Customer Reviews

Wagner: Tristan und Isolde [Includes Bonus DVD]

5 star:		(20)
4 star:		(4)
3 star:		(3)
2 star:		(3)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

This recording has been making headlines for largely extramusical reasons: it's maybe the last bigtime studio effort; private money had to foot much of the bill; and it's Placido Domingo's only crack at a role he's been approaching and avoiding for decades. So when I ordered it from overseas, what did I expect? Mostly a one-man showcase, though a decently interesting one since Domingo possesses the hard-to-believe combination of a splendidly preserved voice plus smarts and integrity. But what I NEVER expected was that these discs would embody an original, valid, long overdue, and genuinely moving reinterpretation of this disturbing masterwork.

What gives? Well, as the admired British critic John Steane once wrote, Wagner himself "is said to have constantly urged his interpreters to sing in the Italian manner." And what does this manner entail? Steane again: "smoothness of line, beauty of tone, and elegance of technical accomplishment." Handed the reins by EMI, Covent Garden music director Antonio Pappano has, at long last, set about giving us nothing less than bel canto Wagner.

You hear it from the outset of the Act I prelude -- the strings are warm and burnished, spin a continuous singing line, crescendo in arcs from the brink of inaudibility, then taper back into silence on phrase endings. And when the young sailor (Rolando Villazon in luminous voice) sings his love ditty, similar principles apply: long-breathed legato, mastery of a wide dynamic range (including echo effects and well-supported soft singing), and eager articulation of the text.

Clearly this is official directorial policy, because much the same can be said of every cast member here. Mihoko Fujimura's lyric mezzo traces Brangaene's lines with unusual delicacy and variety, perfectly in tune, finely focused, floating her high notes ("Welcher Wahn!" in I iii is sweetly nurturing, the Watch in II ii marvelously ethereal). As for Isolde, here the set serves instant notice that it isn't a Domingo ego trip but a whole-souled effort to do the work justice. Nina Stemme hasn't Fujimura's floated high notes (she sustains her pianissimo F sharp at the close of "Mild und leise" by discreetly widening the vibrato), but she has everything else: imaginative phrasing, bright, fresh tone, pinpoint intonation, steady emission, well-knit scale, soaring top, melting legato ("Ich bin's, ich bins" in III ii is heartrending). Within seconds of her first entrance it's clear she's the real thing: she piles hair-raisingly into "Hoert meinen Willen" and you realize she's as accomplished an Isolde as we've had since the seventies.

Our two low-voiced leads aren't on this level but still have plenty to offer. Olaf Baer's lovely baritone is undersized and thin on the bottom for the rambunctious Kurwenal, but he really sells his taunting ballad and is sensitive and affecting throughout Act III. As for Rene Pape, his mellifluous basso cantate is choice casting for King Marke, though his forte top notes are less secure than they were on the Met DVD. But with Pappano's encouragement, his line readings are more probingly detailed and he manages a marvel of hushed poignancy at "Da kinderlos." Plus we sense the conductor's fine Italian hand even with the bit players: they all display this same balance of smooth legato and pointed articulation of the words -- e.g., the intimate delivery and silver sound of Ian Bostridge's shepherd, or Jared Holt's split-second ability to make a formidable figure of Melot through ringing tone, energetic phrasing, and a telling subito piano at "ob ich mein Haupt."

And now the set's reason for being. There's no percentage in quibbling over Domingo's Tristan -- the voice is in excellent working order -- or in chiding him for not tackling the part onstage -- tenors who do seem not to enjoy long careers (Hofmann, Thomas, Jerusalem, Kollo, even Windgassen; Melchior doesn't count because he sang a drastically abridged and simplified version). But in the studio the role's characteristic high notes (A flat, A) aren't a problem, Domingo's bronze timbre aptly suggests Tristan the warrior, his soft singing is firmly supported and never crooned or declaimed (unlike the maverick Vickers), and he partners Stemme gallantly (in the duet passages of "O sink hernieder," they pitch the tricky intervals with breathtaking ease and accuracy). His could well be the most thoroughly SUNG Tristan in Wagner history -- yet, like the rest of the company, he's also alert to verbal and theatrical values, sardonically relishing the consonants at "seines flackernden Lichtes fluechtige Blitze," almost spooky at "Dem Land, das Tristan meint," downright bloodcurdling during his curse on the "furchtbarer Trank." Again, there's no percentage in quibbling -- this Tristan is intelligent, poetic, emotionally open, vocally qualified, musically immaculate, and desperately needed. In short, it's a genuinely significant piece of work and a fitting capstone to an extraordinary career.

