Tristan und Isolde is a tough opera to stage. Director Yuval Sharon did it anyway
Richard Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde is one of opera’s hardest to put on, but Yuval Sharon – who makes his Met debut – loves a challenge
In his book on reinventing opera, director Yuval Sharon describes Tristan und Isolde as “the single hardest work in the traditional repertoire to stage”.
Yet here he is, about to make his Metropolitan Opera debut at the helm of a new production of Richard Wagner’s epic love story.
“It’s something I wrote before I got the job, and it’s part of why I took the job,” says Sharon, author of 2024’s A New Philosophy of Opera. “Because I knew it was the hardest, and I love impossible challenges.”
Peter Gelb, general manager of the New York-based Met, has admired Sharon’s work “since he was an enfant terrible” known for innovative productions in Los Angeles and Detroit.
“I think it was inevitable … that he would end up eventually at the Met,” Gelb says. “It was just a matter of finding the right project. It’s finally landed in this production.”
Anticipation among opera lovers has run so high – in part because the great Norwegian soprano Lise Davidsen is cast as Isolde – that most of the seven scheduled performances sold out the 3,800-seat house even before the March 9 opening. In a rare move, the Met announced it was adding an eighth performance at the end of the run.