Ted,

Start as many threads as you like! Jump in - the more the merrier....

Ron

IMHO there is no excuse for productions of anything to be "static".  That defeats the point of staging them.  That's not to say that people must be frenetically chasing each other around the stage all the time..   but if nothing is happening at all (lighting, scenery, principal performers, subsidiary characters etc) for over-long periods, than the producer's failed.

...and doesn't that go to the heart of the 'erotic' anyway? The necessity or requirement to keep a distance? And certainly in less licentious times than ours (such as Wagner's), this was a social norm, and a principal diving force behind concepts of transcendental love. Ted's right, god bless 'im.

Indeedy-doodly, and the entire story of Tristan und Iseult (in its original medieval context) was a moral fable on the lapse of l'amour courtois which had hitherto been the moral standard which upheld relationships between beautiful young women married to older men, and the younger heroes who were attracted to them.  Medieval society recognised the "difficulty" caused in such situations, but invented for itself the concept of "Courtly Love" (not to be confused with Courtney Love).  In principle a young (married or betrothed) princess could be admired by a young knight, with the proviso that this love was mortified by abstaining from all physical consumation on the knight's part.  Almost the entire trouvere song repertory is based on young couples cursing the wretched fate that must forever keep them apart.

The C19th became fascinated with the concept - Wagner's opera was only one manifestation of it. Keats, Shelley and Byron had all tinkered with it, Morte d'Arthur is another, and Ivanhoe succeeded in twisting it around to fit the "stiff upper lip" expectations of the British Empire.

Certainly the element of "transgression" ought to be clear in staged productions - but as an incidental element of good stagecraft, rather than as a production concept

Two years ago I had the enormous misfortune to see a TRISTAN & ISOLDE which Gergiev had staged by himself (!) in Moscow. It was, indeed, as woefully static as mentioned above.  Screen-projections of burning asteroids (which didn't change from start to end) made up the "scenery".   It was undoubtedly the worst production I've ever seen of the opera (and almost the worst I've seen of any opera), not helped by the fact that the Mariinsky orchestra (flown in for the occasion) were clearly sightreading much of the work.  The crits were so exceptionally poor ("Please don't come back until you've rehearsed it" wrote one main newspaper) that the project was discontinued,  and stagings at the Mariinsky's home base have been under the hand of a producer.  And even the cheapest tickets were $40, to add to my displeasure

 The quality of a production is very different thing from the concept, you can agree with the latter but be appalled by the former.
   'Oedipus Rex' is not exactly 'lively' but a good production is terrifyng, I believe Wieland's first post-war 'Tristan' was very influenced by Greek Drama but I do not know how it went down with the faithful.  Incidently could some one tell me what is English for 'Wagner' my dictionary gives 'waggon maker' which sounds somewhat prosaic for our Ric.
    Thanks for the kind thought martle, I wondered why I felt so radiant.
    Reiner, I had to look up Courtney Love (I'm very innocent) it's put a whole new perspective on 'Le Morte d'Arthur'

This was really the only good thing in the Gergiev production mentioned above - Mikhail Kit (the main Wotan of the Mariinsky RING) played Marke - he's a singer who isn't capable of poor performances, and his dignity of bearing knocked spots off the others (who seemed to be struggling to remember the music).


Although, ironically, Stravinsky didn't intend it to be staged - it was supposed to be exactly the kind of "grand oratorio" you mentioned earlier, Ted   The only rudimentary "staging" element was that the Speaker was supposed to stand apart from the rest of the soloists and the "Greek" chorus, and speak in the audience's language (rather than in Cocteau's peculiar Latin).  "Not dead, but turned to stone", as the Speaker says.   However, I do agree that it can work well as a staged piece - I suppose you've seen the famous "Tokyo" "for-television" production with Jessye Norman as Jocasta?   There are some extended clips of it on YouTube if you haven't, or if you'd like to revisit your favourite moments   However, even the right setting can bring a concert performance to life - I once sang in it in a performance in the British Museum, with Maurice Denham declaiming the Speaker's words from atop some Grecian ruins (by special permission of the BM)

Hm - I do actually remember something about costumes and masks and decor and such in the front of the score but the score's a long way away at the moment...