Tristan und Isolde, Quarantined
Need to know
Tristan und Isolde is one of the most important operas and pieces of western classical music ever written. It serves as a historic point between tonality, a set of rules in music, and an abandonment of these rules into atonality and other styles of contemporary music. It took years for opera to both compose and ultimately premiere, and when the opera was heard it was both cheered on as the future of music and criticized for its vulgar disregard of music.
Wagner expressed in letters to Liszt that he was developing a kind of drama that would be expressed purely through music. In a letter to Marie Wittgenstein he wrote: “For the moment, music without words: several things I would rather treat in music than in verse.” There is little stage action in Tristan und Isolde, the opera and its drama is developed in the orchestration.
More links to articles about Tristan und Isolde: NPR, The Guardian, OperaWIre, OperaWire: A Brief Survey of the Philosophy of Wagner’s “Tistan und Isolde”
Learn more about Wagner and his operas The Ring Cycle and The Flying Dutchman from our Quarantine Pages.
The Chord That Changed Western Music
The opening chord in Wagner’s Tristan und Isolde is one of the most analyzed and studied chords in western music. This chord, more affectionately known as the “Tristan Chord”, is built on the notes F, B, D#, and G#, and respelled is a half diminished 7th chord. The chord itself is not that unique, Beethoven, Chopin, Mozart, and other great composers had already composed using it, but Wagner’s resolution of the chord or lack of, is what makes it groundbreaking. We hear the chord throughout Tristan und Isolde, each time, we anticipate it’s resolution, but it doesn’t resolve until Isolde’s great final aria, Lieberstod, nearly 4 hours after we initially heard the chord.
Read about the chord from WFMT and watch some Youtube videos explaining the “Tristan Chord”
Myth or Autobiography?
The story of Tristan und Isolde dates back to the 12th century with numerous variations of the tragic story, but the timing of Wagner’s setting the tale coincide with specific events in his own life. In 1852, Wagner has fled to Zurich as a political refugee, while there he is befriended by a wealthy silk merchant Otto Wesendonck who becomes his patron. At the time Wagner is married to his first wife Minna, but this doesn’t stop him from falling in love with his patron’s wife Mathilde. In 1857, the composer does two strange things, first, he sets music to poems by Mathilde, they are known as Wesendonck Lieder. Secondly, he halts his work on his great Ring Cycle to create Tristan und Isolde, a story about a love triangle.
Read: Richard Wagner and His Women from GermanCulture.com and Wagner’s Star-Crossed Lovers, Tristan and Isolde from DallasOpera.
Love Potion
Tristan und Isolde’s plot would be rather short without a drink. Let’s celebrate Wagner’s revolutionary opera with our own “Love Potion.” Watch John mix it up here!
Ingredients: 1 1/2 oz Vodka, 1/2 oz Cointreau, 1/2 oz Cranberry Syrup, 1/2 oz Lime Juice, Raspberries (shake muddle), Lime Wheel for garnish. Directions: Add all the ingredients to a shaker with ice, shake until chilled and double strain into a chilled coupe glass, garnish with a lime wheel. Enjoy!
The role of Tristan… it’s a killer!
Both title roles are considered some of the most difficult parts to sing in all of the opera repertoire. The role of Tristan was premiered by Ludwig Schnorr von Carlsfeld, the young tenor (29 years old) fell ill and died only weeks after singing the role. Wagner blamed himself for making the role too demanding.
The opera has also proven fatal to multiple conductors, both Maestro Felix Mottl (1911) and Maestro Joseph Keilberth (1968) died during performances of Tristan und Isolde. Read more unique facts about the opera from WQXR.
Synopsis
A 4 hour opera summed up in 3 Minutes
ACT I: Irish Princess Isolde is being taken back to Cornwall on Tristan’s ship, so she can marry his uncle, King Marke. Wishing death for herself and for Tristan, Isolde asks her maid to brew up her mother’s poison potion and then proposes a toast of friendship with Tristan. Unknowingly, Isolde’s maid has swapped out the poison for a love potion and upon drinking it, both Isolde and Tristan fall deeply in love.
ACT II: While King Marke is out hunting, his wife Isolde meets secretly with Tristan. Their tryst is interrupted when a jealous knight, Melot, brings the King home early from his trip. The King is dismayed by their betrayal and Melot raises a sword against Tristan. Tristan does not defend himself and is wounded.
ACT III: Tristan has returned to his castle in Brittany, France, where he is slowly dying from his wounds. Knowing only Isolde’s magic could save him, Tristan’s attendant Kurwenal sends for her. Isolde arrives, but it is too late, Tristan is too far gone and dies in her arms. As King Marke arrives to tell the couple he has pardoned them, Isolde envisions Tristan calling for her in the world beyond and follows him into the afterlife.
Full Plot
Read the full plot from the Met.
Stream the Opera
Watch this 1983 production from the Bayreuth Festival
Here is a rare 1967 production starring Birgit Nilsson, Wolfgang Windgassen, and Hans Hotter.
Watch this 1989 production from Madrid starring Montserrat Caballé and Richard Versalle.
Additional Listening
Tristan und Isolde: Prelude
Love Duet from Act II: Liebersnacht
Tristan’s Act III Aria: Dünkt dich das?
Isoldes’s final aria Lieberstos (Mild und leise): Birgit Nilsson, Jessye Norman, Waltraud Meier, Nina Stemme, Deborah Voigt