TRISTAN UND ISOLDE.

“Tristan und Isolde,” an opera in three acts, words by the composer, was first produced at Munich, June 10, 1865, under the direction of Hans von Buelow, with the following cast of characters:—­

TRISTAN     Herr LUDWIG SCHNORR VON CAROLSFELD. 
KURWENAL    Herr MITTERWURZER. 
KING MARK   Herr ZOTTMAYER. 
ISOLDE      Mme. SCHNORR VON CAROLSFELD. 
BRANGOENA   Mlle. DEINET.

“Tristan and Isolde” was commenced in 1857 and finished in 1859, during the period in which Wagner was engaged upon his colossal work, “The Ring of the Nibelung.”  As early as the middle of 1852 he had finished the four dramatic poems which comprise the cyclus of the latter, and during the next three years he finished the music to “Das Rheingold” and “Die Walkuere.”  In one of his letters he says:  “In the summer of 1857 I determined to interrupt the execution of my work on the Nibelungen and begin something shorter, which should renew my connection with the stage.”  The legend of Tristan was selected.  It is derived from the old Celtic story of “Tristram and Iseult,” the version adopted by Wagner being that of Gottfried of Strasburg, a bard of the thirteenth century, though it must be said he uses it in his own manner, and at times widely departs both from the original and the mediaeval poem.

In “Tristan and Isolde” Wagner broke completely loose from all the conventional forms of opera.  It has nothing in common with the old style of lyric entertainment.  As Hueffer says, in his recent Life of Wagner:  “Here is heard for the first time the unimpaired language of dramatic passion intensified by an uninterrupted flow of expressive melody.  Here also the orchestra obtains that wide range of emotional expression which enables it, like the chorus of the antique tragedy, to discharge the dialogue of an overplus of lyrical elements without weakening the intensity of the situation, which it accompanies like an unceasing passionate undercurrent.”  In an opera like this, which is intended to commingle dramatic action, intensity of verse, and the power and charm of the music in one homogeneous whole, the reader will at once observe the difficulty of doing much more than the telling of its story, leaving the musical declamation and effects to be inferred from the text.  Even Wagner himself in the original title is careful to designate the work “Ein Handlung” (an action).

The vorspiel to the drama is based upon a single motive, which is worked up with consummate skill into various melodic forms, and frequently appears throughout the work.  It might well be termed the motive of restless, irresistible passion.  The drama opens on board a ship in which the Cornish knight, Tristan, is bearing Isolde, the unwilling Irish bride, to King Mark of Cornwall.  As the vessel is nearing the land, Isolde sends Brangoena to the Knight, who is also in love with her, but holds himself aloof by reason of a blood-feud, and orders him to appear at her side.  His refusal turns Isolde’s affection to bitterness, and she resolves that he shall die, and that she will share death with him.  She once more calls Tristan, and tells him that the time has come for him to make atonement for slaying her kinsman, Morold.