Wagner opera opens Met HD season
The wait is almost over. The Metropolitan Opera’s 2016-17 season at Lincoln Center opened Sept. 26, and right behind comes the first performance in the Met’s HD series.
Wagner’s “Tristan and Isolde” will be broadcast at the Douglass Theatre on Saturday, with the famed Swedish soprano Nina Stemme singing the lead. It is fair to say that Stemme owns the role, and on Oct. 27 she will sing the part for the 100th time.
Years ago the Met toured annually, bringing great opera to Atlanta and other cities. While the tour is no more, since 2006 the magic of high definition video transmission has allowed the Met to bring the glories of grand opera to 66 countries. This season’s opening production, running close to five hours, already has received rave reviews from the New York media.
“Tristan and Isolde” is a tale of love in a time of war, and in the current production (directed by Mariusz Trelinski), the war is between a modern day Cornwall and Ireland. Stemme, as Isolde, is an Irish princess being transported to Cornwall to marry King Marke, but it is not to be. Also on the ship is Tristan, who took the life of Isolde’s fiancée.
This pair is destined for a bad end, but along the way both the Met orchestra and the leading singers come in for extraordinary praise. Sir Simon Rattle conducts the Met orchestra in some of Wagner’s most inspiring music, Stuart Skelton sings the role of Tristan, and Stemme draws incredibly lavish praise from the critics: “astonishing” and “a musical marvel” are representative.
Wagnerians see this opera as a meditation on love, death and the Celtic view of the afterlife. The philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer (“Your dreams turn to dust in your mouth”) heavily influenced Wagner at this time. No doubt these matters and others will be discussed at the Opera Chat that will precede this Met broadcast, the first of 10 that the Douglass will host this year.
Let the season begin.
“Tristan and Isolde”
When: Noon Oct. 8
Where: Douglass Theatre, 355 Martin Luther King Jr. Blvd., and the Galleria Mall Stadium Cinemas 15, 2980 Watson Blvd., Warner Robins
Cost: $24 adults, $20 seniors and students
Information: metopera.org/hdlive; 478-742-2000
This story was originally published October 6, 2016 at 9:00 PM with the headline "Wagner opera opens Met HD season."