THE NEW YORK TIMES
February 9, 2002

NOT LONG AFTER SURGERY, MASUR TAKES ON 'TRISTAN'
by Anthony Tommasini

Just nine weeks after undergoing a kidney transplant operation, Kurt Masur returned to the podium of the New York Philharmonic on Thursday night. Following such an ordeal, many conductors would have wanted to ease slowly back. But Mr. Masur, who had some leeway about the timing of the procedure, badly wanted to conduct these scheduled performances of excerpts from Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde," including the complete Act II, with Deborah Voigt and Stig Andersen in the title roles.

He did it. Though he looked a little thin, a little pale, Mr. Masur seemed alert and eager when he walked out with his soloists on Thursday, greeted by rousing applause. His energy never flagged during the nearly two-hour program, performed without an intermission, which will be repeated tonight, Tuesday and next Thursday. If his performance was not a triumph, it was distinguished, affecting and impressive.

Though for the last 30 years Mr. Masur has been primarily known for his work with orchestras, he spent most of the prior two decades in German opera houses. It must now be frustrating for him not to have more opportunities to conduct opera. The most engaging quality of this performance was the intensity of Mr. Masur's involvement.

In addition to Act II, he conducted the Prelude to Act I, the Prelude to Act III and Isolde's final "Liebestod," performing them in sequence, without a break, like a compact version of the entire opera. In the Prelude to Act I, he took bold liberties with pacing, especially in the opening.

It seemed like music that could not bear to begin. In Act II, as the illicit young lovers, their secret passion unleashed by a magical potion, greet each other with rapture, sink into deceptively serene bliss, then build inexorably to fateful spasms of ecstasy, Mr. Masur captured the music's volatility while projecting its architectonic structure.

The only shortcoming was the sometimes tentative execution of the orchestra and a tendency to compensate for insecurity by playing too loudly. Still, the Philharmonic musicians also seemed excited, which was clear from the vitality and overall sonorous beauty of their work.

Ms. Voigt, a reining dramatic soprano, has been careful to keep some lightness and lyricism in her voice so that she can sing Italian repertory and Strauss roles like Ariadne and the Empress, which call for agility and radiance as well as power. This has meant avoiding Wagner's Brunnhilde and Isolde, so far. But with these performances she takes a big step toward Isolde, a role she will sing complete at the Vienna State Opera in the spring of 2003.

Fear not, Deborah Voigt fans. She knows what she is doing. She sang the music with power to spare and, where called for, lyrical grace and lovely pianissimos. She does not yet convey Isolde's frenzied passion, but that may come. Meanwhile, it is a pleasure to hear the music sung so beautifully and intelligently.

Mr. Andersen's midcareer adventure as a Wagnerian tenor may be coming to a close, for he sounded vocally patchy on Thursday night, though he may have been nursing a cold. (He kept sipping water.) Still, after nearly coming to grief, he rallied when it counted and got through the demanding act with some of his former vigor and dusky sound.

Violeta Urmana brought her dark-hued mezzo-soprano voice and rich artistry to the role of Brangane. The respected bass-baritone Theo Adam, who is 75, sang King Mark. Though his voice is just a shade of what it was, he captured the sadness and dignity of the betrayed king. The promising dramatic tenor Thomas Studebaker was Melot.

The big news of the evening was that Ms. Voigt may be the Isolde of the future. The good news was that Mr. Masur is back.