As suggested, the Covent Garden orchestra is another eloquent factor. First violins come from your left speaker, seconds from your right, instantly clarifying the polyphony. Tempos are fleet yet cleanly executed, so nothing seems rushed. And in a crunch this band has no problem exchanging bel canto lyricism for crushing power: they're thrilling in the runup to Tristan's entrance in II ii, gut-wrenching with the famous discord that interrupts "O ew'ge Nacht."

The stereo sonics are warm, airy, and wide-ranging, locating events with exceptional variety and specificity between the two speakers. Since directionality is already superb, the bonus DVD in 5.1 surround isn't markedly superior: it offers the pleasing convenience of an onscreen text and running translation, but the rear speakers add little extra information.

So how does this new set stack up against the competition? Remarkably, I'd say. Despite monaural sound and variable vocalism, the 1952 Furtwaengler set remains a classic, with the 1966 Boehm another standard recommendation and the 1982 Kleiber a more recent favorite -- but for today's consumers, Pappano's is the most vibrantly recorded, appealingly sung, and immediately communicative performance available in stereo.

The booklet includes a full German libretto, English and French translations, many pix, and generous notes. Fervently recommended.

Wagner lied to the theater managers of his day when he told them that Tristan was going to be one of the easiest operas to stage for its lack of a gargantuan cast and the simple staging that it required. After weeks of rehearsal and a few singers who deemed the work as impossible, Tristan was put on ice until its fateful premiere on June 10, 1865. The piece marked the end of romanticism and heralded a new age of modernism. It was the piece that for many philosophers, musicians, thinkers, and writers...the piece that represented the pinnacle of Western art. Certainly, with the musical innovations that Wagner introduced to the score and the quasi-erotic tones flooding the music, a listener cannot deny that the opera worked on you like a drug, and that is what Antonio Pappano said when he was interviewed about his participation in this Tristan.

This recording was announced by EMI as its final studio venture. I certainly think that EMI wisely chose to end their expansive recorded legacy on a high note, because this performance of Tristan has all the elements needed to make listeners agree that it could perhaps be the definitive Tristan after all the "Golden Age" Gerties stop declaring the bygone Melchior and Flagstad as the definitive performers of the work.

The main reason to buy this recording, of course, is for Domingo's Tristan. The voice is not one that a listener would usually associate with the role, but that is all for the better. The role has been barked too often by Germanic-sounding tenors with half the grace and certainly a quarter of the legato that the Spanish tenor brings to the role. Domingo is certainly not underpowering either, and if his burnished dramatic tenor lacks the youthfulness that listeners have always wanted to hear in the role, its quality and its strength exceeds even that of a tenor half of Domingo's age. Domingo's legato line is impeccable in a role where Wagner wanted an Italianate sound, and of all the tenors who have sung this role, Domingo offers Herr Wagner his wish. His singing is effortless in the second and third act where stamina is needed the most. Although Domingo doesn't have Vicker's astounding mezza voce, he certainly more than compensates for it by his tonal palette and his dynamic shading. The second act love duet is rapturously sung, and his third act monologue is a model of how a Wagnerian tenor warhouse should be treated. Domingo treats it more like a dream rather than a delirium, and for that alone would I heap a mountain of praise on his shoulders. Although we lament that we would never see Domingo assume what is essentially a perfect role for him onstage, we should be glad that we can hear him sing it on this perfect recording.

The rest of the cast impresses and even astounds me. I particularly enjoy the Isolde of Nina Stemme. In Stemme, we have another Isolde who sounds like an Irish princess instead of a Scandinavian warrior. Unlike Margaret Price (another youthful Isolde) though, Stemme offers power and a gleaming top register which many "lyric" Isoldes lack. Her lower reaches are also quite spacious and her middle register is richly hued. Her tone is firmer and creamier than Deborah Voigt's, and she sings the role with passion and lyricism that escape some of the more famous Isolde. Her main asset I believe, is her impeccably youthful tone. Her first act gives us a better insight into what a 17-year old Isolde would sound like, but she is never underpowering. Her second act partnering of Tristan is a lucid dream of erotic and passionate longing. The Liebestod that caps the opera is sung with the apotheosis that only Scandinavian compatriots like Kirsten Flagstad and Birgit Nilsson were able to achieve in their outstanding careers. In fact, I think Stemme would be in many ways my favorite Isolde were it not for Nilsson's magnificent Isoldes at Bayreuth with Böhm.

