Richard Wagner: TRISTAN UND ISOLDE

Conductor: Asher Fisch

Director: Johannes Erath

Set design: Heike Scheele

Costumes: Gesine Völlm

Lighting Design: Andreas Grüter

Dramaturgy: Gerald Maria Bauer

Tristan: John Matthew Myers

Isolde: Irene Roberts

King Marke: René Pape

Brangäne: Kristina Stanek

Kurwenal: Christoph Pohl

Melot: Sean Michael Plumb

A young sailor / a shepherd: Matthew Newlin

A steersman: Nikola Diskić

Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

“Drowning, sinking, unconscious, supreme bliss” – these are the final words at the ecstatic musical close of Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan and Isolde . With this “action in three acts”, as Wagner himself called it, the Tiroler Festspiele Erl continues its Wagner cycle at the Passionsspielhaus. Johannes Erath’s new production will explore this radical drama of a love caught between metaphysical yearnings and societal order and trace its protagonists’ longings for death. The title roles will be sung by John Matthew Myers and the mezzosoprano Irene Roberts. Acclaimed in Erl as Kundry in Parsifal , this production will see Roberts make her debut in the role of Isolde.

The fact that Wagner was able to complete this work in the first place was thanks in no small part to the self-composure of Mathilde Wesendonck, the object of an unfulfilled passion on his part that he transformed into what became one of the most revolutionary works in operatic history and a timebomb for the harmonic foundations of Western music.

Team

Asher Fisch Conductor

Asher Fisch is Chief Conductor of the West Australian Symphony Orchestra and has been Music Director of the Tiroler Festspiele in Erl since the beginning of the 2024/25 season. He is internationally recognized as one of the leading conductors and has an extensive repertoire that covers both opera and concert areas. He began his career as an assistant to Daniel Barenboim and as a conductor at the Berlin State Opera. Since then, he has conducted at major European opera houses, including Vienna, Milan, Munich, Paris and Madrid. As an acknowledged Wagner specialist, Fisch has recorded two complete "Ring" cycles as well as "Tristan und Isolde". In addition, he has intensively studied the Italian repertoire and recently released a Puccini album together with tenor Jonas Kaufmann, the new Artistic Director of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl.

As a concert conductor, Asher Fisch has led renowned US American and European orchestras such as the New York Philharmonic, the Chicago Symphony, the San Francisco Symphony, the Cleveland Orchestra and the Philadelphia Orchestra, the Berlin Philharmonic, the Munich Philharmonic, the Orchestre National de France and the London Symphony Orchestra. Asher Fisch is also active as a pianist and can be experienced in piano concerts, with chamber music and as a song accompanist.

Johannes Erath Director

Heike Scheele Set design

Gesine Völlm Costumes

Andreas Grüter Lighting Design

Gerald Maria Bauer Dramaturgy

John Matthew Myers Tristan

Irene Roberts Isolde

Irene Roberts wurde in Sacramento (California, USA) geboren und studierte Gesang an der University of the Pacific und am Cleveland Institute of Music. Von 2015 bis 2024 war die Mezzosopranistin Mitglied des Opernensembles an der Deutschen Oper Berlin wo sie u.a. in Partien wie Marguerite (La damnation de Faust), Nicklausse (Les contes d’Hoffmann), Suzuki (Madama Butterfly), Cherubino (Le nozze di Figaro), Rosina (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Brangäne (Tristan und Isolde) und als Carmen zu erleben war.

An der Metropolitan Opera in New York debütierte Irene Roberts 2012 in Le nozze di Figaro. Gastspiele führten sie in den letzten Spielzeiten u.a. nach Tokyo, Nandy, Dijon, Amsterdam, Venedig und Macerata. Sie pflegt eine enge Beziehung zur San Francisco Opera, wo sie 2013 in Les contes d’Hoffmann ihr Debüt gab. Als Venus (Tannhäuser) debütierte sie 2024 mit großem Erfolg bei den Bayreuther Festspielen. Als Brangäne sowie mit ihrem Rollendebüt als Eboli (Don Carlo) steht sie in der aktuellen Saison an der Deutschen Oper Berlin auf der Bühne. Die Partie der Kundry verkörperte sie bereits an der Staatsoper Hannover, der Bayerischen Staatsoper und der Deutschen Oper Berlin zu erleben. Neben ihrer regen Operntätigkeit ist die Mezzosopranistin als Konzertsängerin sehr gefragt.

