What Music expresses is eternal, infi nite, and ideal. Music expresses not the passion, love, desire, of this or that individual in this or that condition, but Passion, Love, Desire itself. —Richard Wagner

The Ecstasy of Tristan and Isolde

FRANZ WELSER-MÖST discusses Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde, and the ideas of ecstasy and transcendence that he explores with the opera and as part of a concert series April 21-29

modern world. I have long wanted to program this opera with The Cleveland Orches- tra — to have the right singers and the right season to include this extraordinary Q&A work. With the remarkable soprano Nina Stemme, who we hosted several years ago Q: Tell us about Tristan and Isolde. here at Severance Hall and at Carnegie Franz: Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde Hall as Salome, we have the world’s great- is, without any question, one of the most est living Isolde. important musical milestones in history. Fundamentally, for the orchestra and And for many diff erent reasons, musical- for the Cleveland audience, I believe that ly and even philosophically. At one and part of being a great orchestra includes the same time, it represents the ultimate playing and experiencing certain pieces. high point of musical Romanticism and Tristan and Isolde is one of these. The ex- the launch of modern music. In this score, perience of performing it — and of hear- Wagner broke apart the harmonic tonal ing it as an audience member — changes system to reveal something new. With your understanding of what music can be. this opera, Wagner unleashed music from It is perfect for the Orchestra’s Centennial the past and announced the start of our season, as we explore how music literally

Severance Hall 2017-18 Exploring Musical Ecstasy: April 21-29 93 makes history and at the same time leaves their attraction for one another. And it the past behind, taking us into the future. is much more than physical, it is a men- Let me add to this the fact that tal state of being whole — of ecstasy and Tristan and Isolde is very challenging and transcendence, of fi nding meaning and diffi cult to perform. The original produc- understanding in life. tion in Munich in 1865 had 142 rehearsals, just to learn this music and get it right. It Q: You described the “ecstasy” in this opera. is a demanding work, but also very re- How did you expand that idea to create a warding. Audiences will come away hav- festival with additional concerts? ing truly experienced a pinnacle in music Franz: Tristan and Isolde, as I have said, is — almost like climbing Mount Everest in an ecstatic piece. In the ending, in Isolde’s sound. It is breathtaking, perhaps literally, “Love-Death” or Liebestod, this woman in the “high” feeling, the magnifi cent feel- transcends her own existence, and fi nds ings that it off ers. a deep understanding, of love and life, in death. For some people, ecstasy may be Q: Isn’t this opera just a story of star-crossed easier to understand through the word lovers, who both die in the end? “transcendence.” Both words have mean- Franz: Many operas end in death and ings beyond the usual — of “being out- tragedy. That doesn’t mean they aren’t side yourself” in ecstasy, or of becoming inspiring and fi lled with insight and un- “more than” or transcending “beyond” the derstanding. Great works help us un- derstand what it means to be human, to feel, to learn, to grow. Wagner’s genius in Tristan and Isolde is in creating a musical language of desire, of unending longing. The music does not rest, the harmonic key does not fi nd resolution. Even at the very end, when the opera stops, the music is normal. In planning the season, and with still unfi nished harmonically — continuing Tristan and Isolde already on the calendar, on forever. It is thrilling to experience. I kept coming back to this idea. The philosopher Friedrich Nietzsche I became excited at thinking about said that Wagner’s music is like a drug. how much other music there is that touch- And he was right. The characters want es around these ideas, of religious ecsta- more, you want more. And you hold on sy, becoming one with god, of personal for every phrase, looking for resolution. ecstasy, of being enlightened, of medita- In a way, Wagner portrays an emotional tion and centering oneself inside. I think addiction, a desire that cannot be satis- for many people, musical performances fi ed except through understanding. In the are often a channel to understanding and opera, love is caused by a special or magic transcendence, of being more than your- potion. But it is really just something that self and at peace. And so I worked to de- allows two people to admit their feelings, velop a festival around the opera.

94 April 21-29: Exploring Musical Ecstasy The Cleveland Orchestra Think back to some of the great static love, even physical love, and directly music, the great performances you have touches on and re-examines the story experienced, and that moment at the end, of Tristan and Isolde, but in a very diff er- when there is silence, not even breathing, ent kind of musical language. It is “new as the audience and the musicians think age” or modern, mixing instruments and not about themselves but simply take sounds from diff erent times and cultures, in what has been witnessed and shared. with many percussionists and solo piano That is transcendence — in leaving or and the ondes martenot, an early elec- forgetting the place where you are physi- tronic instrument. Much of this music cally, for a moment, and of being part of is hypnotic, and it is pre-minimalist and something greater. Ecstasy — whether mesmerizing. There is a slow movement, it is spiritual, or physical, or musical — is which portrays Tristan and Isolde’s love as a garden of delight and ecstatic, calm- ing embrace, and in a diff erent movement The legend of Tristan and Isolde Messiaen portrays stars dancing in the ce- is the symbol of all great loves and lestial heavens. for all the great love poems in lit- The second concert centers on re- erature or in music. . . . It transcends ligious or spiritual ecstasy, and perhaps even the limitations of the mind, and touching toward mysticism. Here we are grows to a cosmic scale. featuring, of course, some music by Bach, —Olivier Messiaen and music by an earlier composer, Giovan- ni Gabrieli. But also more modern works, including Arvo Pärt’s Magnifi cat. And a the experience of letting go and unit- piece of organ music by Franz Liszt, who ing together all at that same time. This is was so often trying new things and work- what we are exploring in these musical ing to expand the language of music. performances in April. I believe it will be For this Divine Ecstasy concert in par- an unforgettable experience to hear these ticular, we explore music written specifi - works, separately and together. cally around religious ecstasy, of music Adding to Tristan and Isolde, which that was written to extend and amplify opens the festival, we have a performance spiritual or meditative feelings — of music of Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla-Sym- as a means to lose yourself, and to fi nd phonie from 1949. This is all about ec- your way. The ECSTASY of TRISTAN AND ISOLDE

2O17-18 This unique Festival April 21-29 features in-concert performances of CENTENNIAL SEASON Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde (April 21, 26, and 29), along with Olivier Messiaen’s Turangalîla Symphonie (April 25), and a program titled Divine Ecstasy (April 28), plus a showing of the 2011 fi lm Melancholia (April 22) at Cleveland Cinematheque.

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