The Marke in this recording is taken by Rene Pape, who is today one of the most in-demand basses in the world's opera houses. His electrifying performances as Mephistopheles, Filippo II, and Boris Godunov show what an excellent performer he is, and this King Marke definitely ranks up with those great roles as paragons of noble bass singing. What Pape has in his voice is a palette of shades and colors--things that many basses such as Talvela and Riddersbusch fail to bring to their interpretations. He has anger, disappointment, sadness, contempt, jealousy, and hurt--all wrapped up in a homogenous vocal package. His Act-II monologue becomes a spectacle rather than a quarter hour bore. I don't think I've ever heard a better Marke from any other singer, before or after Pape. For his monologue alone would I recommend the second act of this recording as a must-listen. With a Marke of this caliber, how I look forward to Pape's Wotan in the near future!

Mihoko Fujimura and Olaf Bär offer great supporting characters who partner their leads with youthful tone and sensitive singing. Fujimura will never replace Christa Ludwig, and Bär will never erase memories of Waechter, but they are more than adequate in roles often overlooked by listeners as focal to the plot. Olaf Bär offers a youthful, testosterone-charged performance as Kurwenal--rightly so for this role. Fujimura's floating tone makes a great foil for the brilliant Isolde of Stemme. The Japanese mezzo shows great promise as one of the most talented singers of our day. The supporting roles of the Seaman and the Shepherd are luxuriously casted by Rolando Villazon and Ian Bostridge, two of today's greatest modern tenors.

The one point of comparison where many people would make with other recordings is the conductor. I think Pappano gives an Italianate sweep to Wagner's score...yet he doesn't overlook the Germanic details in the music. His phrasing is liquid, and while it may not have the intensity of a Furtwängler or a Kleiber, it has that liquid phrasing and a Mediterranean breeze which adds a unique perspective to this great work of art. He doesn't have the grandiose that Barenboim has into the score, but it is a most touching, architectural reading. I would say that I am very happy with his work, and this would probably be the Tristan I would return to the most, along with Barenboim's.

There must be others who, like me, reacted with excitement and fulfillment when this EMI recording of Wagner's classic Tristan And Isolde was released. Placido Domingo as Tristan! Having always said he would sing Tristan at the end of his career, the only role that intimidated him and this after a lifetime of having sung zillions of roles in Italian, German, Russian, Spanish, French and God knows what other repertoire. His Tristan is a revelation. Tristan's voice should not be sung with too much force or invective. He is a romantic, highly tragic figure, his name even deriving from the word for sad - triste/tristesse. Wagner always specified that his tenors sing with a great deal of lyric beauty and bel canto richness, such as the tenors in the Italian operas he admired. While the music and singing is essentially Germanic, Wagner recognized the significance of marrying dramatic effect with beautiful singing. Opera must sound beautiful, as beauty was a goal that all nations and their artists aspired to. I may not know everything about voice technique, but I will go as far as to say that Placido Domingo most gratifies the listener as the true Tristan, putting the Bayreuth-bitten Wolfgang Windgassen, Fritz Uhrl, Rene Kollo and others to shame. His Tristan has all the grandeur, lung power, beauty of tone, and fine diction (yes fine diction!) and most importantly, the right degree of tragic romanticism to the voice.Domingo sings with a lot of legato and controlled excess. The long lines (symbolizing eternity in the Night of Love duet) have never sounded more spiritual than on this recording. Pappano conducts that particular scene quite well, even if in other parts (such as the finale to the Love Duet before King Mark and reality breaks up the lovers' tryst) are played far too briskly. The final monologue/aria of Tristan as he battles with King Mark is also conducted quite quickly, but it most appropriately creates an intense, exciting and electrifying moment of drama- King Mark is about to end Tristan's life, which is pivotal to Isolde's own demise. It is in the final dramatic scene that Placido Domingo truly soars. Everything he's been singinng in the realm of Wagner opera (Parsifal, Siegfried, the tenor heroes in Lohengrin, Tannhauser and even Walter in Die Meistersanger) have all added up to this moment of triumph. His Tristan is heroic, it truly is. His voice even in his 60's is quite good, if not better than in his youth. Like a fine wine, age has only made him sound richer, darker, velvety, grandiose. His moment of glory as a tenor is this. I personally prefer to hear Domingo's smooth, unaffected, and warm, round voice in the lengthy final death scene than hearing a barking Germanic tenor all that time. For Domingo, this is a dream come true, as it is for us listeners who adore his voice.

