Glyndebourne's Tristan und Isolde, streamed 26/12/12-6/1/13

[doversoul1]

Probably no news but just in case:

Nikolaus Lehnhoff's production of Wagner's great and tragic love story was new to the Glyndebourne festival in 2003. It was filmed, as live, in 2007, with Nina Stemme as Isolde and Robert Gambill as Tristan. Jiří Bĕlohlávek conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Click here for the synopsis and full cast and creative details. This video is available to watch on demand until 6 January 2013.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/video/2012/dec/26/glyndebourne-wagner-tristan-und-isolde-video-act-1

[Hornspieler]

Probably no news but just in case:

Nikolaus Lehnhoff's production of Wagner's great and tragic love story was new to the Glyndebourne festival in 2003. It was filmed, as live, in 2007, with Nina Stemme as Isolde and Robert Gambill as Tristan. Jiří Bĕlohlávek conducted the London Philharmonic Orchestra. Click here for the synopsis and full cast and creative details. This video is available to watch on demand until 6 January 2013.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/music/vide...de-video-act-1

For me, the Prelude and Liebestod is the most romantic music ever written. I cannot adequately describe the thrill - almost orgasmic sensation of playing in that work (with or without Isolde's singing)

As a horn player, the building of tension, bar by bar, between the 1st and 3rd horns is an overwhelming sensation. On the occasions when I have played either part, I have always felt that I wanted to give more - however much I have striven.

I have the recording of the Wagner Preludes (orchestra only version) by the Vienna Philharmonic Orchestra conducted by Karl Böhm and would recommend it to anyone who enjoys the occasional lump in the throat.

Does anyone else feel the same about any musical work?

Tell us.

Hornspieler

[salymap]

The last of Strauss' Four Last Songs does it for me HS.

[Flosshilde]

& another Strauss moment - the trio at the end of Rosenkavalier

[Black Swan]

I agree with all the posts. I love the Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan. The Four Last Songs have long been a favorite and I have loved the final trio of Rosenkavalier from the first time I heard it.

John

[gradus]

I don't think I ever got over hearing the Prelude to Tristan. Again it is Bohm that is special, conducting the 1966 Bayreuth festival recording. Difficult to find words that convey the intensity of the experience.

[bluestateprommer]

I can't recall if this version has ever been streamed via The Guardian prior, so I was happy at the chance to give this a go. I'll admit that I'd be enjoying it a lot more if after several minutes in each act (I'm watching 1 act per day), the stream keeps freezing every few seconds. I'll acknowledge a certain cosmic joke in that happening in this of all operas, except that when the music, singing and everything halt momentarily every 4 seconds, it's not funny at all.

[Simon Biazeck]

I can't recall if this version has ever been streamed via The Guardian prior, so I was happy at the chance to give this a go. I'll admit that I'd be enjoying it a lot more if after several minutes in each act (I'm watching 1 act per day), the stream keeps freezing every few seconds. I'll acknowledge a certain cosmic joke in that happening in this of all operas, except that when the music, singing and everything halt momentarily every 4 seconds, it's not funny at all.

Let it load by pausing it after the initial play, but you will have to be patient, it might take half an hour or more to load fully. You will be able to press play at any point at which you see it has loaded past the cursor and it shouldn't freeze.

[DracoM]

What put me off was the five minute or so Glyndebourne promo at the beginning of every segment. AFACS no option to skip it either. Ggggrrrr!

[Bryn]

What put me off was the five minute or so Glyndebourne promo at the beginning of every segment. AFACS no option to skip it either. Ggggrrrr!

There are effective ways and means, but I won't go into them here. You could try a PM though.

[Act 1 currently playing, full screen, on a 40" 'HD ready' (i.e. not the full 1080) plasma. The Guardian's mp4 files look pretty big, averaging just over 1.5GB for per act.]

[Sydney Grew]

Members who missed it will be pleased to learn that it has now been transferred to the You-Tube business. Just three files, and the quality is excellent - a new thing called "webm format" - ( http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Webm ). VLC media player plays it perfectly.

But I must say that the performance is not up to others I have heard. Sopranos are wobbly and the orchestral playing perfunctory. Perhaps Britons as a whole have been uncomfortable with German music ever since 1914.

[gradus]

Perhaps Britons as a whole have never heard Tristan and never will but not I think because of any post WW1 anti-German sentiment. For that section of the British nation that listen to classical music I think it hard to discern any anti-German bias as a glance through any Proms prospectus would show. But I suspect that I have missed Sydney's point.