Nothing could have prepared Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld for the role of
"Tristano", which he premiered in 1865, fifteen years after "Lohengrin" received
its debut in Weimar.
"Tristano" is quite simply the longest tenor role in the entire operatic
repertory and its sheer length is stunning.
"Tristano" must sing almost an hour’s worth of music, while Verdi’s Otello
must sing for approximately thirty minutes.
Not only is the Tristano role excessive in length, but it requires singing
over an orchestra that is used in a different manner than before.
Wagner’s orchestra, while not technically larger, is more complex and plays
the leitmotifs that often
communicate the drama as much as the singers’ words do.
communicate the drama as much as the singers’ words do.
It is the combination of stamina and the work’s orchestration that defeat
most singers of "Tristano".
The central difficulty for Tristano, the glue that binds the other
difficulties and eventually defeats the singer with them, is stamina.
Instead of a basic paradigm of vocal melody with accompaniment, or a
string-based texture with support and coloration from winds and brass, Wagner
confides the main material to the winds and brass, and fills the string parts
with vigorously swirling and churning ornamental overlay.
The combination of length and dominating orchestral accompaniment creates almost unreasonable demands for any singer.
The vocal range of Tristan is no different than that of Lohengrin.
Tristano sings from c-sharp to a′.
(23 Tristan’s music was timed at a length of fifty-eight minutes and
twenty-two seconds in Wilhelm
Furtwängler, dir., Tristan und Isolde, by Richard Wagner, Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI 7 473228. The
total length of this recording is four hours, eighteen minutes, and twenty-six seconds. Otello’s music was
timed at twenty-nine minutes and two seconds in Herbert von Karajan, dir., Otello, by Giuseppe Verdi,
Wiener Philharmonic, Decca 411 618-2. The total length of this recording is two hours, eighteen minutes,
and ten seconds)
Furtwängler, dir., Tristan und Isolde, by Richard Wagner, Philharmonia Orchestra, EMI 7 473228. The
total length of this recording is four hours, eighteen minutes, and twenty-six seconds. Otello’s music was
timed at twenty-nine minutes and two seconds in Herbert von Karajan, dir., Otello, by Giuseppe Verdi,
Wiener Philharmonic, Decca 411 618-2. The total length of this recording is two hours, eighteen minutes,
and ten seconds)
REFERENCES:
Will Crutchfield, “The Tristan Test,” Opera News, December 1999:
16.
Though the Tristano role requires more singing in the lower register than
either Tannhäuser or Lohengrin (in Act I, before he drinks the potion; in Act
II, Scene iii, when he sings his monologue/aria: “O König, das kann ich dir
nicht sagen;” and in Act III, when he first stirs), the tessitura becomes quite
high during times of mounting tension. (There's a low tessitura in Act III while
there's mounting tessitura in the long love duet of Act II, scene
ii.)
Though Tristan presents unprecedented demands to any heroic tenor who must sing this critical role, the vocal lines are usually rather tuneful.
Though Tristan presents unprecedented demands to any heroic tenor who must sing this critical role, the vocal lines are usually rather tuneful.
It is true that Tristan must sing chromatic lines and tritone intervals,
and it is also true that the tonal underpinnings of the work are constantly
shifting.
Yet the vocal line is hardly a disjointed collection of random intervals,
as some critics make the work out to be.
Eduard Hanslick thought that Tristan und Isolde was “unvocal” and
“unsingable” and he believed that the main roles sin not only in their excessive
demands upon the voice; because of the unnatural intonation, the dominance of
the chromatic and the enharmonic, the restless, inconclusive
modulations, they are ultimately difficult to impress upon the memory.
modulations, they are ultimately difficult to impress upon the memory.
Certainly, performing the role of Tristan is not easy.
The singer who performs Tristan must not only have a large, durable
voice.
He must also be an excellent musician with a superb memory.
A singer with all of those attributes is not easily found, but the music of
Tristan can be sung with a sound technique, with legato, and with attention paid
to dynamics and phrasing.
Singing the entire role, without barking out notes, is a very difficult
task.
The most difficult moments of the role occur in the fifth scene of Act I,
after Tristan and Isolde have consumed the potion, in the long love duet of Act
II, and in Tristan’s delirious monologue aria in Act III.
After drinking the potion, Tristan and Isolde enter into a relatively
short, yet tremendously ecstatic duet that might more accurately be called a
volley of phrases.
At this moment, the orchestra occasionally produces a torrent of sound
achieved by having the winds and brass playing at forte and fortissimo.
This level of sound is not constantly produced by the orchestra, but it is
produced more consistently in Tristan und Isolde than in any other of Wagner’s
previous works, and probably than in all of his other works.
In fact, Wagner himself later thought the orchestration too heavy,
particularly in the second act, and he considered revising the
orchestration.
Tristan does much of his singing in Act II.
25 Hanslick, Hanslick’s Musical Criticisms: 224.
26 See the December 11 and December 18, 1881 entries in Cosima Wagner’s Diaries, 2: 767, 773.
26 See the December 11 and December 18, 1881 entries in Cosima Wagner’s Diaries, 2: 767, 773.
Tristan actually sings for a longer period of time in Act II than in Act
III, though he shares the singing burden of the second act with Isolde.
When Tristan meets Isolde in the second scene of Act II, every instrument
in the orchestra, with the exception of the trumpets and the harp, accompanies
his cry of “Isolde” at fortissimo (the winds, horns, and strings) or forte (the
trombones, tuba, and timpani).
Eventually the trumpets join in when the couple sings “O Wonne” just a
moment later.
Though after Lohengrin, Wagner tended to not have his characters sing
simultaneously, in Tristan und Isolde, the two main characters often sing
together.
Sometimes they exchange phrases in rapid succession, sometimes they sing in
unison, and sometimes they a type of intricate counterpoint.
Thus, to be heard, the tenor singing Tristan must compete not only against
the orchestra, but also against his soprano colleague.
The level of Tristan and Isolde’s singing does not remain at forte
throughout the second act.
In the middle of their love duet, the dynamic level comes down to
pianissimo at “O sink hernieder, Nacht der Liebe,” before the couple approaches
a musical climax.
This process of building intensity, relaxing, and then building again also occurs in Act III.
Though Wagner placed tremendous demands on his singers, he did not write
music that is completely relentless.
Tristan also has an opportunity to rest when King Mark makes his appearance
in Act II and sings his long monologue.
Tristan’s response, “O König,” has a lower tessitura, which also gives the
tenor some respite.
Act III of "Tristan" remains one of the greatest tests of stamina for a
Heldentenor.
The amount of singing required of Tristan in this act is greater than many
other opera roles, and in this act Tristan sings alone (though Kurwenal sings
solo passages as well, which gives Tristan at least a little time to rest).
As stated earlier, the tessitura begins low, only to rise as the dramatic
tension increases.
Accordingly, the orchestra becomes fuller and is scored more heavily.
When Tristan curses the potion, every instrument but the harp plays
fortissimo.
Only Siegfried compares in terms of length and difficulty, though, as will
be seen later, Siegfried is not required to sing the long, sustained musical
lines that Tristan has.
No comments:
Post a Comment