Germany Wagner, Tristan und Isolde: Soloists and Male chorus of Theater Regensburg, Philharmonic Orchestra Regensburg / Stefan Veselka (conductor). Theater Regensburg, 1.11.2024. (DMD)
Production:
Director – Dennis Krauss
Set and Costume design – Kristopher Kempf
Lighting design – Maximilian Rudolph, Dennis Krauss
Chorus director – Lucia Birzer
Dramaturgy – Ronnys Scholz
Cast:
Tristan – Corby Welch
Isolde – Kristin Sharpin
King Marke – Roger Krebs
Kurwenal – Seymur Karimov
Brangäne – Svitlana Slyvia
Melot – Benedikt Eder
Shepherd / Young Sailor – Hany Abdelzaher
Helmsman – Michael Daub
When young director Dennis Krauss took over this production of Tristan und Isolde at short notice due to a colleague’s illness, the set and costumes, which are usually designed in close collaboration with the director, had already been completed, designed by Kristopher Kempf. All three acts were set in the bowels of a warship, with a number of bull’s-eye windows, all fairly rusty, full of stuff in the first act, less cluttered in the second and nearly empty in the third. Lighting (designed by Krauss and Maximilian Rudolph) was provided by a range of strip lights placed at irregular intervals and directions across the walls. As a result, the characters acted in different intensities of cold light. At low intensity, the stage was nearly dark, at full intensity the strip lights were close to blinding for the audience and certainly did not help them see the characters’ faces. The sailors were dressed in recognizable uniforms, but without any kind of specific historical or geographical reference. They carried machine guns and at the beginning of the first act brought on Isolde and Brangäne as prisoners, against their will. It took Tristan some effort to prevent his men from using excessive violence. The King’s men similarly appeared as soldiers with machine guns: when shots were fired, these sounded clearly from the side of the stage and visual effects of guns going off were not employed. Krauss focused on meaningful character interaction, in broad strokes, given that the roughness of the chosen environment together with the nature of the lighting did not lend themselves to subtle characterization.
Under the baton of General Music Director Stefan Veselka, the orchestra produced a beautiful and full sound, never excessively loud: quite an achievement within the small environs of the 520-seat theatre. His tempi varied depending on context, as did nuances of volume, creating as much passion for every moment of the score as possible.
The title characters were cast with visiting artists. Kristin Sharpin sang Isolde. She was very capable of adapting her voice to the requirements set by the orchestra, never in danger of being drowned out even in the most passionate of moments. Her voice was well rounded and flowed freely in the lower and middle registers. During some of her initial outbursts, the top range sounded shrill. By the third act, however, either she had overcome that problem, or I was used to it. Sharpin’s legato during the long Act II love duet was admirable, her concluding Liebestod was a genuine culmination of her achievement as Isolde.
Tenor Corby Welch gave his debut as Tristan. Many years as a company member at Deutsche Oper am Rhein have allowed him time to develop his voice from lyrical tenor to the heldentenor required for Tristan. He was well able to sustain his energy throughout, without having to hold back noticeably in the first two acts in order to rise to the challenge of Act III. There was a solid baritonal core and basis to a clarion-clear thrilling upper range. Considerable breath control allowed for a fine legato and it was only very rarely that he had to resort to near-shouting mode.
Seymur Karimov contributed a restless Kurwenal with a robust and beautifully shaped baritone. While Roger Krebs’s voice was sonorous with much potential, at this performance of King Marke he had problems with intonation. Svitlana Slyvia as Brangäne may have been having an off day as well: the beauty of her voice came to the fore only occasionally in between a strained or hollow sound. Hany Abdelzaher (Young Sailor and Shepherd), Benedikt Eder (Melot) and Michael Daub (Helmsman) took great care to shape and mould their singing – and it paid off.
Daniel Meyer-Dinkgräfe
Featured Image: Theater Regensburg © Bilddokumentation Stadt Regensburg