The Isolde of soprano Nina Stemme is quite gratifying because she is smart enough to sing the role like the noble, graceful and passionate Irish princess Isolde truly is - not like a Valkyrie or Celtic goddess which is how Birgit Nilsson and Kirsten Flagstad sang it. Isolde calls for a youthful, radiant, passionate voice, with enough heaviness and tessitura to essay the music which is quite difficult. Isolde is the hardest of all Wagner opera heroines to sing- even more so than Brunhilde. Nina Stemme is young, yes, but she meets all the technical vocal demands of Isolde as if she has many years under her belt. While other critics have remarked on how unlike Birgit Nilsson or Flagstad her voice is. There were some moments, particularly in the first act, that her voice did remind me of Nilsson, faintly, echoes, emulations, though quite distinctively her own. Her account of the Liebestod is grand and beautifully rendered. The lyric soprano Margaret Price in the Carlos Kleiber Tristan recording has a voice which is most like Nina Stemme's in this one. It is a bright, lyric, feminine and graceful Isolde, not one of iron and steel. And Isolde should be sung this way. This is a great recording and I enjoyed every moment of it.

This has got to be the opera recording of the year, and EMI are to be commended with putting together this marvellous package. Dedicated to the memory of the late Carlos Kleiber, the chief glory of this set is the casting of Placido Domingo as Tristan. This is a role which he has never sung onstage, but which he has finally gotten around to record, offering a vocally glorious interpretation of this mammoth part. Swedish soprano Nina Stemme has the voice to scale all of Isolde's emotions, coupled with a well conceived interpretation. Having sung the role at Glyndebourne last year, she was an obvious choice to partner Domingo, with the musical highlight being their Act 2 love duet. Stemme's Lieberstod is marvellously sung. Fujimura's Brangaene sounded a bit bland at the beginning, probably since she has not sung the part on stage, but she is excellent in the off-stage calls of the love duet. Supporting roles are luxuriously cast with Olaf Bar, Rene Pape, Ian Bostridge and Rolando Villazon, whilst Antonio Pappano leads the forces of Covent Garden in a sensitive, yet searing account of this magical score. This edition offers the choice of 3CDs, with each Act recorded on a single disc, as well as a DVD audio version, offering the score in either DTS or Dolby Digital 5.1 Surround Sound, as well as an on-screen libretto in German, with English and French subtitles. A must-have for any opera collector/fan.

Here at Amazon the Muppets' Big Bird could get five stars for singing Tristan, and that's fine with me. But few reviewers have given an accurate sense of what this new version from EMI is actually like. In the light of a great tradition marked by towering talents like Flagstad, Melchior, and Furtwangler, Wagner's masterpiece has acquired enormous weight and importance -- Tristan casts a long shadow over anyone attempting a new approah. Pappano has decided to counter with a lighter, fresher performance style, and he has cast the opera with a young-sounding Isolde, Brangane, and King Mark. Domingo himself has a comparatively light voice for the role, without the heft of baritonal coloring -- he's never claimed to be a true heldentenor -- while the Kurvenal of Olaf Bar lies somewhere in between the baritones and heavier bass-baritones who have sung the part.

The initial effect of Tristan-lite is disconcerting. All the great orchestral passages operate at a lower temperature, with lessened emotional import. Pappano gets a gorgeous tone from his Covent Garden ensemble, and EMI provides beautifully clear sonics. When climxes arrive, they are propulsive and exciting. Yet Tristan has clearly shrunk in scale a size or two, and the effect can be too off-hand. Our characters don't love and die with cosmic significance -- perhaps modern listeners are more comfortable with less.

