Peter Sellars’ Updated Tristan und Isolde with the Canadian Opera Company reviewed by Stanley Fefferman

Peter Sellars successfully updated the ancient magic in Wagner’s musical drama,Tristan und Isolde. Wagner had already modernised the medieval tale by focusing on the middle of the story, where the passion of the doomed lovers catches fire. Wagner treats the mythic origins of their romance as backstory recollected while passions flicker and flare. Sellars tightens that focus by stripping away sets, scenery and costumes. He restricts action and staging to bare gestures. The actors, often uniformed in black, are illuminated by rectangles of spotlight on a stage bare except for a black box podium, with all the scenic values concentrated in the spectacular Bill Viola video backdropped on the gigantic screen behind them. The magic of the music holds it all together. The singers are splendid. The orchestra conducted by Johannes Debus are impeccable. Stationing live singers and musicians among the audience adds a surround-stereo dimension to the magic of the music. The performance rolled on, at a slow pace,for five mesmerizing hours and sent me home with more energy than I came in with. I’d call that a win-win. READ THE FULL REVIEW HERE