Wagner: Tristan und Isolde: Act 2; Boulez; Osaka (1967) Windgassen, Nilsson [Stereo]

Pierre Boulez, NHK Symphony Orchestra
(Recorded 10th April, 1967, Festival Hall, Osaka)

Tristan — Wolfgang Windgassen
King Marke — Hans Hotter
Isolde — Birgit Nilsson
Kurwenal — Frans Andersson
Melot — Sebastian Feiersinger
Brangäne — Hertha Töpper
Shepherd — Georg Paskuda
Steersman — Gerd Nienstedt
Young Sailor — Georg Paskuda

This was a guest performance by the Bayreuth Festival company at the Osaka International Festival. The production was by Wieland Wagner, who died six months before the performance took place.

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I have synchronised the existing video of this performance with a new stereo audio source.

The original video(s) can be found here:
   • Wagner: Tristan und Isolde, Osaka 1967 (Wo...  

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Nilsson was highly critical of Boulez in her memoirs, writing:

"In the spring of 1967, Bayreuth made a guest appearance in Osaka with Wieland's staging of "Walküre" and "Tristan". Pierre Boulez had conducted a noteworthy "Parsifal" in Bayreuth and Wieland, before his death, had indicated his desire to have him conduct the "Tristan" in Osaka. Unfortunately, Boulez came to Osaka obviously unprepared. Perhaps it was Wieland's death that made it difficult for him to probe the depth of this opera. I cannot say for sure. Boulez is primarily known as a conductor and composer of contemporary music, and the step from that music to the incarnation of romantic opera is unquestionably a big one. If one remembers, however, that Wagner composed "Tristan" in 1857, then the music is forward-looking and modern. We had a piano rehearsal with Boulez, and it was fortunate that Windgassen and I were there to give him the tempi, the transitions, and so on. It seemed almost as though this French conductor had never opened the orchestra score. To make matters worse, he was conducting a Japanese orchestra that was playing "Tristan" for the first time. One hardly dared hope for a miracle. And, indeed, there was none. The first act, normally 78 or 79 minutes long, he whipped through in 67 minutes (*). Act two went even faster, as the music is more romantic, and for modern composers and conductors, romantic music is almost unbearable. It was the only time I was happy that Wieland was not present."

(*) In fact, Boulez gets through the first act in 72 minutes—only 2 minutes faster than Nilsson's favourite conductor, Karl Böhm, in 1973.

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0:00:00 — Prelude
0:02:29​ — Scene 1: "Hörst du sie noch?"
0:07:25 — Scene 1: "Dem Freund zu Lieb' erfand diese List"
0:13:12 — Scene 2: "Isolde! Geliebte!"..."Tristan! Geliebter!"
0:20:21​ — Scene 2: "O sink' hernieder, Nacht der Liebe"
0:24:50 — Scene 2: "Einsam wachend in der Nacht"
0:27:07 — Scene 2: "Lausch', Geliebter!"
0:32:58​ — Scene 2: "So starben wir, um ungetrennt"
0:40:07 — Scene 3: "Rette dich, Tristan!"
0:41:40 — Scene 3: "Tatest du's wirklich?"
0:47:40 — Scene 3: "Dies wundervolle Weib"
0:52:04​ — Scene 3: "O König, das kann ich dir nicht sagen"
0:56:07 — Scene 3: "Als für ein fremdes Land"

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"Tristan und Isolde" ("Tristan and Isolde") is an opera in three acts by Richard Wagner, with a German libretto by the composer. The libretto is based on the medieval romance "Tristan" by Gottfried von Strassburg. It was first performed at the Royal Court and National Theatre in Munich on 10th June, 1865.