The two women startle by being so much less intense than their predecessors. As Isolde, Nina Stemme delivers her curse in Act I more out of pique than rage, and the Brangane of Mihoko Fujimura is merely having a bad day. It's unfortunate, also, that their voices sound so alike that I could sometimes not tell who was singing. On the male side, Rene Pape stands out as the preeminent German bass of the day, and his Marke is vocally splendid without, however, reaching a great depth of anguish and betrayal. Olaf Bar looks like a mistake on paper, given his well-publicized vocal problems, but in practice he is an artful, interesting Kurvenal with a gruff, biting edge that befits a soldier.

As for Domingo himself, it came as a relief to me when he made his first entrance -- he alone sounds as if Tristan deeply matters, as if this will be a searing, cathartic tragedy. His German is much improved, and the voice holds together extremely well, with the most thrilling high notes I've heard aside from Ben Heppner's. I think the reviewer who calls this bel canto singing is stretching, but there's no doubt that Domingo, without attempting a German singing style, possesses enormous power. I hear no signs of age whatever. Since he is the raison d'etre for the whole enterprise, I went immediately to Act III, which belongs to Tristan and which must convey the most profound suffering that transforms the ecstasy of unbounded desire.

It is here that Domingo comes into his own as an artist. His Parsifal on stage is enormously moving, and so is his dying Tristan. He's not the tortured soul one expects at first. This Tristan wakes up in quiet sorrow, still half dreaming, and as his anguish builds, Domingo makes every step emotionally believable. When he eventually arrives at harrowing hysteria and explosive ecstasy with the arrival of Isolde's ship, the effect is stunning. I have no hesitation calling Act III a great achievement and feel grateful to hear artists of the caliber of Domingo and Bar at their best.

As for the rest, you have to take it for better or worse. Thanks to Domingo, that means mostly for better -- the newest Tristan und Isolde is a noble effort that owes its existence to his selfless generosity.

P.S. -- for yars the Met has suppressed live recordings from its stage, but under the new management, many have suddenly appeared online at Real Rhapsody. They include a Dec., 1999 Tristan under James Levine with Ben Heppner and Jane Eaglen as the leads. It's a formidable performance, one of the very best since the Nilsson era. Unfortunately, Heppner's voice gives out three times in the final act, to painful effect. He and Eaglen are in fine voice otherwise, at least as good as in than on their DVD issue.

For all the fine performances and recordings of Wagner's masterpiece opera TRISTAN UND ISOLDE that have mesmerized audiences for years few are as consistently satisfying as this sumptuous version. Though Wagnerites from Shaw onward have found pleasure in dissecting this opera and performances, capitalizing on the myths of how the role of Tristan has driven most tenors mad, that it is nearly impossible to 'match' the perfect Isolde with an equally perfect Tristan, that the star is either the orchestra or the singers, et cetera ad infinitum, few can deny the fact that this opera contains the most magnificent musical passages ever created.

The crowning achievement by EMI Classics was to record 'Tristan und Isolde' in the studio perfect acoustic, taking many days to rehearse and record in sections, allowing the singers time for recuperation between the taxing passages so that the final result is the best of the takes, and most important to record for posterity the Tristan of Placido Domingo. Domingo is one of the most intelligent musicians to grace the opera stages in years and he possesses a huge tenor voice more Italianate than Germanic (a timbre Wagner is said to have dreamed for his Tristan), a voice he has used wisely to survey a huge variety of roles, a voice that he has saved so that in his 60s he still has a blossom to his vocal production that is the imitated envy of many of today's young gifted tenors. Here he crowns his extraordinary career with a Tristan that is one for the ages - perfectly sung, infused with emotion and mystery, a magnificent achievement well worth waiting for.

The pacing of the orchestral portions so important to this opera is in the capable hands of Antonio Pappano conducting the Royal Opera House, Covent Garden Orchestra and Chorus. The sound is rich and full and sweeping and in perfect balance with the singers: Pappano wisely knows when Wagner wanted the orchestra to swell and sing in equal passion with his lovers and also when to retreat into the atmosphere that surrounds this love mystery.

