Tristan und Isolde 2012Welsh National Opera
Read more about the opera Tristan and Isolde
Welsh National Opera, under their music director Lothar Koenigs, brought a concert performance of their recent revival. The staging, originally by Yannis Kokkos, dates back to the nineties and was then given two runs by Scottish Opera. Perhaps a couple of staged performances now were therefore seen as superfluous. This was a pity, given that the Festival had twice before presented the work in concert, Balance is always difficult to achieve in those circumstances, which can be tiring for singers.
The cast of exceptional operatic talents was led by Ben Heppner and Jennifer Wilson, neither of whom was previously familiar to Scottish audiences. Indeed Wilson was unkmown in Britain, and did not even sing in the staged revival tour that preceded this concert. She turned out to have one of those scrupulously-schooled, majestic voices that the Americans produce regularly, and she should be one of the dominant performers of the role in the next decade, as Heppner has dominated the part of Tristan.
As King Mark, Matthew Best, formerly Scottish Opera's Kurwenal, as well as Wotan and Amfortas, was unable to appear. His replacement was the veteran Jan-Hendrik Rootering - a stalwart Wagnerian bass in continental houses, though probably only a name to most of this audience. Kurwenal was taken by another Wagnerian of long experience, Phillip Joll, who sang Wotan and Amfortas with WNO early in his career, as well as the Dutchman at ENO.