René Pape King Marke

René Pape is one of the outstanding vocal personalities of our time. Since 1988, as an ensemble member at the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the bass has been singing the great roles of his field such as Méphistophélès (Faust), Filippo II (Don Carlo), Rocco (Fidelio), Gurnemanz (Parsifal), King Heinrich (Lohengrin) and King Marke (Tristan und Isolde). He has also appeared, among others, as Figaro (Le nozze di Figaro), Prince Gremin (Eugen Onegin), Leporello and Don Giovanni (Don Giovanni) as well as Wotan (Das Rheingold, Die Walküre) on stage. Guest engagements have taken him, among others, to the Salzburg and Bayreuth Festivals, the festivals in Glyndebourne, Verona, St. Petersburg and Aix-en-Provence, to the Teatro alla Scala in Milan and the Metropolitan Opera in New York. On the concert stage, he is in demand as a lieder interpreter and concert soloist. He is a two-time Grammy winner as well as a Berlin, Bavarian and Austrian Kammersänger.

Kristina Stanek Brangäne

Christoph Pohl Kurwenal

Sean Michael Plumb Melot

Matthew Newlin A young sailor / a shepherd

Lyric tenor Matthew Newlin is from Illinois and trained in Edwardsville and Chicago. From 2013 to 2024, he was a member of the ensemble at the Deutsche Oper Berlin, where he appeared in roles including Don José (Carmen), Alfredo (La traviata), Count Almaviva (Il barbiere di Siviglia), Don Ottavio (Don Giovanni), Tamino (The Magic Flute), Belmonte (The Abduction from the Seraglio), and Lenski (Eugene Onegin). Guest appearances have taken him to venues including the Teatro Real in Madrid, the Semperoper in Dresden, the Opéra national de Paris, the Dutch National Opera in Amsterdam, the Theater an der Wien, the Bavarian State Opera in Munich, the Staatsoper Unter den Linden in Berlin, the Théâtre Royal de la Monnaie in Brussels, as well as the Atlanta and Santa Fe Operas.

Nikola Diskić A steersman

Orchestra and Chorus of the Tiroler Festspiele Erl

Tiroler Festspiele Erl Orchestra

The music springs from the enthusiasm of a motivated and exceptionally well-prepared ensemble that has grown together over the years. The Tyrolean Festival Erl Orchestra was first formed in the summer of 1999—and today, musicians from 20 nations play together. Already in its first year, the ensemble achieved unprecedented success, which would go on to bring international recognition to the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Top young talents, musicians from major international orchestras, chamber music specialists, and lecturers come together annually in summer and winter—and since 2017, also in fall and spring—as part of the Tyrolean Festival Erl. Under the direction of festival founder Gustav Kuhn, the orchestra garnered rave reviews from international critics and cemented its reputation as one of the world’s finest Wagner orchestras. With the start of Jonas Kaufmann’s tenure as artistic director in September 2024, Asher Fisch—a conductor in high demand internationally in both opera and concert settings—has taken over the helm of the orchestra.

In addition to Richard Wagner’s ten major music dramas and operas by Strauss, Mozart, Beethoven, Verdi, and Rossini, the orchestra’s repertoire includes Beethoven’s symphonies and many other key works from the concert repertoire spanning the Baroque and Romantic periods, as well as contemporary works and world premieres.

Tiroler Festspiele Erl Choir

Founded in 2007, the choir serves as an equal musical partner to the festival orchestra. The focus is on meticulous attention to individual parts. As part of the festival, the singers work on a wide range of projects, from a cappella programs to concert and opera productions. Since the opening of the Festspielhaus Erl in 2012, the repertoire has placed additional emphasis on bel canto works and Verdi’s operas.

The development of a Baroque choral sound in the works of Bach and his contemporaries is also a key focus of the ensemble’s work; since 2009, it has maintained close ties with Capella Minsk, the State Academic Choir of the Republic of Belarus. Founded in 1940, this choral ensemble has made it its mission to preserve Belarusian folk music and to premiere works by modern and contemporary composers.

The choir is distinguished by its precise intonation, harmony, versatility, and dynamic sound—qualities that have formed the basis for numerous tours throughout Europe in recent years. Its repertoire includes requiems, masses, cantatas, and sacred works, as well as operas. After Lyudmila Yefimova spent many years developing and shaping the choir’s quality, Olga Yanum took over as the ensemble’s director following her death in 2018.