A scene from “The Tristan Project” at the Los Angeles Philharmonic. Photo by Wally Skalij/Los Angeles Times.
In 2004, the Los Angeles Philharmonic premiered “The Tristan Project,” a multimedia reinterpretation of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde by then-Music Director Esa-Pekka Salonen, director Peter Sellars, and video artist Bill Viola. “The revolutionary production was … a defining moment in the history of the L.A. Phil, and in the history of video art,” writes Mark Swed in the Los Angeles Times. “After 15 long years, ‘The Tristan Project’ is back. Now, it belongs to [current LA Phil Music and Artistic Director Gustavo] Dudamel…. This is his first time conducting an opera that he has long been obsessed with … Dudamel brings a heavy physicality to all this that is very different from Salonen’s more transparent approach. Every emotion is brought out…. When Viola unleashes his spectacular fire, you burn. When the angels take us aloft, you glide upward on angels’ wings. The orchestra … remained ever alive to the moment, be that in the most desolate of solos or passionate of climaxes. When it matters the most, this is playing to take your breath away.”
