Opera "Tristan and Isolde": content, interesting facts, video, history

R. Wagner opera "Tristan and Isolde"

The opera "Tristan and Isolde" is considered to be the greatest work of the German composer. Richard Wagner - it is easy to understand, but it has an incredible artistic integrity. The basis for the work was an ancient legend, which the composer fit into several scenes. A large number of drama participants replaced two main characters and a few additional characters. In the work, Wagner paid special attention to spiritual impulses - love, attraction, devotion, pain, despair, lust for death, delight. All these notes of the human soul have received a brilliant and generous reflection in the music.

Summary of the Wagner OperaTristan and Isolde"and many interesting facts about this work read on our page.

Summary of Tristan and Isolde

Tristan drives the bride of King Mark - Isolde by sea to Cornwall. Her maid Brangen, who believes that the princess was very lucky with her fiancé, wonders why the hostess is so evil and upset. Brangen on the orders of Isolde calls the nephew of King Tristan, but he avoids talking. His long-time friend and squire Courvenal replies that there’s no reason why Tristan will not have a conversation with a woman who will soon become a lawful wife. Isolde shares with Brangena that Tristan once killed her fiancé, but she was able to forgive him and left after a dangerous injury. The knight swore to serve her faithfully, but then took hostage to take him to his old uncle Mark. Out of desperation, Isolde decided to add poison to the wine and drink it with Tristan. However, instead of poisoned wine, Brangen brings a love potion to Tristan and Isolde. Tristan guesses about Isolde's intentions and drinks a drink. In anticipation of death, a man and a woman admit to their tender feelings. Right at that moment the sailors shout to them that the ship has arrived in Cornwall.

Isolde is looking forward to the moment to see her beloved knight. Brangen tries to warn the hostess, because Meloth is watching Tristan. But Isolde does not worry at all, because knight Meloth and Tristan are close friends, and he is on their side. Upon meeting, the couple sings the odes of night and death, ignoring Brangen, warning that dawn is about to come. Then the squire Kurvenal rushes in and shouts for his friend to carry off his feet, but the King immediately comes with his confidants. Melot betrays a young man, the King is angry with the ingratitude of his nephew. Tristan invites his beloved to share his life with him. Melot attacks a man and inflicts a severe wound on him.

The faithful squire Kurvenal delivered Tristan to the castle in Bretoni. The brave knight constantly remembers his childhood. His father passed away when the boy was not yet born. In difficult birth mother died. The shepherd’s sad song makes Tristan think seriously about the death that has haunted him since birth. Kurwenal tells a friend that Isolde is coming soon to heal a dangerous wound. Tristan misses her beloved and waits for her, but dies at the moment of the ship's arrival. Isolde can not get over the idea that her lover is no more. The old King and his retinue appear. Kurwenall, who does not know why Mark came, kills Meloth and dies himself. Brangen, who persuaded the King to visit Kareol, says that Mark forgave his nephew and came to bless his beloved. Isolde is unable to live without her lover and leaves this world after Tristan.

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Interesting Facts

• Wagner I wanted to put "Tristan and Isolde" in Italian in Rio de Janeiro, but for political reasons he was denied this.
• The conductor at the premiere was Hans von Bülow, who was a devoted Wagner fan. Shortly before the performance, Hans had a daughter, whom he named after the main character. The man was not aware that his wife had given birth to a baby from Richard. Subsequently, Cosima von Bülow gave birth to two more children to the composer, before she left Hans and married the maestro.
• According to legend, Isolde was a princess from Ireland, the daughter of a strong healer. She perfectly understood herbs, drugs and could treat people.
• According to the author, in the opera, he tried to convey the "true man" who can not live in isolation from nature. That is why Richard draws the viewer's attention to the pictures of nature and pictorial sketches.
• Among the composers of that time, it was Wagner who sang "night romanticism" in his works as a symbol of the liberation of the senses from the mind. The action of the opera mainly takes place in the night and evening hours.
• Romantic duo Isolde and Tristan composer defined as a giant forest melody, which is remembered during walks in the woods.

• During the staging of the opera at least ten conductors caught a heart attack. In 1911, the Austrian conductor Felix Motl suffered a heart attack during a speech, and a man died 11 days later. In 1968, German conductor Joseph Kilbert died right on the stage.
• When Wagner created the work, he lived in Zurich in the house of the wealthy merchant Otto Wesendonka and was madly in love with his young wife Matilda.
• Before the failed production in the Vienna Court Opera, more than 20 rehearsals with actors took place.
• The opera "Tristan and Isolde" is not for nothing called the most ineffective work of Wagner. The composer intentionally reduced the number of events and actions to make room for the psychological states of the characters.
• According to one of the legends, the king buried his beloved in two graves near the chapel. At the grave of the young man grew strong blackthorn, which passed to the grave of Isolde. The townspeople cut the shrub several times, but the next day it grew again.
• Russian spectators first heard the opera in 1899 at the Mariinsky Theater. Ershov and Litvin were chosen as performers of the main parts.
• According to the author, the love of Isolde and Tristan is not just feelings between a man and a woman. The main characters love each other like gods, not like humans.
• Opinions about the legendary opera from the very beginning to the present day are very ambiguous. So, after the premiere, Friedrich Nietzsche wrote an article where he openly pointed out the mediocrity of Wagner and his works. On the other hand, many famous composers (Rimsky-Korsakov, Debussy, Strauss, etc.) were delighted with the creation of the composer.
• To the 200th anniversary of the musician in the Moscow theater "Novaya Opera" the premiere of the play "Tristan and Isolda" took place.

