6 performances, 4 Tristans, 2 Isoldes

Last night, the Met finished it ill-fated run of Tristan and Isolde, whose whole reason for being was to bring together the two leading Wagnerian singers of the day, Ben Heppner and Deborah Voight. The only problem: due to illness Ben missed 5 of the 6 performances and Deborah missed 2. (Ben writes about his illness, which required hospitalization, here.)

Last night was the last performance of the run--and the only performance where the two actually sang together.

Heppner and Voight

The Met decided to broadcast the audio of the performance via their web site. So, last night Drake and I huddled around the computer and listened in. Sound quality-wise, it was somewhat like listening to Tristan on an old transistor radio, but it was still worth listening to. Lucky dogs in the theater who had purchased tickets to the last performance. They won the opera lottery there. Alex Ross wrote a brief review of the evening. Sigh.

The run has some implications for Seattle, as Janice Baird, who replaced Voight, will be signing in the Seattle Opera  2009 Ring. She got a lot of publicity from stepping in, particularly since in the first performance she covered, she stepped in mid-performance when Voight's illness cause her to run off the stage mid-aria. Baird made a very respectable Met debut and I think this will be a huge boost for her career (and will have a related effect on ticket sales for the Ring, which are scheduled for some donors/subscribers in the next month.)

-----------

Tonight, we are off to the a Seattle Young Artists production, something we enjoy every year since it gives us the change to hear opera in a more intimate setting.