(Photo by Ken Howard courtesy of LA Opera)
By TIMOTHY MANGAN [Orange County Register, 20 January 2008]

The way "Tristan and Isolde" is written and talked about, you're surprised that it's done at all. Wagner's 1859 epic isn't just any opera, it's a holy monument of music, an untouchable masterpiece. It single-handedly (apparently) started the harmonic revolution that resulted with the end of tonality. Its two lead roles require superhumans with lungs of steel.