Tristan Horx

I can remember watching a recording of this production and being somewhat put off by the staging, the light show during the opening prelude and the modern staging and dress. It made the star-struck lovers seem more like a frumpy middle-aged couple on a cruise than people passionately in love, especially in their apparent lack of intimacy. They seldom touched each other. It just did not sit well with me, but that was my personal point of view. Even so, I was quite taken with the sound of the production and by strong performances by all the protagonists.

The popular Prelude & the so-called Liebestod (“Mild und Leise”) from Richard Wagner’s music drama Tristan und Isolde are the most familiar parts orchestras play, most often in the 1859 concert arrangement by Wagner. (He preferred that the term Liebestod be applied to the Prelude only, & originally titled his concert version Liebestod und Verklärung, or “Love-death & Transfiguration.”) The featured work of this Chandos SACD is the 1994 suite arranged by Henk de Vlieger, fashioned from key parts of the entire opera, not just the beginning & end. Tristan und Isolde: An Orchestral Passion is a lengthy tone poem that includes key passages, in much the same manner as de Vlieger’s other symphonic syntheses on Der Ring des Nibelungen, Parsifal, & Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg.

Richard Wagner - Tristan & Isolde
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Rundfunkchor Berlin / Marek Janowski
3x SACD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 934 MB | Full Artwork: 890 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Pentatone # PTC 5186 404 | Country/Year: Netherlands 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, Romantic

"…Thanks to Marek Janowski's inspiring direction, the singers' commitment and the peerless sound quality, this recording sets a new benchmark for Tristan und Isolde in the 21st century and undoubtedly it is one that all Wagnerites will wish to investigate. Unreservedly and enthusiastically recommended." ~SA-CD.net

Richard Wagner - Tristan & Isolde
Rundfunk-Sinfonieorchester Berlin / Rundfunkchor Berlin / Marek Janowski
3x SACD | EAC+LOG+CUE | FLAC: 934 MB | Full Artwork: 890 MB | 5% Recovery Info
Label/Cat#: Pentatone # PTC 5186 404 | Country/Year: Netherlands 2012
Genre: Classical | Style: Opera, Romantic

"…Thanks to Marek Janowski's inspiring direction, the singers' commitment and the peerless sound quality, this recording sets a new benchmark for Tristan und Isolde in the 21st century and undoubtedly it is one that all Wagnerites will wish to investigate. Unreservedly and enthusiastically recommended." ~SA-CD.net