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Opera

Tristan und Isolde (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) ★★★★★

by •
ABR Arts • 21 November 2016
Opera

Tristan und Isolde (Tasmanian Symphony Orchestra) ★★★★★

by •
ABR Arts • 21 November 2016

Rarely has Arts Update sensed such anticipation in a city as it did before Saturday evening’s performance of highlights from Tristan und Isolde in Hobart. Throughout the day – much of it spent at MONA, admiring the new exhibition, On the Origin of Art – we kept meeting operaphiles from the mainland who were keen to find out how the TSO had managed to lure Nina Stemme and Stuart Skelton to Hobart for this single performance. Never before had the great Swedish soprano appeared in Australia; and this would be Skelton’s Australian début as Tristan, after performances in London, Baden-Baden, and New York (all of them in 2016, his ‘year of Tristan’, as he told Arts Update during an interview in September).

Arts Update heard both singers in Mariusz Treliński’s intelligent, if controversial, production at the Metropolitan Opera in late September (Arts Update, 12 October 2016). That was an unforgettable occasion, with some towering singing and a stirring performance from the Metropolitan Opera, conducted by Simon Rattle.

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Peter Rose

In 2001 Peter Rose became the Editor of Australian Book Review. Previously he was a publisher at Oxford University Press. He has published several books of poetry, an award-winning family memoir, Rose Boys, and two novels, the most recent being Roddy Parr (Fourth Estate, 2010). His latest poetry collections are Rag (Gazebo Books, 2023) and Attention, Please! (Pitt Street Poetry, February 2025). His extensive criticism appears in a variety of publication, including ABR. Rose writes and performs short absurdist plays with The Highly Strung Players.

Leave a comment
Peter Rose

In 2001 Peter Rose became the Editor of Australian Book Review. Previously he was a publisher at Oxford University Press. He has published several books of poetry, an award-winning family memoir, Rose Boys, and two novels, the most recent being Roddy Parr (Fourth Estate, 2010). His latest poetry collections are Rag (Gazebo Books, 2023) and Attention, Please! (Pitt Street Poetry, February 2025). His extensive criticism appears in a variety of publication, including ABR. Rose writes and performs short absurdist plays with The Highly Strung Players.

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Comments (4)

  • Thank you for those comments. What a thrilling evening it was. Unfortunately, I can't get to Perth for Stuart Skelton's next concert, I am looking forward to his appearance with the MSO on December 1 (also the 3rd): Act II of 'Parsifal' preceding Bruckner's mighty Ninth. In my interview with Stuart at the Met in September (see the ABR podcast) he spoke of the vital work being done by the state symphony orchestras in this regard. Meanwhile, the Ring has begun, and my review of Monday's 'Das Rheingold' has just been published. At the after-party I met my first Sieglinde (1981) - the great Nance Grant.
    Posted by Peter Rose
    23 November 2016
  • This really was an extraordinary evening and Nina Stemme was as good as Nilsson, with a more refulgent tone. Congrats to TSO for pulling this off.
    Posted by Greg Hocking
    23 November 2016
  • The presence of the great Nina Stemme, for only one performance, in Hobart, was surely a homage to our Stuart Skelton, a world star shamefully undervalued in Australia. He's too modest for his own good, but if modesty preserves the voice, then let him never change, and let him continue to live and work overseas where they know how to appreciate him. Next up is "Lohengrin", in Paris. If you can fly to Perth, he's doing a concert version beforehand conducted by Simone Young, who knows a thing or two.
    Posted by Anne-Louise Luccarini
    22 November 2016
  • Thoroughly agree: the night was utterly magical. I was one of the travellers from the mainland, lured by the rare opportunity of hearing, close to home, two brilliant singers in their prime. Thank you, and congratulation, TSO, for making it possible.
    Posted by Jill Bear
    22 November 2016

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