| Artist | Title | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|---|
| Gerard McBurney | Beyond the Score: Gerard McBurney on Tristan and Isolde | Chicago Symphony Orchestra | |
| Ernest Newman | Beyond the Score: Gerard McBurney on Tristan and Isolde | Columbia abridged Bayreuth set (Mats. WAX 4276/7). | Columbia |
| Kaimbacher, Alexander; Huckle, John Paul; Gallo, Tamaro; Davis, Brian; Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra; Song, Juyeon; Smith, Roy Cornelius; Ostrava Opera Men’s Chorus; Reimer, Robert; Zubkevich, Siarhei | TRISTAN AND ISOLDE | Wagner: Tristan und Isolde | Navona |
|
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde Part II |
|
| Composer(s): | Wagner, Richard |
| Artist(s): | Kaimbacher, Alexander; Huckle, John Paul; Gallo, Tamaro; Davis, Brian; Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra; Song, Juyeon; Smith, Roy Cornelius; Ostrava Opera Men’s Chorus; Reimer, Robert; Zubkevich, Siarhei |
| Label: | NAVONA (November 2020) |
The Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra stuns with a new recording of Richard Wagner's three-act opera TRISTAN AND ISOLDE. Skillfully conducted by German conductor Robert Reimer, this new, vibrant performance is likely to claim its place as one of the reference recordings of Wagner's innovative work. As novel as the opera was in its time, it didn't go down well with all of the composer's contemporaries. Rossini quipped that while Tristan had great moments, it also had terrible quarter-hours. Worse yet, the author of Wagner's main inspiration was even less impressed: Arthur Schopenhauer, the ingenious German philosopher whose stoic advice to rebuff the animalic Will to Live for happiness's sake underpins large parts of the opera, sided with Rossini (incidentally the thinker's favorite composer). Unluckily for Wagner, it was impossible to discredit Schopenhauer's opinion as that of an amateur: the philosopher played the flute with virtuosic skill, understood music like few others, placed it at the top of all art forms in his philosophy, and justly became a favorite among musicians for his perspicacious assertion that music was one of the few things in which the essence of Being could very briefly be perceived, even if doing so wasn't possible otherwise. Modern-day Wagnerians will be happy to hear that conductor Robert Reimer and the Janácek Philharmonic Orchestra have a more favorable opinion of Wagner, performing the volatile composer's opera with great verve and conviction. It's a splendid pairing to be sure: a much sought-after conductor familiar with orchestras all across Europe, and a wonderful ensemble to do his bidding. This arrangement works to the favor of everyone involved. Some might wish this recording had existed 160 years ago.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uYVfzSLF6pI
“Tristan und Isolde” by Richard Wagner
“The Motives and their Function in the Opera,
Explained and Illustrated by Ernest Newman”
Recorded in 1928 and included in the Columbia abridged Bayreuth set (Mats. WAX 4276/7).
The notated examples are taken from the English National Opera Guide to “Tristan and Isolde” (Opera Guide No. 6). They don’t always precisely match Newman’s illustrations as he plays them.