Reviews/Photos: First Look at Wagner's TRISTAN UND ISOLDE at the Metropolitan Opera

The Metropolitan Opera has unveiled a new production of Richard Wagner's Tristan und Isolde, now running through April 4, 2026. The production marks the Met debut of director Yuval Sharon and is conducted by Music Director Yannick Nézet-Séguin, who leads the opera at the Met for the first time.

Dramatic soprano Lise Davidsen stars as Isolde, the Irish princess at the center of Wagner's meditation on love and death. Opposite her, tenor Michael Spyres performs the role of Tristan for performances throughout the run, with Stuart Skelton scheduled to sing Tristan on April 4.

Mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova appears as Brangäne, while bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny performs the role of Kurwenal. Bass-baritone Ryan Speedo Green sings King Marke for most performances, with Stephen Milling scheduled for the April 4 performance.

The new staging features scenic design by Es Devlin, costume design by Clint Ramos, lighting design by John Torres, projection design by Jason H. Thompson, video design by Ruth Hogben, and choreography by Annie-B Parson. Tilman Michael serves as chorus director.

Tristan und Isolde runs approximately four hours and fifty minutes and is sung in German with Met Titles available in English, German, and Spanish.

Video cameras will be in operation during the March 17 and March 21 performances as part of the Met's Live in HD cinema transmission series.

What did the critics have to say?

Joshua Barone, NY Times: Virtually every singer was favored by Sharon’s production, which kept performers downstage and well blended with the orchestra. Yannick Nézet-Séguin, the Met’s music director, is a conductor who relishes extremes of sonority and rubato, and you can imagine he would be a good fit for Wagner’s pruriently domineering control of tension and release in this opera. It wasn’t clear at first, however, whether Nézet-Séguin had a grip on it; he operated within a narrow, elevated dynamic range in the Prelude, but by the introduction to the third act, he more movingly reflected the score’s crests of force and precipitous desolation.

Kevin Ng, The Times: But Tristan depends on its lead couple, and the Met has a pairing that stands with the greats of the past. Davidsen’s titanic voice is made for Isolde, and indeed the wild fury of her Act I narrative and curse pins the audience to the back of its seats. But equally impressive are her floated high notes in the Liebestod, and she blends beautifully with Michael Spyres’s Tristan in their long, sensual duet. Spyres, making his role debut, is a marvel, with a gorgeous baritonal sound and impeccably secure high notes. Tristan’s death scene, which takes up most of the third act, is usually as much a trial for the audience as for the tenor, but Spyres maintains both tonal beauty and dramatic commitment.

No’a L. bat Miri, Bach Track: Down in the pit, Nézet-Séguin kept a healthy pace with the Met Orchestra. There were a few passages with questionable dynamics, but it couldn’t have been more than a minute across four hours of otherwise excellent music.

Photos: Karen Almond