Wagner: Tristan und Isolde

Disc 1
1	Tristan und Isolde, opera
2	Tristan und Isolde, opera
3	Tristan und Isolde, opera
4	Tristan und Isolde, opera
5	Tristan und Isolde, opera
6	Tristan und Isolde, opera
7	Tristan und Isolde, opera
Disc 2
1	Tristan und Isolde, opera
2	Tristan und Isolde, opera
3	Tristan und Isolde, opera
4	Tristan und Isolde, opera
5	Tristan und Isolde, opera
6	Tristan und Isolde, opera
7	Tristan und Isolde, opera
8	Tristan und Isolde, opera
9	Tristan und Isolde, opera
10	Tristan und Isolde, opera
11	Tristan und Isolde, opera
Disc 3
1	Tristan und Isolde, opera
2	Tristan und Isolde, opera
3	Tristan und Isolde, opera
4	Tristan und Isolde, opera
5	Tristan und Isolde, opera
6	Tristan und Isolde, opera
7	Tristan und Isolde, opera
8	Tristan und Isolde, opera
9	Tristan und Isolde, opera
10	Tristan und Isolde, opera
11	Tristan und Isolde, opera
Wagner: Tristan und Isolde
1.	Tristan und Isolde, opera, WWV 90 3:54:50
	Composed by Richard Wagner
	Performed by Robert Holl, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Petra Lang, Thomas Moser, Vienna State Opera Orchestra, Michael Roider, Deborah Voigt, Peter Weber, John Dickie, Ernst Dunshirn, Vienna State Opera Chorus, Markus Nieminen and In-Sung Sim
	Conducted by Christian Thielemann

Barnes & Noble

Expectation is a key emotion in Wagner's Tristan und Isolde; the famous "Tristan" chord, first heard in the orchestral Prelude, exemplifies this overwhelming feeling of expectant longing and the intense need for release and resolution. "Expectation" is also the term to describe how Wagner devotees have awaited the appearance of a soprano able to handle Isolde's incredible technical and musical demands. This recording, made live at the Vienna State Opera in May 2003, documents the highly anticipated debut of Deborah Voigt in the role. Widely acclaimed for her Strauss, Voigt takes Isolde in stride with a portrayal that is striking for its sheer vocal beauty. Never pushed or strident, Voigt makes Isolde a more vulnerable creature than one usually encounters. Thomas Moser is an admirable Tristan, too. He barks far less than most tenors, and this makes his singing in the Act Two Love Duet particularly successful. Perhaps the most commanding figure on this recording is conductor Christian Thielemann. His emphatic style will not be to everyone's taste, but the Vienna State Opera Orchestra plays brilliantly and expressively under his direction, and he paces this expansive music drama with a sure hand. Indeed, the entire score fits handily on to three CDs -- one per act. The recording features the orchestra front and center, and occasionally the voices are overwhelmed. There's quite a bit of stage noise, too, but these are minor flaws in an otherwise exemplary set. One hopes Voigt will get a chance to revisit Isolde again, once she's settled into the role; certainly, several years of performance experience can only deepen her interpretation. In the meantime, though, this should satisfy those Wagnerites who have been expectantly awaiting the arrival of a real Wagnerian soprano. Andrew Farach-Colton

All Music Guide

In a century of recording, Deutsche Grammophon has recorded Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde" three times. The first was a live recording spliced together from separate performances at the Bayreuth Festival in August 1966 with Karl Böhm conducting and Wolfgang Windgassen and Brigitte Nielsen in the title roles. The second was a studio recording from 1982 with Carlos Kleiber conducting the Dresden Staatskapelle and Rene Kolo and Margaret Price in the title roles. Both were then and remain now among the greatest recordings of the work and anyone who loves the ecstatic rapture of Wagner's hymn to love and death will love those performances.

Deutsches Grammophon's third recording of "Tristan" is this live recording from May 2003 with Christian Thielemann conducting the Vienna State Opera Chorus & Orchestra and Thomas Moser and Deborah Voigt in the title roles. Thielemann is an intense young man with a distinctive interpretive style and Moser and Voigt are the best of the younger generation of Wagnerian tenors and sopranos. But as much as one longs to embrace this "Tristan," it is not possible. There are great moments and they are the big moments -- the drinking of the potion in Act One, the thwarted climax in Act Two, and the "Liebestod" of Act Three -- but too much of the performance goes nowhere and does nothing. After a lackluster Prelude, Act One meanders along with Voigt screaming up a storm but signifying nothing. After a restrained Prelude, Act Three rambles through the love duet with Moser and Voigt, but doesn't get to the point until it is too late to do anything about it. After a reserved Prelude, Act Three grumbles along with Moser mumbling until he comes alive only to die. Stick with Böhm or Kleiber. James Leonard

New York Times

This is a gripping and affecting account, blazingly conducted by Christian Thielemann, with the soprano Deborah Voigt in her first stage performance of Isolde, the tenor Thomas Moser as Tristan and a solid supporting cast.... In the right work, when Mr. Thielemann is on, he is hard to top. This is the right work, and is he ever on.... Ms. Voigt makes an ideal fit in Mr. Thielemann's conception.... Her radiant power, subtle shadings and Apollonian approach are deeply moving. Anthony Tommasini

Time Out New York

Conductor Christian Thielemann brings out all the nightmarish danger of Wagner's drama.... [Deborah Voigt's] youthful sound is moving in itself, and the beauty of her soft singing...is enrapturing. She and Thielemann work magic in Isolde's Liebestod. Marion Lignana Rosenberg