tristanundisolde

When you decide to try something new, you might as well go all the way. That's what Katy was thinking when she bought opera tickets for the first time ever, and that the opera was by Wagner. Tiffany (who has a bit more experience with opera) was, understandably, concerned. Will Katy adore it? Will she detest it? Will Seattle Opera's new production of Tristan und Isolde turn Katy into an opera-lover? You'll have to listen to find out. 

Hear reaction from before, during, and after Katy's opera adventure on this week's episode. 

What new thing will you try this year?  Tell us about it here.

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Seattle Opera subscriber Dr. Chris Rebholz, a practicing Buddhist, discusses Wagner’s Tristan with Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean. Fascinated by Buddhism when he wrote Tristan und Isolde, Wagner created an opera all about compassion, karma, desire, enlightenment, and the difficulty of reconciling both conventional and ultimate reality (aka “Day vs. Night”). Dr. Rebholz teaches adult classes on Buddhism at Seattle’s Sakya Monastery of Tibetan Buddhism. A clinical and forensic psychologist, in private practice, who specializes in evaluating neurodiverse adults for healthcare and the courts, she teaches corporate seminars on neurodiversity as well as continuing legal education on issues of mental health and the law. Musical examples from Seattle Opera’s 2022 Tristan und Isolde starring Mary Elizabeth Williams, Ryan McKinney, and Amber Wagner and conducted by Jordan de Souza.

American soprano Mary Elizabeth Williams, beloved in Seattle for performances such as Tosca, Abigaille in NABUCCO, and Serena in PORGY AND BESS, just made her role debut as Isolde, the first time she’s ever sung a Wagner opera. She discussed the character, the singing, and her two-and-a-half year journey towards this achievement with Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean. This podcast features clips of Williams singing Tosca (conducted by Julian Kovatchev) and “Pace, pace, mio Dio” from LA FORZA DEL DESTINO (conducted by Carlo Montanaro), as well as Amber Wagner singing Brangäne in TRISTAN (conducted by Jordan de Souza).

Annegret Oehme, Associate Professor of German Studies at the University of Washington, discusses TRISTAN UND ISOLDE with Jonathan Dean. Wagner’s inspiration for this amazing opera was the 12th century poem by Gottfried von Straßburg, a classic of medieval German literature. Wagner built on Gottfried’s timeless tale of impossible, frenzied love: some elements (such as the love potion) he transposes directly into opera, others he discards (the fight with the dragon), others he repurposes (the white and black flags). Minnelied example courtesy of Studio der Frühen Musik. Special thanks to Meg Stolz and Dennis Robinson, Jr.

Wagner’s revolutionary masterpiece, often considered the most Romantic opera ever written, returns to Seattle Opera in October 2022. Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean introduces Tristan und Isolde, with musical examples from Seattle Opera’s 1998 (starring Jane Eaglen, Ben Heppner, and Michelle DeYoung, conducted by Armin Jordan) and 2010 (conducted by Asher Fisch, with Simeon Esper as the Shepherd and the English Horn solo played by Stefan Farkas) productions, plus 2011 Die Zauberflöte  (conducted by Gary Thor Wedow and starring Philip Cutlip).

General Director Christina Scheppelmann announces Seattle Opera's 2022/23 season, including the great singers who will be coming to Seattle and an exciting lineup of operas: Donizetti's Elixir of Love, Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, Saint-Saëns’ Samson and Delilah, Verdi's La traviata, and the world premiere of A Thousand Splendid Suns by Sheila Silver and Stephen Kitsakos, based on the novel by Khaled Hosseini.

Seattle Opera General Director Christina Scheppelmann spoke with soprano Jane Eaglen when “Seattle Opera Mornings on KING FM” played TRISTAN UND ISOLDE, a 1998 production that featured role debuts for both Eaglen (as Isolde) and Ben Heppner (as Tristan). Eaglen describes that eventful summer, what it’s like to sing the Liebestod from Isolde’s point of view, and the importance of a prompter!

In this series of podcasts, Seattle Opera Dramaturg Jonathan Dean gives listeners a taste of nine different types of traditional opera. Music Drama was the personal solution to the problems of presenting opera in nineteenth-century Europe developed by composer/librettist Richard Wagner, opera’s ultimate mad genius. These long, loud, big works challenge artists, audiences, and the art form itself. Their complex music and unique spins on old stories continue to attract, repel, and provoke all who encounter them. Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde (1865) serves as an example of the genre, as does the Richard Strauss opera Elektra (1909).

Musical examples on this podcast drawn from Seattle Opera productions of Lohengrin 1994, conducted by Hermann Michael; Parsifal 2003, conducted by Asher Fisch and starring Stephen Milling; Die Walküre, conducted by Robert Spano, 2005 (starring Jane Eaglen) and 2009; Siegfried, 2013, conducted by Asher Fisch; and Tristan und Isolde (1998, conducted by Armin Jordan and starring Jane Eaglen and Ben Heppner; 2010, conducted by Asher Fisch; opening and English horn solo from the 1966 Bayreuth Festival recording conducted by Karl Böhm; conclusion of Beethoven’s Fifth Symphony, Berlin Philharmonic conducted by Karajan (Deutsche Gramophon 1977); Elektra, Astrid Varnay and Leonie Rysanek with the orchestra of West German Radio conducted by Richard Kraus (Melodram 1953).

Stay tuned for another podcast introducing another kind of opera next week!