Michael Tanner

Wagner treat

Tristan und Isolde<br /> <em>Royal Festival Hall</em> Hänsel und Gretel second cast<br /> <em>Royal Opera House</em>

issue 03 January 2009

Tristan und Isolde
Royal Festival Hall

Hänsel und Gretel second cast
Royal Opera House

There have been few treats for lovers of Wagner in London in the past few years, but handsome amends were made in a concert at the Royal Festival Hall, with Vladimir Jurowski conducting the London Philharmonic Orchestra and adequate soloists in an incandescent account of Act II of Tristan und Isolde. That was preceded by the Adagio from Mahler’s Tenth Symphony, an acutely expressive performance, mainly chamber-like in texture, apart from the apocalypse near the conclusion. But it was a downer, as, alone, it is bound to be. Wonderful to return after the interval and to be launched, with the greatest possible impulse, into the central act of Tristan.

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