Tristan and Isolde, opera review: Brave and bold show is exactly what ENO needs

This show is full of resonant imagery and theatrically enthralling, says Barry Millington
Enthralling: Stuart Skelton and Heidi Melton on stage in Sir Anish Kapoor’s sets
Catherine Ashmore
Barry Millington10 June 2016

For English National Opera and its incoming artistic director Daniel Kramer, whose production this is, much has depended on this new Tristan and Isolde, with designs by renowned sculptor Sir Anish Kapoor. It’s a brave and bold show, sometimes idiosyncratic, but at its best (the final act) full of resonant imagery and theatrically enthralling. In short, just what ENO needs.

Christina Cunningham’s costumes for Act 1 could almost be for Versailles: The Opera. Isolde’s bustle visualises the subjection of the Irish princess, while the courtly attire of Brangäne and Kurwenal — later reduced to a shell — reflect the text’s emphasis on “custom”.

Sir Anish’s sets consist of triangular cones meeting at the apex (Act 1), a huge sphere lit so as to suggest foliage or bare rock — uncomfortably for the flowery bank on to which the lovers sink (Act 2) and a lump of black quartz that bleeds like a wound or a womb (Act 3).

The notion of suicide hovers over Wagner’s work and Kramer brings it to the fore, furnishing Isolde with a knife. King Marke and his courtiers interrupt not so much a sexual act as a suicide pact.

Open-air and outdoor theatre in London

1/8

Heidi Melton’s attractively voiced Isolde had insufficient tonal contrast; her American vowels may be a matter of taste, but her Liebestod was inadequate. Stuart Skelton’s tremendous Tristan had all the tonal nuance Melton lacked. Craig Colclough’s Kurwenal was intermittently beautiful but always eloquent, as were Matthew Rose’s Marke and Karen Cargill’s Brangäne.

The orchestral playing and Edward Gardner’s conducting were both magnificent. Might Gardner be lured back to ENO? With him and Kramer at the helm the company’s stock could rise dramatically.

Until Jul 9, London Coliseum; eno.org

Follow Going Out on Facebook and on Twitter @ESgoingout