"Tristan und Isolde" at the Bayreuth Festival: A Review in Photos

By Alkis Karmpaliotis

This past summer, I had the privilege of attending what is considered by many to be the pinnacle opera experience: the Bayreuth Festival. Inaugurated in 1876, the festival serves as a yearly celebration of the works of Richard Wagner, who himself conceived the theater in pursuit of Gesamtkunstwerk—the "complete work of art". Thousands of Wagnerians around the world make the pilgrimage to Bayreuth every year; in fact, the demand for tickets is so high that it can take up to ten years on the waitlist before getting tickets. Needless to say, I was extremely fortunate to get to go this year.

My fascination with Wagner dates back to the early days of this website, when I fell in love with his music while watching Robert Lepage's "Machine" production of the Ring Cycle on Met Opera on Demand. In sixth grade, I saw that very production at the Met, and, since then, my connection with Wagner has only grown deeper, as I've come to better understand both the music and the stories behind it. How fitting that, just after I graduate high school and embark on a new journey as an undergrad at the University of Chicago, I got to see his work performed at none other than the Bayreuth Festival itself.

The entire town of Bayreuth is a celebration of art and culture, between the Haus Wahnfried (which translates to Peace from Madness), where Wagner made his home in the later years of his life, and the Wagner Museum next door, which together contain everything from century-old costumes from Bayreuth performances to original manuscripts of Wagner's works. Not to mention the Liszt House, Margravial Opera House, and other cultural gems that are scattered across the city. But the crux of the Bayreuth experience is the Festspielhaus itself, which with its hidden orchestra pit and wooden interior, creates the perfect visual and aural atmosphere for Wagner's operas. For performers, it also happens to be opera's most demanding stage: the theater has a reverberation time of nearly two seconds, making it very challenging for the singers and the orchestra to stay in sync. When done right, however, it gives the audience a unique treat that you can't find anywhere else in the world.

On top of all that, I didn't see just any opera, but arguably the most emotionally powerful and transcendent opera ever written: Tristan und Isolde. Inspired by the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer and his notion of music as the highest of the arts, Tristan marks the height of musical storytelling, thanks primarily to the Tristan chord, an eerie, tension-filled motif that opens the prelude and develops throughout the action, always maintaining that same dissonance, before ultimately resolving at the end of the Liebestod.

Growing up, I had a harder time with Tristan than Wagner's other operas, perhaps because I didn't quite understand the story. "How can a four-hour love story be so impactful?" I thought. Of course, over time, I've come to realize that Tristan is not just another love story. In fact, I'm not sure if you could even call it a love story at all. Conductor (and Bayreuth expert) Christian Thielemann said it best: Tristan is "a parable for all of life’s excesses." Though specific in its plot, its message—like all high art—is true to life, showing us what happens to people as they become increasingly isolated from the world. To Wagner's credit, that's why the Tristan chord is not sweet and romantic like the Amami Alfredos and O Soave Fanciullas of Italian opera, or even the Wotan's Love and Siegmund-Sieglinde themes in the Ring, but dark and threatening. Much like Bayreuth itself, this opera presents extreme challenges for its performers, but when done right, it can leave you spellbound.

You could listen to Tristan for hours. Of course, just because you could listen to something for hours doesn't mean you should. New listeners, be warned: don't fall into the trap of becoming obsessed with this opera. Otherwise, you've likely missed the point of the opera itself. In many ways, Tristan serves as warning against itself: a warning against intoxication and obsessiveness. The defining moment of the opera comes in Act 2, when during the lovers' duet, Isolde's sister Brangäne calls from offstage, warning them about their impending doom. The dark words are underlined not by dissonance, but by the most beautiful melody in the whole piece, as if describing something beautiful, when in fact Brangäne's message is anything but. This music is not unlike a drug, but, if nothing else, Brangäne does in this scene what Wagner does through the opera at large: tells you that you mustn't let that drug take you over. Don't fall victim to obsession and excess—that is the message of Tristan.

Thanks to Semyon Bychkov's masterful conducting, the singers and orchestra had no trouble staying together. Andreas Schager—who was my Siegfried in that Ring Cycle six years ago—made for an excellent Tristan, and Camila Nylund—slated to perform Brünnhilde at Bayreuth next summer—was a marvelous Isolde. For me, however, the highlight of the evening was Gunther Groissbock's Marke. What a voice!

Here are a few pictures from my stay in Bayreuth:

Haus Wahnfried front

Haus Wahnfried from the back

Wagner's piano at Wahnfried

Wahnfried entrance

Salon at Wahnfried

Wagner's grave in Wahnfried garden

Wagner bust at Wahnfried

Meistersinger manuscript

Festspielhaus model at Wagner Museum

Tannhäuser production model (1930)

Cartoons and caricatures at Wagner Museum

Wagner bust at Festsipielhaus

Festspielhaus facade

Festspielhaus from below

Festspielhaus after opera

Festspielhaus facade

Tristan program with Festspielhaus in background

Curtain call after Act III

Festspielhaus up close

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My name is Alkis Karmpaliotis, and I'm a First-Year at the University of Chicago. I founded AppreciateOpera.org in 2019, when I was 12 years old. If you enjoyed this article, be sure to check out some of my other articles and interviews!