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Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde

March 21, 2026, 11:00 am

Lisa Davidsen as Isolde and Michael Spyres as Tristan in Wagner's "Tristan und Isolde." (Photo: Karen Almond / Met Opera)

Opera director Yuval Sharon – the first American to direct an opera at the Bayreuth Wagner festival – brings a new staging of a timeless classic. This new production of Tristan und Isolde honors the work’s Celtic roots by tying in mystical and mythological themes, amplifying the opera’s metaphysical components. Lise Davidsen and Michael Spyres are the star-crossed, titular charecters of Tristan and Isolde. Also in the cast, mezzo-soprano Ekaterina Gubanova as Brangäne, alongside bass-baritone Tomasz Konieczny as Kurwenal. Note: due to the opera’s run time, the broadcast will begin an hour earlier than usual at 11 am CT/12 pm ET.

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Meet the Host

Debra Lew Harder joined the on-air staff of WRTI in 2016. She hosted and produced a range of programming across WRTI on-air and digital platforms, such as Midday Classics and Saturday Morning Classical Coffeehouse, in addition to serving as an artist interviewer for the Philadelphia Orchestra in Concert broadcasts. She is a concert pianist who has performed with orchestras and in recitals, including at Wigmore Hall in London, the Dame Myra Hess Memorial Concert Series in Chicago, and Verizon Hall at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia. She has also recorded two solo piano albums.

Lew Harder holds Bachelor of Science and Doctor of Medicine degrees from Kent State University and Northeast Ohio Medical University. She practiced as an emergency room physician before earning a second doctorate in music from the Ohio State University, where she studied piano with the American virtuoso Earl Wild.

Lew Harder served on the applied music faculty of Haverford and Bryn Mawr Colleges, and she is the co-director of Medicine + Music, a co-curricular program at Sidney Kimmel Medical College of Thomas Jefferson University that works closely with medical students through coachings, rehearsals, workshops, and performance opportunities to enhance their happiness and development as physicians.

Afternoon Music with Candice Agree

Afternoon Music with Candice Agree

Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde