The Wagner bicentenary celebration continues with the composer’s boldest fusion of legend and harmonic innovation. 'Tristan and Isolde' forced him to break off work on his 'Ring Cycle' – near this very juncture in the Proms cycle, during the composition of 'Siegfried' and before 'Götterdämmerung'.
Wagner's tale of forbidden love and constant yearning is given in a concert performance led by Violeta Urmana and Peter Seiffert in a drama where love and death become one.
Semyon Bychkov conducts the BBC Symphony Orchestra, BBC Singers and BBC Symphony Chorus.
Peter Seiffert tenor (Tristan)
Kwangchui Youn bass (King Mark)
Violeta Urmana soprano (Isolde)
Boaz Daniel baritone (Kurwenal)
David Wilson-Johnson baritone (Melot)
Sophie Koch mezzo-soprano (Brangäne)
Andrew Staples tenor (Shepherd/Young Sailor)
(Running time: six hours. There are two intervals of 30 mins; sung in German.)
(Note: in the Royal College of Music at 3.15pm, a Proms Plus Literary event. Wagner's sets are notoriously challenging: giant dragons, underwater singing, storms, horses and destruction by raging fires. Desinger Peter Mumford talks to Anne McElvoy about staging solutions in the twenty-first century. Free.)