The season of Metropolitan Opera begins with a new production of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde, conducted by Sir Simon Rattle in his first Live in HD performance. Nina Stemme stars as Isolde – a touchstone role she has sung with major opera companies around the world. Her Tristan is Australian heldentenor Stuart Skelton, who sang Siegmund in the Met’s Ring cycle in 2013. The cast also includes Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne and Evgeny Nikitin as Kurwenal (both in Met role debuts), with René Pape reprising King Marke, a role he has sung to acclaim in three previous Met seasons. The staging, by Mariusz Treliński (who directed the 2015 Met double bill of Iolanta and Bluebeard’s Castle) is a co-production with the Festival Hall Baden-Baden, Teatr Wielki – Polish National Opera, and China National Centre for the Performing Arts (NCPA) Beijing.

Ever since its premiere in 1865 in Munich, this Wagnerian tale of love and death has held its own unique place in the operatic world. Even the most demanding viewers would find inspiration in the mysterious plot and the breathtaking music, which is a challenge to the skills of the lead singers and the orchestra. The composer was inspired by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer as well as by his emotional affair with the poet Mathilde Wesendonck. Mariusz Treliński, the stage director for the new production, admitted that ever since he was 19 he had been dreaming of putting Tristan und Isolde on the stage. The satellite projections of Wanger’s work are expected to be seen by more than a million and a half viewers in 70 countries.

“… the real opus metaphysicum of all art… insatiable and sweet craving for the secrets of night and death”

Friedrich Nietzsche in “Richard Wagner in Bayreuth”