Nina Stemme is a young heroic soprano with a beautifully formed and projected lush voice than can sail over the huge Wagner orchestra with ease. She is never less than extraordinary and partners Domingo perfectly, especially in the all-important Act II Love Duet. And when it comes to her moment of majesty in the 'Liebestod' that brings this passionate story to a close, she is staggeringly sensitive and fills the room with ravishing singing.

The cast is for the most part first rate (this reviewer for one loves the addition of Ian Bostridge and Rolando Villazon to the small roles, an homage to Domingo's stature), with special kudos to Rene Pape as King Mark. The only weak member is Mihoko Fujimura as Brangane: with the current plethora of dazzlingly gifted mezzo-sopranos available one wonders why this quasi-mezzo of a fairly weak vocal production and acting skills was selected.
But that is a minor flaw in what is one of the most moving TRISTAN UND ISOLDE recordings available. This is one of those reocordings that is not only historically significant but also deserves a place in those special recordings for that fabled desert isle escape! Grady Harp, September 05

My personal preference "Tristan und Isolde" , like so many others, is the famous '60s Bayreuth recording conducted by Karl Bohm with the unstoppable Birgit Nilsson and a gratifyingly musical Wolfgang Windgassen, along with Christa Ludwig, Eberhard Wachter, and Martti Talvela. In other words, the sixties "A List". It is a performance that is simply mesmerizing in such a way that it has enthralled Wagner devotees now for over four decades, with no sign of its' legions diminishing. What is even more important about this recording is that the male lead, Wolfgang Windgassen, is an artist, whatever his virtues might be, who was never ordained vocally to sing the Wagnerian tenor roles he specialized in for over two decades. It is as good an example as one can make that an intelligent singer can sing for a very long time, even in a repertoire he wasn't exactly born to do. Windgassen, it seems to me, had the rare gift of being absolutely objective about his limitations, and by finding a way to sing this difficult music without ever overstepping those limitations, enjoyed a long, successful and I am sure gratifying career.

And this brings one to the Tristan on this present recording. Placido Domingo, it seems to me, truly understands his voice, its' strengths as well as its' limitations, and has seldom been tempted to step outside the boundaries he has set for himself. The reward for doing that is a career that is now in excess of four decades. FOUR DECADES! It boggles the mind.

And what is the downside of this rare intelligence? Well, it is obvious. There are certain roles he would probably have loved to sing that he simply felt were not wise for him to do. At least on stage. One of them, I am quite sure, was Tristan. I am sure he could have done the role on stage. I am equally sure it would have taken its' toll, as it almost invariably does. Domingo withstood the temptation.

And now, in the twilight of his career, he offers us a recorded Tristan that is really quite remarkable. He retains a great deal of the beauty his voice had when we all sat up and took notice of him 30 or more years ago. His vocal line is intact. The role, though relentless, is not high, which allows Domingo to avoid the precarious high notes any tenor in his mid-60s might be concerned about. And, of course, it allows him to sing a roll that concentrates its' range in that part of Domingo's voice that still works beautifully. So, here we have a Tristan sung very well, perhaps even the best ever recorded, at least in stereo. That said, Domingo doesn't quite portray the anguish required in Act Three. In fact, at least to me, he sounds just a bit light of voice, if you can imagine, in the final pages of his role. I think for a tenor to really pull off Act Three he needs stage experience in the roll. Listen to Windgassen. Or even the great Jon Vickers in the Karajan set. They have that extra something here which actual on stage performance gives.

Nina Stemme is quite fine here as Isolde. Admittedly, it is not possible for me to tell if she has been abetted by the recording engineers. I can only go by what I hear, and I hear a very fine artist taking measure of a difficult role, and, on all counts, equitting herself well. If this recording is any evidence, she should have a fine career ahead of her.

The rest of the cast is first rate. Pappano's conducting and the Covent Garden forces playing can not be faulted.

I found the digital recording, a first for "Tristan und Isolde", to be outstanding. It is very wide ranging, and I imagine fairs best on sound systems that are up to the digital demands of today.

This is not, as I have said, the first "Tristan" to be added to my collection. And it is certainly not the only "Tristan" in my collection. But it holds a very special spot in my collection, and I am thrilled to have it.

