Organization

Festival d'Aix en Provence

Singer

Baritone

Josef Wagner

Kurwenal

Tenor

Dominic Sedgwick

Melot

Linard Vrielink

A shepherd

Ivan Thirion

A steersman

Voice of a young sailor

Lighting designer

James Farncombe

Costume designer

Mel Page

Set designer

Ralph Myers

Stuart Skelton

Tristan

Soprano

Nina Stemme

Isolde

Mezzo-soprano

Jamie Barton

Brangaene

Stage director

Simon Stone

Conductor

Simon Rattle

Bass

Franz-Josef Selig

King Mark

Video designer

Luke Halls

Choreographer

Arco Renz

Chorus master

Lodewijk van der Ree

Costumes, additional creations

Blanca Aňón

Assistant to the Conductor

Gregor A. Mayrhofer

Vocal Coaches

Levi Hammer

Rupert Dussmann

Assistants to the Stage Director

Robin Ormond

Ewa Rucińska

Assistant to the Set Director

Assistante to the Costumes Designer

Angèle Mignot

Théâtres de la Ville de Luxembourg

Others

Chœur de Chambre Philharmonique Estonien

Orchestra

London Symphony Orchestra

German

Tristan und Isolde -  (Tristan and Isolde)

Aix-en-Provence

France

Richard Wagner feared that his Tristan and Isolde would drive people mad. Rare are indeed the works to reach such a level of audacity, beauty and complexity. From its prelude, Tristan and Isolde announces its revolutionary nature. Meeting with this lyrical monument at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

With Tristan and Isolde ,  Wagner sets one of the most famous love stories in Western culture to music. This Celtic legend of the twelfth century, with a tragic outcome, allows the German composer to weave a fresco where death and passion intertwine with great intensity.

If this work is so strong, it is undoubtedly because it was nourished by Wagner's own forbidden love. When he composed Tristan and Isolde , the composer was in fact burning with a platonic passion for Mathilde Wesendonck, the wife of his patron. 

This production of the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence is masterfully directed by Sir Simon Rattle , at the head of his faithfulLondon Symphony Orchestra . On stage, it is Stuart Skelton and Nina Stemme that we find in the title roles. Alongside them, Jamie Barton, Josef Wagner, Franz-Josef Selig, Dominic Sedgwick, Linard Vrielink, Ivan Thirion and the Estonian Philharmonic Chamber Choir evolve in a staging signed by Simon Stone .

Grand Théâtre de Provence

Honour called for a death potion; the subconscious responded with a love potion. And forbidden passion, repressed for so long, suddenly burst into the light, shattering all the barriers. Uncontrollable desire has never been expressed as powerfully as by Wagner in Tristan und Isolde, the most absolute representation of love-as-passion in the West. But is this perpetual devouring, which is as painful as it is orgasmic, a form of mystic knowledge or a dangerous illusion? For this sacred pair of lovers, dissolution into the eternal night seems like the only possible way out. Wagner feared that his opera would drive people insane; but for audience members immersed in the endless melody until the final climax, Tristan und Isolde offers a unique experience. And to do the smouldering content and the purity of the form justice, it takes the infinite talent of Sir Simon Rattle conducting the London Symphony Orchestra; Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton, the legendary artists in the title roles; and Simon Stone, the ideal director to reveal what a black sun signifies to today’s audience.

Tristan und Isolde Wagner,Richard

Public

Tristan and Isolde

French

English

Approved

Face-to-face with Sir Simon Rattle and Nina Stemme

Tête-à-tête avec Sir Simon Rattle et Nina Stemme

Richard Wagner feared that his Tristan and Isolde would drive people mad. Rare are indeed the works to reach such a level of audacity, beauty and complexity. From its prelude, Tristan and Isolde announces its revolutionary nature. Meeting with this lyrical monument at the Festival d'Aix-en-Provence.

With Tristan and Isolde ,  Wagner sets one of the most famous love stories in Western culture to music. This Celtic legend of the twelfth century, with a tragic outcome, allows the German composer to weave a fresco where death and passion intertwine with great intensity.

If this work is so strong, it is undoubtedly because it was nourished by Wagner's own forbidden love. When he composed Tristan and Isolde , the composer was in fact burning with a platonic passion for Mathilde Wesendonck, the wife of his patron.

Performance credits (Cast & Crew )

Cast

Crew

Ensemble

Co-Producer