Marek Janowski’s Wagner cycle is a laudable project with
worthy ambition, but releases like this will do the conductor’s
reputation no favours. His approach to this great score is inconsistent,
badly realised and often infuriating, a good second half failing
to redeem a poor first half.
Things do not get off to a good start. Janowski’s preference
for fast tempi has, previously in his cycle, brought moments
of revelation or welcome lightness. In this recording they are
a serious problem. The bizarre paradox is that, when you look
at his act timings objectively they don’t seem that fast,
but they sure as heck feel it. In fact, the conductor appears
to push the first half of the opera along in a manner that is
at best distracting and at worst actively damaging. In his hands
the Prelude is given no space to unfold: instead it is pushed
and pulled through its spaces as if Janowski were impatient
to get to the singers, paying little heed to the sensuous ebb
and flow of the line and lacking all allure. For the string
theme at the entry of Tristan before his Act 1 duet with Isolde,
Janowski chops up the line as though he were conducting with
a carving knife, unforgivably destroying the continuity of the
passage in a manner I found infuriating. He calms this down
for the passage after the drinking of the potion, which does
seem to pause for breath, but the helter-skelter pacing of the
lovers’ ensuing ecstatic duet makes neither dramatic nor
musical sense, and the end of the act seems to arrive in a blur
of confusion. It’s a very unsatisfying end to the first
disc, and things barely improve as the second begins with a
rather hasty scene in the garden. Janowski’s impatience
finally pays dividends in evoking the anticipation and eventual
consummation of the lovers in the fast, ecstatic section of
the love duet. When he finally does slow down, in O sink
hernieder, it comes as a blessed relief and helps to point
up the sheer beauty of that passage. Perhaps that was Janowski’s
objective all along, to draw attention to that key passage through
contrast, but if it was then it didn’t work for me because
it casts off so much of the rest of the score en route and ends
up making his vision of the score sound uneven and badly worked
out. Maybe I was just becoming bad-tempered with it by the start
of the third act, but for me even the desperate torment of the
Act Three prelude feels chivvied along and impatient, a double
shame because the string playing that sustains it is so soulful
and deep. At least Janowski has the presence of mind to vary
the pacing of Tristan’s great monologues, though, and
there is enough compelling drama there to rescue this section
of the work. The final problem comes with the Liebestod where
the issue is not pacing so much as lack of scale. In fact, the
orchestra entirely fails to provide the appropriate sense of
climax - in every sense - that is required here. In particular,
the great orchestral overflowing on the word Weltatems
simply doesn’t happen, and it’s incredibly disappointing.
Janowski seems intent on producing a sound that approximates
almost to chamber music at this point, failing entirely to provide
the ecstatic orchestral finale to accompany Isolde’s transfiguration.
For me, the conducting is so badly judged that I’m afraid
it rules this Tristan out of court, for me, as a serious library
choice. That’s in spite of some truly excellent singing
from the principals, though it has to be said the even Nina
Stemme, one of the finest Wagner singers of our generation,
seems uncomfortable at the start of the performance. Perhaps
it’s down to the issues surrounding a live performance,
but she take a noticeably long time to warm up. Her opening
exchanges with Brangäne sound unfocused and her Act 1 narrative
lacks punch. It isn’t until the long Act 1 duet with Tristan
that she finds her footing, but admittedly, once she finds it
she does so triumphantly. In fact, her performance grows in
stature as the work progresses, and her invocation to Frau Minne
in Act 2 rings with the compelling authority of her Isolde at
its finest. This gives way to an excellent account of the love
duet and culminates in a Liebestod which is very well sung indeed.
However, as I’ve mentioned above, this too is hamstrung
by the conductor’s failure to produce a sufficient sense
of climax. Stephen Gould gives a compellingly different portrayal
of Tristan. His dark-hued voice conveys vulnerability and humanity
with never a hint of Heldentenor abrasion and a good deal of
honeyed beauty. He is especially fine in the great monologues
of the third act, which see him running a huge gamut of emotions
with total commitment and compelling honesty. He evokes frailty
and disillusion in the opening section and utter devastation
as he recalls the death of his father and mother, rising to
self-destructive nihilism at the curse on the drink and ecstatic
frenzy as he looks forward to Isolde’s arrival. It’s
an extraordinary portrayal, made all the more interesting for
the fact that it is so unreservedly musical. Gould’s
is a Tristan for the ages. The great love duet finds Gould and
Stemme at their best. The ecstatic first section holds no challenges
for them, and the beautiful, symbiotic sound they make for O
sink hernieder is sensational, the highlight of the set,
a wonderful blend of voices and instrumental lines and - at
last! - a sympathetic conductor. Their concluding exchange,
after King Mark’s monologue, about entering the land of
night is also extremely beautiful and in places very moving.
Johan Reuter is an outstanding Kurwenal, virile, exciting and
lyrical in the first Act, sympathetic and admirable in the third:
in his interpretation Tristan’s old friend is clearly
way out of his depth in dealing with the situation at Kareol,
and he is the most humanely sympathetic character in the drama.
Kwangchul Youn is also a breathtakingly good King Mark. In a
role whose longueurs can try the patience, I found myself continually
beguiled by the sheer beauty of his voice, something very special.
For once I actually found myself sympathising with him through
some excellent vocal acting refracted through the prism of a
truly remarkable voice. The minor male roles are well taken,
with special mention to the exciting Melot of Simon Pauly. However,
Michelle Breedt is a squally and histrionic Brangäne, a
strain on the ear in the first act and barely improving in the
second. Her offstage warnings during the love duet are straightforward
enough but are distinctly workaday, especially in comparison
with her company.
The playing of the orchestra remains very good indeed, though,
and you have to admire the way they give Janowski their full
commitment, even if you don’t always agree with what they’re
being asked to do. The recording is also very good, capturing
the off-stage effects as effectively as it picks up the orchestral
details, especially the strings which are favoured by the microphone
balance.
Part good, part not, then, but if you’re prepared to hear
the top class singing then you also have to be prepared to hold
your nose and come to terms with some very trying conductorial
decisions.
Simon Thompson
Masterwork Index: Tristan
und Isolde
Stephen Gould - Tristan 
[3 CDs: 76:45 + 75:39 + 72:35] 