Eugene Symphony launches three-season “Tristan und Isolde” project

The Eugene Symphony will perform the first act of Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde on April 21 at the Hult Center for the Performing Arts, launching the orchestra’s three-year project focusing on the opera. Music Director Francesco Lecce-Chong will lead the performance, which also will feature the tenor and bass sections of the Eugene Symphony Chorus, plus soprano Nina Warren as Isolde, Roy C. Smith (Tristan), mezzo-soprano Ola Rafalo (Brangäne), and baritone Eugene Villanueava (Kurwenal). Act II is planned for the Eugene Symphony’s 2022-23 season, with Act III to follow during the 2023-24 season. In a press release, Lecce-Chong said, “Wagner’s Tristan and Isolde is one of the most consequential pieces of art ever created and I am thrilled to bring it in its entirety to Eugene for what may be the largest project in our orchestra’s history…. Across three seasons, audiences will have a chance to immerse themselves in this intoxicating sound world and discover how music, literature, and philosophy were all forever changed in its wake.”