Tariq Hassan
Professor Blanka Roundtree
Art 211
27 Sept. 2016
Tristan und Isolde
Tristan
und Isolde is a powerful story that uses a large amount of staging to set the
feel and emotion for the entire opera.
The 1983 performance of Tristan und Isolde is designed by Jean-Pierre
Ponnelle with a performance by the Beyreuth Festival Orchestra. Released in 2008, the 1983 recording of the
performance highlights intrinsic staging that sets the mood and maintains
elements of earlier performances of the opera.
This paper will discuss personal observations as well as a discussion of
the mise en scene throughout the opera.
The
original Tristan und Isolde was released by Richard Wagner in 1865. This was a piece of Wagner that came later in
his career, after some public renown regarding his release of the “The Ring”
(Chafe 3). Based on information regarding the release of Tristan und Isolde, it
was viewed with some concern prior to its release because the opera performers
were taken aback by the new way of performing some of the music elements (Chafe
10). However, in terms of Wagner’s own
emphasis on his performances, Tristan und Isolde included, Wagner stressed
specific types of performances with specific settings in mind, sometimes going
so far as to push for the construction of new opera houses for his work (Chafe
10). It is the assumption that Wagner’s
performances were unique, especially as it pertained to the physical setting of
the opera to compliment new formations of singing combinations.
The
opening of Tristan und Isolde met with mixed reviews and also varied depending
on the location of the opera’s performance and often with an initial emphasis
on music rather than the setting of the play.
Rizzuto (7) discusses a large number of primary sources pertaining to
Tristan und Isolde, but fails to provide any initial critical response to the
setting and arrangement within the opera, often with responses focusing on the
complexity and uniqueness of the music. Shirley
(par. 5) reflects on the initial opening of Tristan and Isolde and highlights
that the staging of the play is unique in that the emphasis is on the music, rather
than the setting, and uses it to highlight and emphasize the desire in the
overall tone of the opera. Both Shirley (par. 2) and Zychowicz (par. 1)
identify that the initial staging of Tristan and Isolde utilizes a heavy reliance
on medieval props and costumes.
Tristan
und Isolde, as produced and recorded from the 1983 performance, in Germany places
the opera in a medieval setting, but does so in the capacity of large,
over-sized key prop elements that dominate the overall stage. In viewing the opera, there is a sense of
largeness beyond the characters with the setting, it is used to frame their
story, even if it is non-responsive and only occasionally changing based on the
act. As someone who is not familiar with
opera, the oversized elements of Isolde’s dress almost seems comical, but one
also has to be mindful of the viewer who is outside of DVD/online viewing
audience. In reflecting on the
mise-en-scene and the overall influence it has on the viewing audience, this
central location of the imagery, such as the tree framing the whole stage, sets
a tone of passion, and the sail, central to the ship, frames the exploration
occurring in Act 1 (Moura par. 3).
The
entire play has elements of nature throughout as a key part of its
mise-en-scene. There are rocks and a
still life of water, which looks full of motion based on the way that the mist
is used to roll across the stage. Later,
although still near the rocks and water, there is a ship present, but the rocks
have a prominent place in the scene, again highlighting nature present in the
opera. Finally, the tree that is present
has a swaying motion to it, again with the performers of the opera
interacting/engaging with the tree either through role in around its roots or
getting leaves in their hair. As most of
the reviews of the initial Wagner play and follow-up analysis point out, the
play is about passion, which is complimented by these portions throughout the
opera performance from 1983.
The way that
colors are distorted with minimal efforts and tricks also stand out throughout
the opera. The use of fog throughout the
play is a unique technique and as it rolls across the stage, especially with
rocks around it and the still painting of the ocean, it creates the illusion of
movement for the viewer. The overall
lighting of the also plays on the scenery present as well, often illumining
behind the main stage prop, giving a
progression of time or a time of day for the action as it occurring; it is
through the use of color on the background that changes the sense of action
rather than an announcement. What is
kind of interesting about the color too is that the colors of the clothing of
the opera performers also changes, eventually becoming darker and darker as the
opera continues, eventually becoming almost the color of the background, which
might actually be a metaphor for a return to earth.
Based on all of
the information provided regarding Tristan and Isolde, it is discussed as an
opera that has undergone multiple interpretations with the mise-en-scene
affiliated with it. Zychowicz (par. 5)
discusses that the current staging in the 1983 production is the result of the
lineage to a 1903 production by Roller, a style that has been used by many in
operas since his initial style entered into the field. The reason why Tristan und Isolde was
utilized by Roller has to do with the unique play itself, centered on the
musical changes in how opera was performed, new for its time (Shirely par. 5). As a result of the sense of change and
creativity with the music, it was an ideal opera to start with in changing the
field of scenery and giving more allusion to the larger view of the world and
nature.
Works Cited
Chafe, Eric. The Tragic and the Ecstatic: Oxford University Press, 2008.
ProQuest Ebook
Central.
Web. 22 September 2016.
Tristan
and Isolde. Directed by Daniel Barenboim, performances by Beyreuth Festival
Orchestra, Chevalier de Cornouailles,
and Johanna Meier, Unitel Classica, 2008.
Accessed on 25 Sept. 2016
from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IdjFBW-S3z0
Rizzuto, Thomas. The Critical Reception of Richard Wagner’s
Tristan und Isolde in the English-
Speaking World. City College of the City
University of New York. Accessed on 25 Sept. 2016.
Shirley, Hugo. “The opera that
change music: Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde.”
Gramophone.
Accessed on 25
Sept. 2016 from: http://www.gramophone.co.uk/feature/the-opera-that-changed-music-wagners-tristan-und-isolde
Zychowicz, James. (2008). “WAGNER: Tristan und Isolde.” Opera
Today. Accessed on 25
Sept. 2016 from: http://www.operatoday.com/content/2008/05/wagner_tristan_.php
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