Robert Wilson / Spring, Summer, 2026: ‘Tristan and Isolde’ Opens Feb 5th / Exhibits & Upcoming ….

Spring / Summer 2026

We were deeply moved by the 3,200 mourners who came together in New York, Paris, Berlin, and Milan to honor Robert Wilson. Your heartfelt condolences and generous donations in Bob’s memory mean more to us than words can express.

His spirit lives on through the Watermill Center and his extraordinary body of work, both on and off the stage. Please stay connected through our newsletter, website, and social media channels for updates on opportunities to experience Bob’s work live.

TRISTAN AND ISOLDE:

‘HOPE CAN BE IN DARKNESS’

Bob created the staging and design of Tristan and Isolde in close collaboration with Nicola Panzer, Stephanie Engeln and Marcello Lumaca. He did not live to to witness the final rehearsals or the premiere. For him, he said, Tristan was about space — immense space. — “As if on a plane, looking out of the window.” — Or beyond the world. — “It is an opera about day and night. And about hope. So, it is about light.” — “It should not be a tragic love story, nothing oppressive. It must be light. It is joyful, not sad. Hope can be in darkness.”

Tristan and Isolde opens this week, on February 5, 2026, at the SNG Opera and Ballet Ljubljana, with subsequent performances on February 7, 9, 10, 12, 14 and 16. Co-producing operas in Wroclaw, Brussels and Madrid will present the production in the coming years.

Tokyo’s MEM Gallery is currently presenting a solo exhibition dedicated Bob’s memory as well as the 50th anniversary of Einstein on the Beach, offering the first public exhibition of eleven drawings created for this seminal opera. In the fall of 1975, Bob worked in seclusion at Barcelona Point, the Long Island home of his friend Christophe de Menil. There, he produced a remarkable body of drawings that crystallized the visual and conceptual foundations of Einstein. Meditations on rhythm, space, and light, these works reveal the private origins of one of the most influential operas of the 20th century.
Eleven Drawings for Einstein on the Beach: until March 1 at MEM (Multiply Encoded Messages), Tokyo

Another premiere took place last month, when Galerie Nosbaum Reding accompanied the performances of PESSOA—Since I’ve Been Me in Luxembourg with a distinguished solo exhibition of Bob’s Pessoa drawings, tracing his creative process across time — as projections, observations, and recollections.

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CURRENT AND UPCOMING EVENTS

• Ubu returns to the stage for guest performances in Riga on Feb. 6 and 7.
• Moby Dick can be seen in Düsseldorf on Feb. 13 and 14, in Ludwigshafen on March 6–8 and in New York from Apr. 28 to May 3.
• The Tempest is in repertoire in Sofia on Feb. 17–18 and Mar. 14, and will be presented at the Festwochen in Vienna this summer.
• Isabelle Huppert will perform Mary Said What She Said in Adelaide from Mar. 6–8.
• Seven Solitudes, Bob’s second “legacy work,” will premiere in Kaunas and play on Mar. 20–22 and 27–29.
• Dorian remains in repertoire in Kaunas and plays there on Apr. 17 and 18.
• The Messiah, in Mozart’s version, will be presented in Houston from Apr. 17 to May 3.
• PESSOA—Since I’ve Been Me returns to Paris from June 13–21.