For the Paris Opéra premiere of this conceptual look at Wagner's work, director Peter Sellars decided to present Tristan und Isolde without the musical additions that maestro Salonen devised in Los Angeles. Hence, what premiered in Paris on April of 2005 is no longer "The Tristan Project," per se, but rather Wagner's opera, performed in one evening, as it has traditionally always been presented.

Needless to say, this directorial decision is the only bit of tradition left in the work. Bill Viola's participation in this production transforms the work into an evening of avant-garde art, as it complements the work's transcendent, abstract, and progressive nature. Perhaps, finally, after over one hundred years of it being around, there has come a scenic director that has been able to fully complement Wagner's abstract music with images as abstract as the opera itself.