Remember the Furtwängler Tristan, the Böhm Tristan, the Kleiber Tristan, or any of the other great Tristans of the past 50 years? If you do, the first thing you remember about them is who did the conducting. Does anyone remember the Suthaus Tristan or the Windgassen Tristan or the Kollo Tristan? No: as important as the singers are, they are not nearly as important as the conductor in Tristan und Isolde. Indeed, it could fairly be said that the great Furtwängler, Böhm, and Kleiber Tristans succeeded even though, in every case, the weakest member of the cast was the tenor.
No such charge could be leveled against this Tristan because Plácido Domingo is, even in his sixties, the best Tristan of the past 50 years. He has the golden tone, the soulful sensitivity, the muscular strength, and, because this is a studio recording made over six weeks, the long-term stamina that Suthaus, Windgassen, and Kollo lacked. If what you're looking for in great Tristan is a great Tristan, look no further. Indeed, if what you're looking for is a great male cast, look no further. From Domingo through René Pape to Olaf Bär to Ian Bostridge, they are all easily as good as or better than their competition.
But, if what you're looking for in a great Tristan is either a great Isolde or a great conductor, keep looking. Nina Stemme is a passionate Isolde but nowhere near in the same league as Domingo, making this a very lopsided Tristan. More importantly, Antonio Pappano is a decent conductor whose recordings of Italian operas were clean and efficient but little more, and his Tristan is at best merely an orchestral backdrop for Domingo and at worst dull and directionless. EMI's studio sound is clear and warm, but naturally favors the singers.
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