My family and I grew up with basically the Italian repertoire, but I feel there is no more compassionate and overwhelming 8 minutes in opera then this finale.
La nota finale del crescendo..è REALMENTE..la più grande nota di tutta la storia della musica..Dio si è impersonificato in Richard Wagner e ha prodotto questa..non so come definirla..meraviglia..il sublime tradotto in umano..
Ich bin dankbar, diese Finalszene miterleben zu können, ich bin dankbar, dass diese aussergewöhnliche Sängerin solch einen kaum beschreibbaren Erfolg erleben konnte/ durfte. Glück, Endlichkeit, Ausruhen, fast alles gegensätzlich, kulminiert in einem einzigartigen Höhepunkt. Ich war glücklich!!! Ein Ereignis, das es wirklich wert war, dokumentiert zu werden, Danke!!! ❤😢
This scene contains two deaths actually: First Isolde of course, than followed by Barenboim himself - when spectators start to applause, when he is still raising his stick.
Hahaha the cringe is real!! I can tell from other videos of barenboim that he hates early applauses and bravo screams, they just interrupt the serenity of silence after a piece.
How is the audience to know that his stick was still raised. His back was to the audience, he is separated from the audience by a low wall, and his hands were lower than the top of the wall.
anch'io c'ero ...come si fa a scrivere dei dinieghi su un' artista così intelligente e carismatica in questo repertorio...dove gli anno gli orecchi...?quel Lust.... finale che non può più sparare come una stella mistica...sembra un riflesso di luce crepuscolare e lunare ancora più atroce proprio perché sussurrato...da eroina superba e angelicata nel suo sacrificio.
Das ist wunderbar, herrlich, erschütternd wie Waltraud Meier dieses Stück interpretiert, mit wie viel Ausdruck und mit welch strahlender Stimme sie diese himmlische Musik zum Leben erweckt. Und dennoch, dennoch, bei Birgit Nilsson habe ich einfach den Eindruck, dass sie wirklich eine Art kosmisches Ereignis mit diesen Tönen gestaltet. Die kristallklare Kraft ihrer Stimme ist einfach unübertroffen.
It’s crazy that this is the same woman who delivered at least three amazing and completely different takes on the same aria (in Munich, in Bayreuth and here). I definitively had to go back to make sure it was the same person.
This interpretation is getting to the core of the music. Just listen how it moves from standing almost still to an inner movement.. How the intensity grows.
She is living Isolde. it doesn't matter if some of the high notes are flattish.....within her vibrato she mostly gets there. It's such a beautiful moving display of Wagner.. Try to join in this amazing experience..
All the great Sopranos must live the part they are playing. It's method acting. This is wonderful. You should also listen to Shirley Verret with Zubin Mehta conducting.. transcendent performance. ..
E' ciò che di più bello potessi mai desiderare...per essere rapiti da quest'opera leggete il libro di Baremboim e Chereau sulla musica e la regia di questa stessa...tutto prende un senso più compiuto. Io l'ho fatto. Non mi aspettavo di piangere, a 16 anni, per ciò che adesso so essere davvero il maggiore motivo della mia vita!
Watching and listening to her doing the finale, I feel like I have been there every step of the way, drained, and about to collapse with her!!!..gripping and then total silence....not sure when I come back to reality.
FYI his name is Barenboim,and not Barenboin! He is one of the finest musical personalities of the twentieth century-both as a concert pianist,as well as an orchestra conductor. Waltraud Meier gives us a masterful performance. Brava! Bravo!
Absolutely. It's also amazing how she has moved from the Wagnerian mezzo roles -- Sieglinde, Waltraute, Kundry -- into Isolde. How many Isoldes are there in the world anyway? Not many.
He actually wrote in his books that quote, as he intend to show the music as a part of the silence, or in this case evolving into silence. Then, the the applauding is interrupting the natural course of music, then one of the most beautiful parts of it: its death...
I can't agree more.Every single Wagner part just becomes her,Kundry,Sieglinde,Isolde,Venus,Waltraute.Who can denies she is the greatest and clever wagnerian singer ever?
