The Liceu wants to make history with a 'Tristan und Isolde' starring Lise Davidsen and Clay Hilley

BarcelonaEverything points to a historic milestone. The Gran Teatre del Liceu premieres its own production on Monday, January 12th at 6:30 pm. Tristan and IsoldeWagner's opera that marked "a point of no return," as the Liceu's artistic director, Víctor Garcia de Gomar, recalled this Thursday at a press conference. A world premiere, then, and with a stellar cast that has attracted journalists from international media outlets such as The Guardian and Le FigaroNorwegian Lise Davidsen, the finest soprano of her generation, will debut in the role of Isolde. "It's a role that all the singers I admire have sung," admits Davidsen. Also a Wagnerian at heart, American tenor Clay Hilley, who sang a few months ago Tannhäuser In Vienna, he will sing Tristan, a role he has tackled some fifteen times. "It's the most depressing role in opera, and the first time I sang it was in 2022," recalls Hilley, who doesn't forget the demands of Wagner's work: "There's no margin for error; any deviation is fatal. A lot of preparation is necessary, and no socializing for 48 hours beforehand. And no alcohol."

Davidsen and Hilley already had a Wagnerian experience at the Liceu when they sang, in a concert version, the first act of Die Walküre June 27, 2024"Lise Davidsen far exceeded all expectations," wrote ARA critic Jaume Radigales, who praised Hilley's "admirable vocal line." And now the two will star in five of the seven performances of Tristan and IsoldePerformances will be held on January 12, 19, 23, 27, and 31. The performances on January 15 and 25 will feature American tenor Bryan Register, making his Liceu debut, and Russian soprano Elena Pankratova. The cast for all performances is completed by Brindley Sherratt, Tomasz Konieczny, Roger Padullés, Ekaterina Gubanova, Albert Casals, and Milan Perišic.

The Liceu's project on Wagner's impossible love has been a long time in the making. "Long before my pregnancy," explains Davidsen, who gave birth to twins last year. "I have to sing a lot, and it's been a wonderful time to do it," adds the Norwegian soprano, who is grateful for the flexibility she's had in balancing work and family life during rehearsals. "They've let me finish early so I can put the children to bed," she says. According to Davidsen, despite the demands of this Wagnerian masterpiece, premiered in Munich in 1865, the role of Isolde is not particularly difficult to interpret. "But I did find it difficult to understand," she says of a character willing to die and kill, yet whom a potion places in the realm of impossible love. "Everything must be very clear so that it's understood what happens when she takes the potion, because then everything is love, love, and love... And in this production, everything is clearer because the first act is clearer," Davidsen adds. When Wagner took on the medieval legend of Tristan and IsoldeShe had the past of the two characters told by her in the first act, as a kind of flashback which recalls that Tristan killed Isolde's fiancé, but that she did not carry out her revenge and spared his life, moved by his gaze. This is what Davidsen believes must be made clear in the first act to understand, for example, the excess of the night of love in the second act.

A "women's team" with Bárbara Lluch and Susanna Mälkki

“We wanted to have an all-female team,” says Víctor García de Gomar. That’s why he entrusted the stage direction to Bárbara Lluch and the musical direction to Susanna Mälkki. “When Víctor called me, I thought he’d gone mad,” says Lluch, happy, of course, to be working on her favorite opera, despite her initial fear. “I’ve never been so scared before taking on a project. Surprisingly, the process has been incredibly easy in terms of communication and commitment. I’ve never felt so comfortable and so happy in a theater. The Liceu is my home, and I feel that way more and more each day,” she says. According to Lluch, the respect was mutual. “We were all scared. The first day of rehearsal was like an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting: ‘Hi, my name is Bárbara Lluch, I’m terrified. Hi, I’m Susanna Mälkki, I’m scared too. Hi, I’m Lise Davidsen, me too… Everyone…” Lluch is right to say that the Liceu is his home: in 2023 he recovered the Turandot by Puccini, who had directed his grandmother, Núria Espertand in 2025 he did the stage direction of The sleepwalker Bellini's.

Unlike the stage display exhibited by Katharina Wagner in Lohengrin last season, and far from the expressionist Death Star which Àlex Ollé placed at the center of Tristan and IsoldeLluch has sought a "surreal and minimalist" path, with a "surrealism closely linked to beauty, especially in the second act." "I can't imagine Isolde in a kitchen, or anything realistic like a teacup or a television. Tristan and Isolde are demigods," Lluch explains. "The feelings are very human, but the music isn't earthly; it's a cathedral. And on stage, there's nothing to hinder the narrative. We've limited the costumes and set design so we can enjoy Wagner's magic and focus on the psychological interpretations."

Wagner's Expressive Range

To perform this musical cathedral—4 hours and 35 minutes with two intermissions of 30 and 25 minutes—Finnish conductor Susanna Mälkki has the Liceu Orchestra, an ensemble that Josep Pons has transformed into an excellent interpreter of the Wagnerian repertoire. It goes without saying that a top-notch orchestra is essential to bring to life "a work of this magnitude, the pinnacle of the operatic repertoire," as Mälkki puts it. "Wagner's expressive range is incredible," she adds, grateful to be part of this premiere at the Liceu, a theater where in 2022 directed The triptych by Pucciniwhere she worked alongside Lise Davidsen.

"This opera is dizzying, because it has been created by legendary people," says Lluch. "The best thing to do is take the plunge. And I've been lucky enough to share the pool with people of absolutely spectacular caliber. I'm very grateful because I'm aware that this is a magical, historic, very fun, and very exciting moment. And I hope you enjoy it as much as we are."

One person who will not be able to enjoy this masterpiece is Swedish soprano Iréne Theorin, who has dropped out of the cast "due to a recent illness that will prevent her from taking on the role of Brangäne," according to the Liceu. She is replaced by Russian mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova. Theorin was Isolde in Àlex Ollé's production at the Liceu in 2017, but she has long been haunted by some kind of Wagnerian curse at the Rambla theater: last season she was also unable to participate in the Lohengrin with stage direction by Katharina Wagner, with whom he also does not have a good relationship.