stemme as Isolde and Robert Gambill as Tristan (especially in the Act II love duet, which is achingly lyrical), with able support by Katarina Karneus as Isolde's handmaiden Brangane. The London Philharmonic does a surprisingly nimble job under the baton of Jiri Belohlavek. Sometimes the English interpretations of Wagner can be too polite, lacking that appetite for the jugular that one can hear in the best recordings with the Berlin or Vienna Philharmonics, but there's little if any restraint here, and that is mostly a good thing. Unfortunately, the orchestra very occasionally overshadows the singing, but that's about the only complaint from an aural standpoint this DVD presents.

The staging and direction for television are both well done, though Tristan can be an annoyingly static piece at times, and there's little to allay that problem here. Good multi-camera coverage prevents the going from getting too horribly tedious, even when there's little if any action happening onstage. There's also a patently weird stage design that stage director Nikolaus Lehnhoff argues (rather convincingly, actually) serves as both womb and cage for the lovers, but which might remind some viewers of the inside of a Slinky gone horribly awry.

The DVD

Video:
The enhanced 1.78:1 high-def master is fabulous as far as it goes. Unfortunately, there's just not a lot to look at here, other than the bizarre set and the two or three singers on stage at any given moment.

Sound:
A simply top-notch soundtrack is probably the best recommendation this DVD has for potential buyers. Fidelity and separation are both excellent. I found the Dolby 2.0 preferable to the DTS, with the latter sounding noticeably compressed, especially in the higher frequencies.

Extras:
There are some really excellent extras augmenting this set, including a narrated synopsis, which I highly recommend to any Tristan tyros. There is also an hour long film featuring interviews with cast and production crew interspersed with scenes from the opera, which suffers only from a surfeit of "and then this happens"-itis on the part of the cast. Director Lehnhoff's comments may strike some as unintentionally funny (I couldn't help but wonder what Mike Myers might do with Lehnhoff as a character), but some of his observations are quite cogent, at least in the world of Wagner, which can, admittedly, be rather alien to outsiders. There is also a short featurette showing a four camera view of the "womb" set being built, as well as a really informative piece with musicologist Richard Trimborn, where he discusses both the musical language of Tristan as well as its philosophical underpinnings.

Final Thoughts:
Tristan und Isolde stands as one of the benchmarks of 19th century culture and remains probably the most personal musical statement of Richard Wagner's. This well-produced, gorgeously sung and played version will be loved by most Wagner fans, and its extras will help introduce the opera to those not previously familiar with it. Highly recommended.

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"G-d made stars galore" & "Hey, what kind of a crappy fortune is this?" ZMK, modern prophet