To compare these great interpreters of Wagner ... sad solo after Tristan has died. This is a creature vibrant with feeling from first to last and one 'speaking' the words with tremendous urgency.

The Bayreuth Festival mounted this 2009 production of Richard Wagner's 1865 opera Tristan und Isolde, with Michael Beyer directing. It stars Robert Dean Smith as Tristan, Iréne Theorin as Isolde ...