The Irish princess Isolde is promised to King Marke of Cornwall. Together with her handmaiden Brangäne, she is escorted across the sea by the knight Tristan. Isolde’s lethal poison meant for Tristan is replaced with a love potion, and their passion leads them along a path to tragedy.
A variation on the Celtic legend of Tristan and Iseult, Wagner described the work not as an opera, but a drama – and ‘the most audacious and original work of my life’. Tristan und Isolde was enormously influential, and today is widely regarded as one of the greatest works in musical repertoire.
LEE BISSET IS REVELATORY, HER RICH AND LUMINOUS SOUND IDEALLY SUITED TO WAGNER, AND ALWAYS COMPELLING
The Guardian
In this revival of our 2015 production, described by the New York Times as ‘a shattering success’, soprano Lee Bisset’s ‘passionate radiance of tone’ (Opera Magazine) joins the ‘heroic yet lyrical’ (The Times) tenor Peter Wedd – bringing to life this tale of tragic passion that through immortal music shows love as a force of nature.
CONDUCTOR ANTHONY NEGUS HAS CONSISTENTLY BEEN THE HERO OF LONGBOROUGH’S WAGNER CYCLE, AND HERE HIS LIFETIME OF IMMERSION IN THE MUSIC VINDICATES HIM ONCE AGAIN.
The Telegraph
*Longborough’s 2015 staging of Tristan und Isolde allowed us to present a fresh approach to this most dramatic of Wagner’s operas. For 2017 the production returns, although it will not include the dancers who originally reflected the alter egos of the main characters.
