Seattle Opera Tristan

So, next year's Seattle Opera Summer Wagner will be Tristan und Isolde. I'm chagrined to read that it won't be a revival of the magnificent 1998 production by Francesca Zambello, the second act of which was the most beautiful thing I have ever seen on any stage. Instead, there will be a new production, by Robert Israel, directed by Peter Kazaras, starring Annalena Persson and Clifton Forbis; Asher Fisch will conduct.

Why is this, anyway? Does the 1998 production, made for the pre-renovation opera house, simply not fit? Was it irrevocably damaged when it was produced in Chicago in 1999? The expense and some real problems with fitting the production to the War Memorial Opera House stage were cited as to why we didn't get the production a few years ago when Christine Brewer sang Isolde here.

You could also say I'm wondering about Kazaras's directing abilities. I bet Stephen Wadsworth might want to take a shot at one of the great psychological operas in the repertory.