The Orchestra of the Finnish National Opera & Hannu Lintu – Wagner: Tristan & Isolde

Finnish National Opera Orchestra
Hannu Lintu, conductor

Soloists:
Tristan: Samuel Sakker
Isolde: Camilla Nylund
Brangäne: Marina Prudenskaya
Marke: Mika Kares
Melot: Jere Hölttä
Kurwenal: Samuli Takkula

Magnus Lindberg: Seht die Sonne
Richard Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Act II

Commissioned by the Berlin Philharmonic and the San Francisco Symphony, Seht die Sonne (“Behold the Sun”) was premiered under the direction of Simon Rattle in Berlin in 2007. The title is taken from the opening words of the final choral movement of Arnold Schoenberg’s Gurre-Lieder.

Apart from the title, Magnus Lindberg’s music has nothing in common with Schoenberg. Like his Aura (1994), the three-movement Seht die Sonne—performed without a break—can be compared to a symphony in expression, approach, and length.

The basic motifs of the first movement are heard right at the opening. Exploiting the rhythmic and melodic possibilities of these cells to the fullest, the opening becomes a colorful and fast-paced journey. There is, in Lindberg’s teacher Paavo Heininen’s words, “an abundance of captivating stimuli on the scale of seconds.”

The second movement launches directly from the momentum, with a dark and dramatic chorale theme. It is characterized by a powerful late-Romantic/Expressionist pathos, with a moment of respite in the form of a beautiful cello cadenza toward the end. The final movement is again fast-paced, closing the overall form according to the traditional cyclical idea by returning to the main theme of the first movement. The work then descends into a calm coda.

In the early years of Richard Wagner’s exile in Switzerland (1849–1861), his compositional work came to a standstill. In Zurich, Wagner’s former political activism gave way to the study of the works of philosopher Arthur Schopenhauer, and to writing his own theoretical and philosophical treatises. According to Schopenhauer, music stood above all other arts, poetry included. For Wagner, this meant that in opera, the text should be subordinate to the music.

The signs of Schopenhauer’s influence began to appear in Wagner’s works in the mid-1850s. His greatest operatic project of the decade, Tristan und Isolde (1857–1859), reflected these ideas.

Before Tristan, no one had imagined such a powerful role for music in expressing drama. Wagner laid bare the inner lives of the opera’s protagonists entirely through music, within the vast span of the work. Their doomed love finds fulfillment only in death.
The opera’s unusual use of harmony supports the sexual tension between the protagonists. The dissonances built up in the prelude are not resolved until the end of Act III, in Isolde’s famous Liebestod (“love-death”).

The historical significance of Tristan in music was immense. With its chromaticism and constant modulations, it revealed the possibilities of music existing outside traditional tonal thinking, and it foreshadowed the breakdown of tonality at the start of the 20th century.

The story of Tristan and Isolde was among the best-known tales of the Middle Ages, with versions dating back to the mid-12th century. The opera’s events and characters are based largely on Gottfried von Strassburg’s (d. 1210) poem, on which Wagner based his own libretto.

Synopsis
In the garden of King Marke’s castle, Isolde impatiently awaits her meeting with Tristan. Distant horns announce that the king has gone hunting. Believing the hunting party to be far away, Isolde is warned by her maid Brangäne about spies—especially Melot, a jealous knight she has noticed keeping an eye on Tristan. Isolde dismisses the concern, saying Melot is Tristan’s friend, and sends Brangäne to keep watch.

Isolde extinguishes the signal torch, indicating to Tristan that it is safe to come. When he arrives, she greets him passionately. They praise the night and feel safe in its embrace. Brangäne’s distant voice warns that dawn is approaching, but the lovers, oblivious to the danger, compare the night to death, which will ultimately unite them.

Tristan’s servant Kurwenal rushes in to warn them that the king has returned. Melot betrays the lovers. Deeply moved and shocked, King Marke recalls that it was Tristan who encouraged him to marry and choose a bride, and he cannot understand how someone so dear to him could disgrace him in this way. Tristan has no answer. He asks Isolde if she will follow him into the realm of death. When she agrees, Melot attacks Tristan, who falls wounded into Kurwenal’s arms.

Text: Pekka Miettinen

The Orchestra of the FNO »
Hannu Lintu »
Samuel Sakker »
Camilla Nylund »
Marina Prudenskaya »
Mika Kares »
Jere Hölttä »
Samuli Takkula »

Note: Contrary to earlier information, Russell Thomas will not be performing in the concert.