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Boston Classical Review, April 6, 2018 |
By Aaron Keebaugh |
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Wagner: Konzert, Boston, 5. April 2018 (Tristan, 2. Akt) |
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Kaufmann makes an impressive Tristan debut with Nelsons, BSO
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Surprisingly, Wagner’s music has been rarely performed in Boston; but that
is beginning to change.
In late summer of 2016, Andris Nelsons pulled
out of the Bayreuth Festival due to disagreements over a controversial
staging of Wagner’s Parsifal. With more free time during the following
summer, he led the Boston Symphony Orchestra in a riveting concert
performance of Das Rheingold at Tanglewood. Thursday night at Symphony Hall,
Nelsons brought Wagner back to the city when he conducted the orchestra and
a starry lineup of singers in the second act of Tristan und Isolde.
The central act of Wagner’s resplendent music drama may not be the first
choice for many conductors as the first and third acts involve some of the
work’s more familiar music, such as the surging Prelude and Liebestod. But
Act 2 has many remarkable music as well, not least the Liebesnacht, a love
scene between Tristan and Isolde, which offers moments of searching beauty.
The Second Act opens with the titular characters already under the
influence of the love potion. Isolde, who was brought to Cornwall to marry
King Marke, waits for her beloved Tristan at nightfall. When the knight
arrives, the two declare their transcendent love for one another, cursing
the daylight for its cruel reality. But they are soon discovered. Marke and
the knight Melot return from a nighttime hunt, and, upon seeing the two in
each other’s arms, the king laments his betrayal. Tristan, ever devout,
offers himself as a sacrifice and asks Isolde if she will follow him in
death, foreshadowing the Liebestod of the final act. When Melot moves in to
attack, Tristan drops his sword and is mortally wounded.
Bringing
these characters to life musically was a fine cast of singers. Jonas
Kaufmann and Camilla Nylund were each making role debuts as the title doomed
lovers.
Both are prominent Wagnerians, having performed lead roles at
the Bayreuth Festival, the Metropolitan Opera and in many of Europe’s major
houses. And both, too, possess a warm tone that captured a sense of stirring
humanity in Wagner’s lush score. The Liebesnacht featured the two singers in
some of the most poignant moments of the evening as each delivered Wagner’s
soulful duet with soft yet radiant lines.
Kaufmann, who has drawn
critical acclaim for his performances of Parsifal at the Metropolitan Opera,
also sang with power and depth in the opening of the scene between the two
lovers. Bold and ringing clearly, his voice brought a genuine heldentenor
quality to the role.
In the portions of the act that demand powerful
singing, Nylund, unfortunately, had trouble filling the hall. Her voice is
rich and brilliant but it lacked the power and intensity to cut through
Wagner’s thick orchestration in her opening scene.
As Brangäne,
soprano Mihoko Fujimura, who also made her BSO debut, had a stellar evening.
Singing with a smooth yet penetrating voice that had just a hint of
darkness, Fujimura floated elegant passages from offstage in the character’s
night watch scene.
As King Marke, Georg Zeppenfeld sang with a
cavernous voice that brought just the right amount of sorrow to the
character. Andrew Rees as Melot and David Kravitz as Kurwenal sang their
brief parts with conviction.
Under Nelsons’ guide, the orchestra wove
a soft tapestry of sound in support of the singers. Nelsons’ tempos were
fleet in the opening scene, which brought urgency to the unfolding
narrative. The elixir motive, conjured in gentle, wafting phrases, haunted
the score like a ghost, reminding listeners that the two lovers are caught
in a spell.
The short opener, Wagner’s Siegfried Idyll, set the stage
for the drama to come. Written to celebrate the birthday of Wagner and
Cosima’s young son Siegfried, the work unfolds like a lullaby. Nelsons
coaxed lyrical playing that rarely rose above a whisper. At its most
delicate, Wagner’s music seemed to cut straight to the heart.
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