BSO/Classical New England — 2020/03/28

This week's concert is an "encore presentation" of the all-Wagner concert of April 7,  2018. The performance detail page had this to say about it:

Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde is a hymn to the intense spirituality that accompanies transcendent earthly love. Musically and operatically innovative, it remains a watershed in the history of music; to hear its music live is an unforgettable experience. Andris Nelsons leads an outstanding cast of singers-including the great German tenor Jonas Kaufmann (taking the role of Tristan for the very first time) and the acclaimed Finnish soprano Camilla Nylund-in Act II of the opera, in which the title characters come together under the spell of a love potion, only to be discovered by King Marke, Tristan's uncle and lord, to whom Isolde is betrothed. The concert opens with one of Wagner's few purely instrumental works still heard today, the Siegfried Idyll, which he composed in 1869 and had performed as a surprise birthday gift for his wife Cosima. The "Siegfried" of the title is the couple's son, born the previous June, though Wagner later incorporated some of the Idyll's music into the third of his Ring operas, Siegfried.

(Some emphasis added.)

The reviews in the Globe and the Intelligencer are mildly unenthusiastic about Nylund and Kaufmann's performances. Still, it's a chance to hear them sing the roles for the first time anywhere.

As I've commented before, I generally find Wagner's writing for singers dull and uninteresting (after "Flying Dutchman, that is), while the orchestral music can be quite enjoyable. So I won't be terribly disappointed to have my brother's phone call from Japan take me away from most of the operatic performance. Based on the reviews, though, it would be good to be through in time to hear King Marke's monologue toward the end. And the Siegfried Idyll, which opens the show is pleasant listening.

You can hear it and decide for yourself by listening to WCRB tonight at 8:00, Boston Time. The usual rebroadcast  — on the second Monday following the concert — won't happen. They're giving a different BSO concert every evening except Sunday for the next three weeks. Check the website for details.