Tristan und Isolde - Mild und leise wie er lachelt (Liebestod) Play Play
Jessye Norman
Soprano
London Philharmonic
Orchestra
Klaus Tennstedt
Conductor
Recorded on 10/15/2011, uploaded on 10/15/2011
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Biblioteca Multimediale dell'Istituto Europeo di Musica. Servizio di filodiffusione del sabato e della domenica.
The music published in our channel is exclusively dedicated to divulgation purposes and not commercial.
Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Mild und leise wie er lachelt (Liebestod) Jessie Norman, Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic
Tristan und Isolde has long been considered Wagner’s most influential opera. It is often associated with his departure from traditional operatic forms towards larger scale forms inspired directly by the libretto. Many also consider it the forerunner of 20th century classical music and the harbinger of the eventual departure from tonal harmony.
Wagner’s inspiration for Tristan came from Gottfried von Strassburg’s 12th century telling of the story. In conjunction, his recent introduction to the rather bleak metaphysics of Arthur Schopenhauer’s philsophy further heightened his response to the tragedy of the legend and the seriousness of his setting. Work began on the opera in 1854, when Wagner was already preoccupied with the composition of his colossal Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle. He grew more and more intrigued with the Tristan story that by 1857, he set aside Siegfried, the third opera of the Ring cycle, to concentrate solely on Tristan. The composition process of Tristan, however, coincided with a tumultuous point in Wagner’s life. Having already fled Dresden after an arrest warrant had been put out for him for his involvement in the May Revolution of 1849, the conception of Tristan was also partly inspired by his alleged affair with the wife of his patron, Otto Wesendonck, while residing in exile in Zurich. Wagner no doubt found a poignant parallel between his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck and the secret love of Tristan and Isolde, who was betrothed to King Mark. Revelation of the affair in 1858 ultimately led to Wagner separating from his wife, Minna, and leaving Zurich for Venice. In Venice, Wagner completed composition of the opera through Act II. However, fearing extradition, he left Venice after eight months and settled in Lucerne, where he completed Act III.
The road to the first performance of Tristan was no less difficult. A disastrous performance of Tannhäuser in Paris, the operatic capital of Europe, prevented him from staging the opera there. Later, the Vienna Court Opera offered stage the opera. Despite seventy rehearsals between 1862 and 1864, the opera was still not ready for production and gained a rather ill-repute of being “impossible.” It would not be until Wagner’s patronage by Kind Ludwig II of Bavaria that the resources became available to make a production of Tristan possible. Even then, however, the original May 1865 premiere was postponed until June due to the opera’s Isolde going hoarse. Finally, in July of that year, after only four performances, the singer playing the role of Tristan unexpectedly died, which immediately led to speculation that the strain of singing the part had killed him.
In addition to the setbacks faced in mounting the first production of Tristan, initial response to the opera was not entirely favorable. Though it found supporters among other progressives such as Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy and Friedrich Nietzsche, many of the leading musical figures of the day were appalled, to say the least, at Wagner’s latest opera. Eduard Hanslick, Vienna’s leading music critic, referred to it as a “worship of animal passion;” Clara Schumann as “the most repugnant thing I have ever seen or heard in my life;” finally, Johannes Brahms, who at least had a professional respect for Wagner, remarked that whenever he looked on the score of Tristan und Isolde he was “cross for the rest of the day.” Whereas Hanslick’s disdain for the work is largely a philosophical reaction to the work, Clara’s and Brahms’s comments refer to the many unconventional harmonic passages found in Tristan. Indeed, it was just such a use of harmony that served as inspiration for later composers, such as Mahler, Strauss and Schoenberg, leading to the ultimate demise of Romanticism.
With time, favorability for Tristan grew. Two of its numbers, the Prelude to Act I and Isolde’s aria “Mild und leise” from Act III, known as the Liebestod, are popular concert pieces—the latter in both a purely orchestral arrangement or solo soprano with orchestra. Franz Liszt transcribed the Liebestod for piano solo, which exists in two versions.Joseph DuBose
Classical Music | Soprano
Richard Wagner
Tristan und Isolde - Mild und leise wie er lachelt (Liebestod) Play
Recorded on 10/15/2011, uploaded on 10/15/2011
Musician's or Publisher's Notes
Biblioteca Multimediale dell'Istituto Europeo di Musica. Servizio di filodiffusione del sabato e della domenica.
