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The Arts Intel Report

A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler
A Cultural Compass
For the World Traveler

Tristan und Isolde, by Richard Wagner

Gwyn Hughes Jones and Mary Elizabeth Williams in Tristan und Isolde.

Jan 17 – Feb 4, 2023
Place de la Bastille 75012 Paris

Conceived by the LA Phil for presentation at the Walt Disney Concert Hall, with a colossal overhead video from Bill Viola and discreet live action directed by Peter Sellars, this Tristan und Isolde amounts to two complementary productions in one. With a prerecorded soundtrack, Viola’s dreamscapes of the lovers amid fire and water would easily stand on their own. But living singers deserve to have a presence, too, and Sellars has served them well. Gustavo Dudamel conducts. Mary Elizabeth Williams and Gwyn Hughes Jones are heard as the adulterous lovers. —Matthew Gurewitsch

© Vincent Pontet / OnP