Opera Reviews
29 March 2024
Untitled Document

An interesting and successful experiment



by Moore Parker
after Wagner: Tristan Experiment
Wiener Kammeroper

22 June 2021
Christiane Kaiser (Isolde), Norbert Ernst (Tristan)

The well-chosen title, Tristan Experiment, shrink-wraps Wagner’s mammoth masterpiece into an intimate chamber setting with a pared-down orchestra of 22 (and featuring an accordion), succinctly arranged by Matthias Wegele. 

Günther Groissböck - more familiar for his Baron Ochs, Kezal or a gamut of Wagnerian figures - is here undertaking his first project as Stage Director. He, together with conductor Hartmut Keil, re-worked Wagner’s original - cutting sizeable segments of the score (together with smaller supporting roles and chorus) and splicing Act 1’s potion-taking scene with Act 2’s great love duet - while compacting the entire running time to around two and a half hours in total. Following the interval, Wagner’s 3rd Act sees opening cuts with the action beginning as Kurwenal tends his ailing lord.

The Wiener KammerOrchester sits in an almost cavernous pit which undoubtedly helps the acoustic blend - as does indeed the tapered funnel-like set (Stefanie Seitz) which well-projects the protagonists’ voices into an auditorium currently accommodating just under 200 visitors (under current Covid-19 regulations).  

Act 1’s prelude sees the two romantic leads (in white hospital attire) led into a laboratory where they are subjected to a combined experiment by a Medic (alias König Marke). A kaleidoscope of psychedelic video effects leaves no doubt as to the initial spark which unites the two characters. 

Isolde is left to her fate and interaction with Brangäne in Act 1, which culminates with Tristan’s return and the sharing of the magic potion (here in blood drawn using a writing quill - a prop which subsequently becomes a feature in scenes to follow) - followed by an orchestral bridge which sees the two leads newly represented as Wagner himself and his beloved Mathilde Wesendonck for Act 2’s great duet. This scene oddly finds the couple mostly separated left and right of the proscenium, and pre-occupied by mutual note-taking (correspondence/composition) - documentation which later plays into the drama with Marke and Kurwenal.

The final act (in which the opening has been cut) returns to the laboratory setting and garb for Tristan, but with Isolde returning in Wesendonck’s 19th century attire for her farewell.  

The one-set production lives more from from it’s imaginative lighting (Franz Tscheck) and clever video design (Philipp Batereau) than character interaction - despite individually-focused portrayals in all quarters. 

Apart from Groissböck, the remaining leads are new to their respective parts. 

The Vienna-born tenor, Norbert Ernst, is well-established here in familiar character roles such as Aegisth, Herod and Loge. He has, though, also undertaken Erik in Der fliegender Holländer, as well as Lohengrin and Florestan further afield. This production has proven to be a showcase option with his rock-solid technique, judicious pacing, and an acute sense of word and vocal-colouring making Tristan’s gruelling final scene the highlight of the evening. 

Christiane Kaiser’s Isolde proved a fine vocal foil to her stage lover, winning in presence, displaying superb articulation, and convincing in play and demeanour - while, nevertheless, revealing certain vocal duress on occasions.

Juliette Mars presented a rather straight-laced Brangäne, while Kristján Jóhannesson’s steely baritone (Kurwenal and Melot) well-competed with the stentorian outpourings of his more senior bass colleague. Jóhannesson is a member of the Young Singers’ Ensemble at Theater an der Wien and shows promising, if somewhat-unpolished, talent.

As König Marke, Günther Groissböck brought more edge and bite to the role in comparison with some more-rounded, sympathetic, predecessors. In a sense, here more the cold-blooded scientist than the sage King Mark of Cornwall.

Hartmut Keil enjoys a close association with the Bayreuth Festival, and was acclaimed 2019’s “Conductor of the Year” in the journal Opernwelt following his success at Bremen’s production of Anton Berg’s Lulu. His stage to pit co-ordination was flawless on this evening, and the surprising palette of dynamics and emotion drawn from the modest ensemble was impressive - lacking only in the sheer depth of texture and weight of a traditional full-sized Wagnerian line-up.

A sold-out run (together with this added performance) makes this Tristan an interesting experiment (if one somewhat raw and not completely convincing) - and an unquestionable success for the Theater an der Wien/Kammeroper company.

Text © Moore Parker
Photo © Herwig Prammer
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