The Philharmonia are opening their 2010/11 season with a bang - or rather, a semi-staged performance of Tristan und Isolde.
Gary Lehmann and Christine Brewer head a fabulous cast that also includes Anne Sofie von Otter and John Relyea. Bill Viola provides projections and Peter Sellars is named as "artistic collaborator", so I assume what we'll be getting is a show that has already been seen in the States under the banner of The Tristan Project - a widely praised film and music combination that may enrage a certain section of the audience with its on-screen striptease and gay Tristan. Seat prices go up to £75, but that compares well with New York's $500.
Tickets went on sale today to Southbank members (public booking opens on 22 February) and are going fast already.
The rest of the Philharmonia's season includes a Bartók series, and of course more bleeding Mahler, this time a full symphony cycle from Lorin Maazel. Come 2012, we'll all be able to whistle every tune he ever wrote.
