Wagner – Tristan a Izolda / 2. dejstvoWagner – Tristan und Isolde / Act II

The works of Richard Wagner are particularly demanding in terms of time. With today’s fast-paced lifestyle, who would have time to sit down for five or six hours and concentrate on the intricate stories of his musical dramas? The concert performance of the second act of Tristan und Isolde will thus be just a small taste of the German magician’s musical cake. Myths, legends, symbols, a lot of expression and as much departure from reality as possible, this is how Wagner explored inner psychological and social conflicts directly on stage. “Dangerously fascinating, menacingly and sweetly infinite”, is how Friedrich Nietzsche describes the work, whose libretto was written by Wagner himself, based on the epic Tristan und Isolt by Gottfried von Strassburg. Just as Tristan und Isolde succumbed to the spell of the magic potion, so too, 140 years after Wagner’s death, can we once again succumb to the magic of his music. 

We last saw Juraj Valčuha in the Reduta in the autumn during the BHS festival, when he conducted an Italian orchestra. His performance of Tristan und Isolde follows on from 2018, when he similarly gave a concert performance of Act 1 of Die Walküre during the BHS. The lovers will be portrayed by German soprano Maida Hundeling and Austrian tenor Norbert Ernst.