Tristan und Isolde

Plot in three acts | Text by the composer | In German with German and English surtitles

Duration: approx. 4 3/4 hours | 2 intermissions | for ages 16 and up

With "Tristan and Isolde", Richard Wagner created what is probably his most radical, but also most sensual opera. Two lovers are drawn into a maelstrom of passions so intense that redemption is only possible through death.

In order to escape her unwanted marriage to King Marke of Cornwall, the Irish king's daughter Isolde wants to end her life. However, together with Tristan, the king's nephew, she accidentally drinks not poison but a love potion. Tormented by unfulfilled longing, the two live from then on for the desire to be united in death.

Richard Wagner adapted the medieval epic by Gottfried von Strasbourg for his "Tristan" and was inspired by Schopenhauer's philosophy. However, he combined Schopenhauer's pessimistic ideas of striving for the end of existence with his own inclination towards sensual devotion. To this end, he created music that brings to life the overwhelming feelings of the characters, who are barely able to act. Like the ever-increasing desire of the lovers, the music incessantly urges for redemption. The almost symphonic musical language used by Wagner is characterized by the collapse of tonality and extreme chromaticism - a timeless "infinite melody" for eternity, which was to have an irreversible influence on the course of music history.