Seattle Opera's Tristan und Isolde in a winning production without extra innings

Mary Elizabeth Williams as Isolde and Stefan Vinke as Tristan. Photo credit: Sunny Martini.

It’s a rare occasion when a cultural event parallels a sporting event on a metaphysical plane, but that is what happened on October 13 when patrons of Seattle Opera bathed themselves in the five-hour-long sonic wash of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde at McCaw Hall while fans of the Seattle Mariners endured an epic 18-inning melodramatic playoff game at T-Mobile Park. Both productions ended with a Liebestod (Love-Death). At the opera house, the emotionally surging music put the climatic touches with the Irish princess, Isolde (Mary Elizabeth Williams), singing over the expired body of her knight, Tristan (Stefan Vinke). Meanwhile at the ballpark, the Mariners (the baseball team have not made it to the playoffs in 21 years) lost 1-0 in a game that lasted six hours and 22 minutes and consequently were eliminated from further competition.

Operagoers got the better deal that with an evocative and clearly presented production that was not flawless but had enough high points to fill the scorecards of devoted fans. Williams, a favorite of Seattle operagoers, made her Wagnerian debut in the terrifically strenuous role. Her voice had a bit of uncharacteristic edginess for part of the first act, but she seemed to settle down and expressed Isolde’s all-encompassing love for Tristan with poise and beauty the rest of the way. Vinke’s sterling tenor resounded magnificently throughout the evening, making the role of Tristan a real pleasure to hear.

With her clarion and resilient soprano, Amber Wagner created a memorable Brangäne, Isolde’s lady-in-waiting. As Kurwenal, baritone Ryan McKinney conveyed a fanatically devoted right-hand-man for Tristan. Morris Robinson’s rich and engrossing bass voice stole the spotlight as King Marke. Viktor Antipenko distinguished himself as the suspicious courtier Melot, and Joshua Jeremiah fashioned a vigilant steersman, but Andrew Stenson’s vibrato distracted from his roles as a sailor and a shepherd. The men of the Seattle Opera Chorus, prepared by Michaella Calzaretta, infused their scenes with a robust, virile sound.

Under the baton of Jordan De Souza, the orchestra opened with an Overture that was restrained. A fair amount of coughing from patrons in the hall during the first few minutes didn’t help matters, but the musicians and conductor became more expansive and expressive. The gloomy and haunting strains of the Wesendock Lieder at the beginning of Act III were particularly effective, and the opera ended gloriously.

Stage directions by Marcelo Lombardero told the story directly and efficiently. The sets and videos designed by Diego Siliano and video animation by Matias Otálora, originally created for Teatro Argentino de la Plata outside Buenos Aires, were ingenious. Etched in charcoal, they wonderfully evoked the interior of the ship that transported Isolde from Ireland to Cornwall, and through an extra-large porthole, we could see the expanse of the sea and the sky. In Act II, a room at the castle became a starry night for the lovers, who were elevated slowly on a raised platform to symbolize their love-ecstasy. In Act III, the scene shifted to a forlorn grotto with waves crashing onto a rocky shoreline. The only weak point was a cartoon-like image of a sailor in the crow’s nest of a ship.

Superb lighting by Horacio Efron enhanced the visual elements so that the bleak parts of the story were in shades of black and white. But when the emotion of hope and love heated up, the scenery and sumptuous costumes, designed by Luciana Gutman, became drenched in rich, sensuousness colors.

Together – sonically and visually – this production of Tristan und Isolde was rewarding and memorable.

Alas for the Mariners, there’s always next year.