Allow me to say this out loud, because after many years waiting for Mr Domingo to record this opera I think I deserve this.
As for this recording I have to say that is very good, not excellent, but good. My main objection is for the orchestra, specially on the first act and the prelude. To me it would have been better if there would be more tension. Sometimes the orchestra sounds too English and, although that is not bad for another kind of opera, seems something bad for this one in particular. Several reviewers have written about the wonderful recording by Karl Böhn at the Bayreuth Festival, and I admit it is one of my favourites but as usual we , opera lovers are always so picky that perhaps it is better not to pay us attention. Domingo, in my humble opinion gives more humanity than Windgassen, who although wonderful sometimes is like a force of nature out of control, when it is not the moment.
This said I think that the best of this recording it is the second act, which it was not my favourite until now. Domingo and Stemme make a wonderful creation of these two lovers who curse the day and embrace the night to live their illicit affair. I think is abolutely delightful listening them. Domingo shows again that a good opera singer must be also a good actor. His Tristan is full of guilty , and hope and passion. sometimes acting like a teenager in love and sometimes cursing that this love for Isolde means to betray his own personal ethics. Isolde, by a good Nina Stemme, makes the perfect counterpoint. Her Isolde I think, gets perfectly well the anger she feels for not being able to controll her life and be always forced to live it in the way others want.
As for the rest of the cast I have to say that Kurwenal it is the one that suprises most. Olaf Baer it is a very heroic Kurwenal, and I know that many have criticised his performance but I think he plays a convincing hero's friend. And also Rolando Villazon, and exceptional singer , who although singing a minor role I think shows all his potential and brilliance.
I have to say that after years of waiting the result is perfect, up to my expectations and beyond and I think it is a basic one in any opera's lover collection

When I first read EMI was about to release TRISTAN UND ISOLDE with Domingo, I could not believe my eyes... but then I started to curse the "Discographical Industry" because the year before, Voigt recorded a most ugly Tristan with MOSER, and seeing that URMANA did not figure in the credits of this TRISTAN, I was wondering who was going to sing Domingo's Isolde.
Then I listened STEMME, and I became a grateful person to EMI. STEME has nothing to envy MEIER nor VOIGT, nor URMANA. Nina sings a great Isolde (and a very modern one, let me say it) She is a very good, almost excellent (not perfect) Isolde, with a warm timbre and a full bodied voice.
Fujimura is a nice Branganne, but indeed she is not as good as Stemme is Isolde. Bar sings nicely, much better than Weber (Voigt's Kurwenal). The rest of the cast is great: Pape's Marke, Bostridge's Hirt, Villazon's Seeman, and it goes on and on Holt's Melot and Rose Steuerman. The sound is another hit: EMI's producers and TONEMEISTERS did their best and achieved it.
Now on Domingo... you won't believe that a 64 year old man is capable to sing this much young and heroic Tristan... and the most demanding third act complete!
I will have to agree with the rewiewer who wrote that the second act love duet is not at the same level that the rest of the opera is... (in fact, Domingo had actually recorded that duet, in a much better manner, much sweeter, much more lyrical way, a few years before with Voigt, and with the same conductor) I think Pappano should be blamed for that... but then it came to me: this is a MODERN, CONTEMPORARY Tristan, so it must have its own beauties as well as its own standards.
Of course, I must confess I missed Vickers, Melchior, Suthaus... and NILSSON, FLAGSTAD/SCHWArTZKOPF, Meier, Voigt... but THIS is a TRISTAN that's worthy on its own and not merely because it's Domingo's Tritan.
Buy it, you won't regret it.
PS: Domingo's fans shouldn't be missing this recording!!!!!

Look, you should own the Furtwangler/Flagstad Tristan. And you should hear Flagstad and Melchior sing those horribly abridged, poorly recorded old productions. Having said this, all things considered, this is THE Tristan to live with, sonically gorgeous, every part impeccably cast down to the STEERSMAN for goodness sake (who can bear King Marke after the love duet?-you will, when Rene Pape sings!). Domingo is wonderful and Stemme is every bit as good. The Brangane is absolutely ravishing. No Bayreuth bark here, no deafening Teutonic orchestral playing where you can't distinguish a french horn from a viola, JUST BEAUTIFUL PLAYING AND SINGING. Pappano deserves very high praise. I feel sorry for you if you're such an indoctrinated fuddy-dubby snob as to miss all the wonderful things in this recording.