The music published in our channel is exclusively dedicated to divulgation purposes and not commercial.
Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde - Mild und leise wie er lachelt (Liebestod) Jessie Norman, Klaus Tennstedt, London Philharmonic
Tristan und Isolde has long been considered Wagner’s most influential opera. It is often associated with his departure from traditional operatic forms towards larger scale forms inspired directly by the libretto. Many also consider it the forerunner of 20th century classical music and the harbinger of the eventual departure from tonal harmony.
Wagner’s inspiration for Tristan came from Gottfried von Strassburg’s 12th century telling of the story. In conjunction, his recent introduction to the rather bleak metaphysics of Arthur Schopenhauer’s philsophy further heightened his response to the tragedy of the legend and the seriousness of his setting. Work began on the opera in 1854, when Wagner was already preoccupied with the composition of his colossal Der Ring des Nibelungen cycle. He grew more and more intrigued with the Tristan story that by 1857, he set aside Siegfried, the third opera of the Ring cycle, to concentrate solely on Tristan. The composition process of Tristan, however, coincided with a tumultuous point in Wagner’s life. Having already fled Dresden after an arrest warrant had been put out for him for his involvement in the May Revolution of 1849, the conception of Tristan was also partly inspired by his alleged affair with the wife of his patron, Otto Wesendonck, while residing in exile in Zurich. Wagner no doubt found a poignant parallel between his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck and the secret love of Tristan and Isolde, who was betrothed to King Mark. Revelation of the affair in 1858 ultimately led to Wagner separating from his wife, Minna, and leaving Zurich for Venice. In Venice, Wagner completed composition of the opera through Act II. However, fearing extradition, he left Venice after eight months and settled in Lucerne, where he completed Act III.
The road to the first performance of Tristan was no less difficult. A disastrous performance of Tannhäuser in Paris, the operatic capital of Europe, prevented him from staging the opera there. Later, the Vienna Court Opera offered stage the opera. Despite seventy rehearsals between 1862 and 1864, the opera was still not ready for production and gained a rather ill-repute of being “impossible.” It would not be until Wagner’s patronage by Kind Ludwig II of Bavaria that the resources became available to make a production of Tristan possible. Even then, however, the original May 1865 premiere was postponed until June due to the opera’s Isolde going hoarse. Finally, in July of that year, after only four performances, the singer playing the role of Tristan unexpectedly died, which immediately led to speculation that the strain of singing the part had killed him.
In addition to the setbacks faced in mounting the first production of Tristan, initial response to the opera was not entirely favorable. Though it found supporters among other progressives such as Franz Liszt, Claude Debussy and Friedrich Nietzsche, many of the leading musical figures of the day were appalled, to say the least, at Wagner’s latest opera. Eduard Hanslick, Vienna’s leading music critic, referred to it as a “worship of animal passion;” Clara Schumann as “the most repugnant thing I have ever seen or heard in my life;” finally, Johannes Brahms, who at least had a professional respect for Wagner, remarked that whenever he looked on the score of Tristan und Isolde he was “cross for the rest of the day.” Whereas Hanslick’s disdain for the work is largely a philosophical reaction to the work, Clara’s and Brahms’s comments refer to the many unconventional harmonic passages found in Tristan. Indeed, it was just such a use of harmony that served as inspiration for later composers, such as Mahler, Strauss and Schoenberg, leading to the ultimate demise of Romanticism.
With time, favorability for Tristan grew. Two of its numbers, the Prelude to Act I and Isolde’s aria “Mild und leise” from Act III, known as the Liebestod, are popular concert pieces—the latter in both a purely orchestral arrangement or solo soprano with orchestra. Franz Liszt transcribed the Liebestod for piano solo, which exists in two versions. Joseph DuBose
More music by Richard Wagner
Albumblatt
Ride of the Walküre, from Die Walküre
Liebestod, from Act III, Tristan und Isolde
Ride of the Walküre, from Die Walküre
The Flying Dutchman (Overture)
Die Walküre, excerpt
Ein Albumblatt für das Klavier
Der Engel, from Wesendonck-Lieder
Liebestod, from Tristan und Isolde
Stehe still!, from Wesendonck-Lieder
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