Whoa, Barenboim makes a real point of literally 'dragging out' the last notes of the score and orchestra, and some people just cannot wait to scream and shout, as if they'd actually do Meier or anyone else a favour there. There's a kind of respect and revery and adoration that doesn't need a 'me-first-with-BRAVAAA' attitude, and seeing poor Isolde is going mad and deluded at the end of a supremely tragic narrative just doesn't lend itself to shouts at the first possible second. How people on here commenting even show understanding for those shouting is beyond me. It's obvious to see Barenboim felt it totally inappropriate, and the shouts cut through those last moments like a knife. Look for Meier's Munich performance to understand how much more dignified an audience can behave. There's total and utter silence for at least a minute, and when the applause sets in it's sort of somber, very befitting not only Meier's achievement but also the tragic story.
+marsfuture I know the magic Barenboim is able to create with Wagner´s music. And you´re absolutely right, to worship the artists´ achievements, there are those seconds of quiet and understanding it´s over, the magic is gone, NOW is the time to bring yourself, the audience, back to reality. Nowadays a lot of opera goers are celeberating themselves for their presence at an event. And that "bravo"-mentality is really killing me
Never a truer word spoken. It breaks my heart... every concert you attend nowadays. Ruined by someone who doesn’t understand the importance of silence.
Inégalée Waltraud Meier, "timbre à la fois rond et lumineux, présence dramatique écrasante, abandon qui n'est propre qu'aux plus grands interprètes. Qui a connu Waltraud Meier en Isolde rien qu'une fois dans sa vie, reste marqué pour toujours" a écrit avec grande justesse Barbara Möller dans Die Welt. Il n'est malheureusement pas indiqué ici que la mise en scène de ce Tristan/Isolde est du très regretté Patrice Chéreau, les décors de Richard Peduzzi, lesquels ont produit avec Barenboin un Ring à Bayreuth qui fait toujours date.
bodiloto Non sono un esperto, esprimo il mio gusto personale in seguito all'ascolto. La mia impressione è stata quella e ciò mi basta. Del resto odo colle mie orecchie, non con quelle altrui.
I'm not refering to the audience's appreciation. If you pay attention to the Liebestod, the sound's nature demands a very long and fading-like death, which is why Barenboim needed complete silence at the end.
Como expressar o sentimento que essa obra nos causa ? Aonde será que estava o pensamento de Wagner ao compor essa maravilha ? Sublime... simplesmente, sublime !!!
What a performance, thank you for sharing it. I do feel a bit sorry for Mr Barenboim, though, he clearly was brought back to earth rather abruptly. WHile one does not wish to discourage an enthusiastic hearer from expressing his appreciation, it is wished they might allow themselves an extra moment of silent, 'innig' enjoyment.
thing can't be always perfect can it :P when Meier started to sing this, she was brillant too.... more than 10 years ago.... I wish I can listen to Stemme under Barenboim's conducting. listen to the harmony he created in the final 3 minutes... master...
I agree, but why do you have to take such a beautiful moment in time and barrel in with the "F" words? If you can appreciate this, your vocabulary is probably more extensive!
... wunderbare Darstellung: Barenboim mit Waltraud Meier; vgl. auch die Barenboim-Gesamt-Postings aus Bayreuth - vor allem das tolle ältere: mit der Ponnelle-Inszenierung (Tristian: Rene Kollo)
For all: there is a story that piatogorski played for Casals and apologized for having played badly and Casals said "never mind my friend i am grateful for one beautiful phrase" i have tears in my eyes she gets it
Jessye Norman and Waltraud Meier are the two best suited singers for the role of Isolde. And yes, I know Jessye Norman passed away last October, but she is such a wonderful soprano.
She wills herself to die and I think the bleeding is meant to show that. She does such a fantastic job of it, too. Her rendition(s) of this aria are my favorites.
@kingcw Lol, Italian audience after all!! But really I don't blame them, if the performance comes across so strongly in a video like this can you imagine what it must have been like watching it live?; I'm surprised the clapping did not start as soon as she falls down dead!!! Extraordinary performance!!!
Given Isolde's weakened emotional and physical state, Mme. Meier has provided a vocally convincing "Liebestod." We are so used to the stentorian portrayals of Nilsson, Flagstad, et al, we sometimes forget that Isolde has undergone trauma that has shaken her to her very bones. Brava, Mme. Meier!
