MADRID — Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," a tale of forbidden, ill-fated love, was presented at the Teatro Real this week when one of the major events of the international opera season was also taking place at the theater: the Tuesday premiere of the composer Charles Wuorinen's "Brokeback Mountain," an adaptation of the acclaimed short story by Annie Proulx, who wrote the libretto. The "Tristan," in a production by Peter Sellars, with video by Bill Viola, is a powerful staging that is new to Madrid. On Monday, the house was packed for the fifth performance of the run, attended by Queen Sofía of Spain, who waved to onlookers from the royal box, though among the applause there were scattered boos that could have been motivated by any number of political and economic issues.
In December, in anticipation of both works (a review of "Brokeback Mountain" will follow), the Teatro Real presented Donizetti's "L'Elisir d'Amore," a playful idea, since "The Elixir of Love" could be a subtitle for "Tristan."
The season was planned by Gerard Mortier, who became the company's artistic director in 2010 but announced in September that he has cancer and moved on to be artistic adviser. This shift followed an unusually public confrontation between Mr. Mortier, who tried to steer the appointment of his successor, and the board, who brought in Joan Matabosch. That tension now seems to be in the past.
The first manifestation of this "Tristan und Isolde" came in 2004, at Disney Hall in Los Angeles, a semi-staged version involving extensive use of Mr. Viola's videos and directed by Mr. Sellars. (A version of that production later played at Lincoln Center.) A fully realized Sellars-Viola "Tristan" was introduced at the Paris National Opera in 2005, though the creative team seems to keep refining the staging, which opened at Teatro Real on Jan. 12.
Opera companies everywhere have been experimenting with video. For all the dramatic potential of the medium, the challenge is that video elements in an opera can become distracting. Many people have found this a problem with the Sellars-Viola "Tristan."
I would say that it is more a trade-off than a problem. Though Mr. Viola' s videos are mostly slow-moving and ritualistic, it is true that the compelling images can take your attention from the singers. Still, his videos acutely explore themes of the opera, even specific words from the libretto, to mesmerizing effect.
At first, the staging is spare, almost abstract. In Wagner's libretto, Isolde, the Irish princess, along with her handmaid Brangäne, are seen quartered in the ship of the warrior Tristan, who is taking Isolde to be the bride of King Marke of Cornwall. Here, Isolde (the soprano Violeta Urmana) and Brangäne (the mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova) are seated on a low black box against a backdrop of video images showing dark, churning seas. It could not be simpler or more evocative.
During the episode known as Isolde's n arrative and curse, when she tells the story of how she encountered the wounded Tristan and nursed him to health, only to discover that he had killed the man she was intending to marry, Mr. Viola's videos become much more involved. We see images of a man and a woman, both grim-faced. Standing in place, they slowly remove their clothing, everything, then engage in what seem to be purification rituals of water and fire. It is touching that these two actors are not young and sexy but middle-aged and unglamorous.
Some of Mr. Viola's imagery casts a spell, especially the close-ups of the hands of the actors being washed by streams of water, and scenes when their whole bodies are submerged, with only gurgling bubbles to indicate their breathing.
Still, during this crucial scene, Ms. Urmana, an acclaimed Isolde, sang the narrative and curse with rich, textured sound; deep expressivity; and chilling top notes.
It is wonderful to hear the singers and the excellent orchestra in such an acoustically lively house. The conductor Marc Piollet drew a warm, glowing and surging account of the great score from the inspired players. The tenor Robert Dean Smith, known for his Tristan, was ill. Franco Farina took his place. Mr. Farina has mostly performed Italian repertory; Tristan was his first Wagner role. On Monday, his singing was marred by a tendency to bellow and drift off pitch. Still, he gave a creditable performance, at his best, singing with pliant phrasing and muscular intensity.
With her plush voice, fervor and dramatic sens itivity, Ms. Gubanova is an affecting Brangäne. The bass-baritone Jukka Rasilainen brings stentorian sound and earnestness to Kurwenal, Tristan's servant and good-hearted friend. The formidable bass Franz-Josef Selig is an aching Marke, so shattered to discover that his loyal Tristan is overwhelmed with love for Isolde.
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