Staging Wagner’s operatic masterpiece Tristan und Isolde is a daunting task at first glance. It is therefore, a pleasant surprise to hear a chamber arrangement of this score at the Arcola Theatre, where Wagner’s tale of desire and yearning can be experienced in an intimate setting. British soprano Elizabeth Findon won over the audience with her powerfully dramatic portrayal of Isolde. However, it is regrettable that this production contributes very little to the interpretation of the classic, remaining in the comfort zone of simply recounting the plot.
Act I centres on the Irish princess Isolde’s inner struggle when she realises her love for her enemy Tristan, a Cornish knight who killed her husband Morold on the battlefield. Instead of taking revenge on Morold, Isolde falls in love with Tristan and heals his wound. When Tristan presents her to his uncle, King Marke, as a potential bride, she suffers from self-loathing and the bitterness of unrequited love. Elizabeth Findon’s Isolde is proud and dangerous, transforming her pain and bitterness into an almost destructive force, urging Tristan to respond. Furious and flirtatious, she dares Tristan to drink what she believes is a death potion, which instead turns out to be a love potion.
However, Brian Smith Walters’ Tristan lacks the subtle emotional expression needed to balance Isolde’s magnetism. Although their Act II duet is musically magnificent and solidly enacted, the absence of clear character development results in a very unconvincing climax when Tristan is confronted by King Marke about his affair with Isolde. To our confusion, the couple who has risked their reputation and lives to remain faithful to their love now weep in humiliation and guilt. In the programme, Tristan’s reaction to Marke’s disappointment is described as “embarrassed”, a choice that risks reducing Tristan und Isolde, a philosophical inquiry into love and death, to the tone of a conventional adultery drama.
Lighting is the only element that enlivens the stage. The set design is not so much realistic as explanatory, and while one can find a few interesting ideas in the director Guido Martin-Brandis’s programme notes, its execution is barely noticeable in the actual staging of Tristan und Isolde at the Arcola Theatre.
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