The history of the creation of "Tristan and Isolde"

The legend of Tristan and Isolde, which was common in medieval Europe, was born in Ireland. The legend had many variations, and for the first time it was described on paper in the XII century (the Franco-Breton novel). Over the course of time, various artistic elements were added to the legend, but the main point was unchanged - love is stronger than all, even death. However, Wagner it turned out to interpret this story in his own way - he wrote a work about an unconditional desperate passion that is beyond reason, kinship, a sense of duty. The tormenting feelings of the protagonists break their habitual way of life and ideas about the world.

The composer loved his “brainchild” very much and considered Tristan and Isolde the best work in his career. The writing of the opera is connected with the incredibly romantic stage in the fate of the author - his love for Matilda Wesendonk, who married his patron. Although the woman was madly in love with Wagner, she was able to overcome her passion and did not betray her legitimate spouse. For Richard, "Tristan" became the personification of his own undivided feelings.

Wagner first heard the famous legend in the 1940s, and in the autumn of 1854 he could not get rid of the idea of ​​creating an opera. In the summer of 1857, the composer even left the Nibelung Ring trilogy to fully immerse himself in the new project. Richard wrote the text of the work in a few weeks, and in the fall he began to create music.

Opera productions

"Tristan and Isolde" is very difficult opera for the production, so its premiere was postponed until the summer of 1865. At first, the composer planned to stage it at the Paris Opera, but because of the failure of the opera, Tannhäuser chose the Baden State Theater in Germany. However, Wagner was offered a job in Vienna. Casting actors lasted several years, but in the end the Vienna Opera refused to put on opera. Even when the King of Bavaria, Ludwig II, who adored the writings of Wagner, helped raise the necessary amount for the production, the original production failed because of the illness of the main actress.

The long-awaited premiere of the opera was held on June 10, 1865 at the National Theater of Munich. Initially, the squall of criticism fell upon the composer’s work, and remarks and reproaches were heard from all sides. Wagner was accused of creating an immoral work, demonstrating the death of heroes because of passionate passion. However, over time, critics and spectators changed their anger to mercy. Many eminent composers of those times admired the work of Wagner and called it a real masterpiece.

Requirements for singers and the orchestra, performing in the opera, are unusually high. The performers need to discover the feelings of their heroes as brightly and accurately as possible, while the viewer should feel their sincerity and truthfulness.

Modern opera houses arrange incredible and unusual productions of the greatest work of the composer-reformer. The premiere of "Tristan and Isolde" at the Metropolitan Opera was held in 2016. The spectators were amazed by the incredible video design of the gloomy seascapes, the fatal visions and the metallic surroundings on the ship.

The composition of the actors in this performance was matched flawlessly. With their heartfelt vocals, the singers were able to recreate a sense of beauty and poetics, which captures the power of the orchestra and the tenderness of solo instruments. The solo of the English horn that imitated the shepherd's pipe was especially vivid.

The main director showed the audience a love interest, a thirst for death, a preference for the night darkness to the light of the day of the main characters. Tristan and Isolde in the play are dependent on their ideas, passion, and completely blind in their delusions.

In Russia, admirers of Wagner’s talent were able to evaluate his work at the large-scale premiere of the Novosibirsk Theater in February 2015. This production was defined as “a breakthrough from the usual”, because the legend of Tristan and Isolde was presented in the musical genre.

The musical and technical side of the performance was made in the style of folk rock - on the stage there was a classical orchestra, electronic and folk instruments. Professional choreographers created a real atmosphere of ballet, and even used fiery Irish dances.

The performance, which was "stitched" from a French musical and a Russian play, unexpectedly turned out to be very complete. The staging looked like a fascinating story that made the viewer cry out in the final act. The resulting performance can without a doubt be called unique - it is not a copy of a foreign musical, but its modern and unusual stage version.

Music

"Tristan and Isolde" - the original and extraordinary work of a musician. In the opera, there is a minimum of actions and movements, the plot is centered around the mental anguish of the main characters, their painful and tragic passion.

The orchestral introductions define the mood of the whole work - intense, passionate, exciting melodies constantly replace each other throughout the whole action. Overture motifs plow up sincere torments of Tristan and Isolde, the song scenes serve as a backdrop for the viewer. The first act opens the song of the young sailor, sounding akkapelno, then the active, strong-willed song of Kurvenal picks up the chorus. The main description of the heroine is hidden in her touching story, where anxiety and sadness are immediately felt.

In the next act, the main place is given to the beautiful love duet of two lovers, who are diluted by the performance of Brangens and King Mark. The music during the meeting of the beloved is filled with contrasting moods - its beginning shows happiness from the desired meeting, then the memories of torments in the moments of parting, the curse of daylight, are revealed. The main episode of the duet - a leisurely, fiery melodies, glorifying night and death.

The third act is accompanied by two large monologues - the wounded Tristan and the fading Isolde. The orchestral intro shows the viewer the unbearable pain and languor of the protagonist. Tension increases step by step, Tristan's speeches sound even more desperately, but suddenly there is joy and ecstasy, which are again replaced by longing.

In the final scene of Isolde's death, melodious melodies very quickly flare up, which seem to transform and illumine the gloomy sound of previous acts. In this scene, the love duet from the second act takes on an enlightened sound.

Opera "Tristan and Isolde"is a brilliant work on the power of music, the art of speech and is rightly considered the greatest hymn of love passion. Thanks to the composer’s work, the world first became acquainted with the musical drama in which the orchestra plays the main role. In the opera Wagner embodied his ideas about continuous melody, creating a new and unusual style of musical arias and duets.