Anja Kampe and Simon O’Neill as the title roles in Wagner’s ‘Tristan und Isolde’
San Francisco Opera presents one of the most significant works in the repertoire – Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde – for the first time in 18 years. The opera features well-known Wagnerian interpreters Simon O’Neill and Anja Kampe in the title roles, and Kwangchul Youn as King Marke. Isolde’s confidant, Brangäne, is sung by Annika Schlicht, and Wolfgang Koch makes his Company debut as Tristan’s attendant, Kurwenal.
Originally created by Teatro La Fenice Venice in 2012, this production is directed by Paul Curran who also directed the Venetian production, and who makes his debut with San Francisco Opera.
Anja Kampe as Isolde and Simon O’Neill as Tristan
The conductor is Music Director Eun Sun Kim, who continues her journey through Wagner’s operas.
Wagner completed the score of this three-act opera in 1859, and also wrote the libretto, but it wasn’t premiered until June 10th, 1865, due to the complexity of the music and the scale of the work. There were even those who said it was unperformable. Wagner himself described it as “the most audacious and original work of my life”.
Annika Schlicht as Brangäne
Tristan und Isolde, a romantic tragedy of love and death, is based on a medieval legend which tells of Isolde who has been captured by Tristan, and who is taking her by ship to his uncle, King Marke of Cornwall, whom she is to marry. She is in love with Tristan, and he with her, and when land is sighted, she sends for him, intending for both of them to drink a poisoned potion. Her maid, Brandäne, replaces the intended poison with a love potion, and Isolde and Tristan drink, each expecting to die. Instead, the two suddenly discover not death but love.
Simon O’Neill as Tristan and Anja Kampe as Isolde, with Annika Schlicht as Brangane looking on
Later, they meet in the grounds of the King’s castle, while the King is on a hunting trip, but he returns and discovers the lovers. In the ensuing battle, Tristan is fatally wounded. He is banished to his castle in Brittany, and when Isolde finally arrives, he dies in her arms. King Marke arrives in Brittany to pardon Isolde and deliver the news to Tristan, but in Isolde’s song of farewell to Tristan, she sees him transfigured, and the two lovers are united in death.
Anja Kampe as Isolde and Simon O’Neill as Tristan
New Zealand tenor Simon O’Neill starred in the title role in Wagner’s Lohengrin with San Francisco Opera last season. He has most recently appeared with the Finnish National Opera and Ballet in Helsinki in Mahler’s Symphony No 8, with the Sofia Opera and Ballet in the title role of Lohengrin, as Tristan in Tristan und Isolde with the Auckland Philharmonia, and with the NDR Elbphilharmonie Orchester as Waldemar in Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder in Hamburg and at the Lucerne Festival. A former Merola Opera Program participant, Simon O’Neill is today recognised as one of the world’s leading heldentenors – tenors who regularly perform the heroic roles in Wagner’s operas which require extraordinary endurance, range and artistry.
Anja Kampe as Isolde and Simon O’Neill as Tristan
German soprano Anja Kampe made her San Francisco Opera debut in 2011 as Sieglinde in Wagner’s Die Walküre. She has performed the role of Isolde with the Vienna State Opera, Bavarian State Opera in Munich, State Opera in Berlin and at Teatro Colón in Buenos Aires. This season she will appear as Brünnhilde in concert performances of Die Walküre with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra, in the role of the Primadonna in Richard Strauss’s Ariadne auf Naxos at Hamburg State Opera, as Ortrude in Wagner’s Lohengrin at Semperoper Dresden, and as Isolde with Monte-Carlo Opera.
Kwangchul Youn as King Marke and Simon O”Neill as Tristan
Korean bass Kwangchul Youn takes the role of King Marke. Youn first appeared with San Francisco Opera last summer as Sarastro in Mozart’s The Magic Flute. As a celebrated interpreter of the Wagnerian repertoire, he has performed in a number of seasons at the Festspielhaus in Bayreuth, and – as well as performing the baritone in Beethoven’s Symphony No 9 with San Francisco Opera later this month – is due to appear as Fafner in Siegfried at Vienna State Opera, as Hunding in Die Walküre, as Fafner in Das Rheingold, and as Gurnemanz in Parsifal at Hamburg State Opera.
Annika Schlicht as Brangäne
German mezzo-soprano Annika Schlicht makes her US opera debut in these performances of Tristan und Isolde. She recently performed Brangäne with Deutsche Oper Berlin and Waltraute in Wagner’s Götterdämmerung with Deutsche Oper Berlin. This season she will also appear with San Francisco Opera in the mezzo-soprano role in Beethoven’s Symphony No 9, will appear as the Second lady in Mozart’s Die Zauberflöte with Deutsche Oper Berlin and as the soloist in Parać’s Judita with the Münchner Rundfunkorchester.
Wolfgang Koch as Kurwenal
Bass-baritone Wolfgang Koch makes his San Francisco Opera debut as Tristan’s attendant, Kurwenal. His repertoire includes the great baritone roles of the German and Italian repertoire, such as Wotan in Der Ring des Nibelungen which he sang at the Bayreuth Festival and in Munich, and Hans Sachs in Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg at the Munich Opera Festival. This season he will sing the role of Borromeo in Pfitzner’s Palestrina at Vienna State Opera and Alfio in Mascagni’s Cavalleria Rusticana at Bavarian State Opera.
Also in the cast are tenor Christopher Oglesby, singing the dual roles of a Sailor in Act I and the Shepherd in Act III, and current San Francisco Opera Adler Fellows Thomas Kinch and Samuel Kidd singing Melot and the Steersman, respectively.
Simon O’Neill as Tristan and Anja Kampe as Isolde
Robert Innes Hopkins, well known to San Francisco Opera audiences for his sets and costumes for recent stagings of Puccini’s Tosca, Verdi’s La Traviata, and last season’s L’Elisir d’Amore by Donizetti, is the production designer, and David Martin Jacques, in his first time with the Company, is lighting designer.
Eun Sun Kim leads the San Francisco Opera Orchestra and the San Francisco Opera Chorus (Director John Keene) in five performances of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde between October 19th and November 5th. The opera is sung in German with English supertitles.
The performance on Sunday, October 27 will be live-streamed at 1.00 pm PT, and the opera will also be available to watch on demand for 48 hours beginning on Monday, October 28 at 10.00 am PT. Tickets for the livestream and limited on-demand viewing, are available on this link. Ticketing and more information on performances are available on the San Francisco Opera website.
The Company also announces the release of a new film, Eun Sun Kim: A Journey Into Lohengrin, which took place on October 9. It takes viewers backstage during rehearsals for the Company’s 2023 performances of Wagner’s Lohengrin led by Maestro Kim. This film is also available for free streaming at sfopera.com and on YouTube.
All photos © Cory Weaver/San Francisco Opera
Information sourced from:
San Francisco Opera program notes
Tristan und Isolde
Artists’ websites
Leave a Reply