Tristan and Isolde is a tragic opera in three acts by the German composer Richard Wagner , who also wrote the libretto (text). The story is based on a famous medieval romance. The opera was first staged in Munich on June 10, 1865.
The opera begins with a magnificently expressive prelude, after which the curtain opens to reveal a ship on which the beautiful Irish princess Isolde is traveling from her homeland to Cornwall. Her escort is Tristan, a brave knight and the nephew of King Marke of Cornwall. Tristan is bringing Isolde to his uncle as the aging king’s bride. Tristan had previously killed Isolde’s fiance, Morold, in a duel. Isolde is intent on having Tristan drink a death potion she asks her maid Brangane to prepare. The terrified Brangane substitutes a love potion. Isolde hands the potion to Tristan to drink, snatching the goblet and drinking the remainder of the potion herself. The knight and the princess instantly fall in love, and their feelings for each other continue even after Isolde has married Marke.
The lovers meet one day outside King Marke’s castle while he is out hunting. Marke and his huntsmen return unexpectedly and catch them together. The king’s henchman Melot attacks Tristan, his former friend, who allows himself to be injured. He withdraws to his castle of Kareol in Brittany, France, and becomes delirious from the wound he has received. Tended by his servant Kurwenal, Tristan longs for Isolde. When her ship finally arrives, she rushes to Tristan, only to see him die in her arms as he utters her name one last time. Marke, Melot, and Brangane arrive in the second ship. Kurwenal dies in the act of slaying Melot, unaware that the king has come to pardon his nephew. Isolde herself dies, singing in a final passionate soliloquy of the love that she can now only share with Tristan in death.
Loading the player...Liebestod from Tristan and Isolde
Wagner’s music for Tristan and Isolde broke new ground. It not only conveyed the emotion and stirring passion of the lovers, it also marked a point of departure from the system of major and minor keys that had dominated music for nearly 300 years. The opening of the prelude in particular includes a progression of chords that do not seem to be rooted in any key at all. The music of Isolde’s closing soliloquy is usually referred to as the “Liebestod” (“Love-death”) from Tristan and Isolde. The Act I prelude and the Liebestod are often perfomed together in concert programs. Sometimes the Liebestod is performed with a soprano, and sometimes in an arrangement only for orchestra.
