Bernard O’Donoghue [Times Literary Supplement, 9 October 2009]

In The Perfect Wagnerite, Bernard Shaw said his preferred way to watch the Ring would be sitting with his feet up in a box with his back to the stage, to avoid the distraction from the music that the machinery and clutter of productions tended to entail. So he would probably have been pleased to face the stage in this very uncluttered, stark version of Tristan und Isolde directed by Christof Loy and conducted by Antonio Pappano.