Tristan und Isolde is a three-act opera/music drama by Richard Wagner, set to a libretto by Wagner himself, and based on the 12th-century romance of Tristan and Iseult, namely the work Tristan by medieval German author Gottfried von Strassburg.
Tristan, a Breton nobleman, is in charge of bringing Isolde, an Irish princess, to Cornwall, where she will marry his uncle King Marke. However, Isolde is irritated by Tristan's apparent indifference to her, especially since he'd killed her fiancé Morold, yet at the same time, she is very much attracted to him despite herself. She wishes for both her and Tristan to die, and is given what is supposed to be a poison by her maid Brangäne. But when they drink it, they instead fall passionately in love with one another, as they had consumed a love potion instead. Despite Isolde's impending marriage to Marke, the two lovers have a passionate tryst at the castle, and end up caught by Marke and his hunting party.
When Tristan is mortally wounded in a fight against Melot, a former friend and Marke's vassal, he is brought before Isolde and dies in her arms just as Marke plans to forgive the both of them. Isolde then collapses beside Tristan and dies; both are then reunited in their "love death", the only outcome of this union.
The opera premiered on June 10, 1865 at the Königliches Hof- und Nationaltheater (now the National Theater Munich) in Munich, and it has become widely influential in the development of romantic music, as it is widely regarded as the beginning of the move away from common practice harmony and tonality. In fact, this opera is cited as a landmark in the development of Western classical music, as it is seen to have laid the groundwork for classical music in the 20th century.
This work provides examples of:
- Added Alliterative Appeal: Wagner's text mixes the alliterative stabreim he used in the Ring operas with traditional end-rhyme. Usually the monologues start out using alliteration and start to rhyme as the characters' emotions get out of control.
- Arranged Marriage: Isolde is arranged to marry King Marke of Cornwall, and Tristan is escorting her to Cornwall when the story happens.
- As You Know: Isolde reveals how she’d healed a disguised Tristan in Act I through what is essentially an exposition aria.
- Bedroom Adultery Scene: Pretty much what happens in Act II, after “O sink’ hernieder, Nacht der Liebe”.
- Belligerent Sexual Tension: Tristan and Isolde in Act I.
- Big Damn Reunion: Tristan and Isolde's reunion in Act III. Arguably the resolution of the Tristan chord. Isolde joins Tristan in death and the chord finally resolves after four hours of musical tension.
- BSoD Song: Isolde’s “Liebestod” could count as one.
- Celtic Kingdoms: Marke is the King of Cornwall, while Isolde is an Irish princess.
- Cock Fight: Tristan and Melot fight over Isolde in Act II, after Melot betrays them to Marke.
- Courtly Love: Played straight after Tristan and Isolde drink the love potion; subverted in Act II, when after they’re free from courtly restraints, they give into passion for one another and have a long tryst into the night.
- Dark Age Europe: Where the opera is set in.
- Death by Childbirth: Tristan reveals in the third act that this not only happened to his mother when he was born, but that his father also died when he was a very young child. This may strike some as a Freudian Excuse for Tristan's Death Seeker tendencies.
- Death Seeker: In Act I, Isolde wishes for the sea to sink the ship and kill herself and everyone on board, just to get away from Tristan. Also, Tristan becomes more and more enamored with the idea as the opera goes on, becoming obsessed with the idea of he and Isolde being Together in Death.Tristan: Lass mich sterben!...Nie erwachen! Lass den Tag dem Tode weichen!note
- Defrosting Ice Queen: Isolde defrosts pretty quickly after drinking the love potion.
- Died in Your Arms Tonight: Tristan dies in Isolde’s arms, cutting their reunion short. Isolde then sings her famous "Liebestod" before dying of grief.
- Downer Ending: Considering the source material, this is hardly surprising.
- Evil Sounds Deep: Averted with Marke and Kurwenal; while being sung by a bass and baritone, Marke is a Reasonable Authority Figure and Kurwenal is Tristan’s friend. Meanwhile, Tristan's traitorous friend Melot is a tenor role.
- Faint in Shock: Isolde after Tristan dies in her arms.
- Fake Assisted Suicide: Brangäne avoids participating in Isolde's murder-suicide plan by replacing the poison with a Love Potion. It still leads to death.
- Genre-Busting: Tristan und Isolde is considered a turning-point in the development of Western music, especially in the departure from tonality, and it has influenced later western Classical music, and its influence is even heard in film music today.
- Hot-Blooded: Isolde is a pretty hot-headed soprano role, especially before she drinks the love potion.
- I Want My Beloved to Be Happy: Marke wanted to pardon both Tristan and Isolde, but he’s too late.
- Ice Queen: Isolde in Act I.
- Intercourse with You: “O sink’hernieder, Nacht der Liebe” could count as one, though it’s much more metaphysical, with a focus on the mystical union of light and dark, and life and death, all combined with a brand-new eroticism never heard before.
- Lady and Knight: Isolde and Tristan are a rather unconventional example.
- Leitmotif: The Tristan Chord, noted for its move away from traditional tonal harmony.
- Light Is Not Good: Tristan and Isolde proclaim their passion for one another in a dark forest, all while proclaiming that daylight is false.
- Love Potion: What was supposed to be a poison turned out to be a love potion, and thus Tristan and Isolde fall in love with each other. Slightly subverted, because it's thoroughly implied that the two of them have already fallen deeply in love with each other prior to the start of the opera, but are prevented from expressing that love through a number of factors (anger/propriety/politics/betrayal). The love potion removes all inhibitions, so that nothing else matters to them but the realization of their love (whether through sex or death).
- Love Triangle: Tristan/Isolde/Marke. In the first act, a posthumous love triangle between Tristan/Isolde/Morold. ("If Morold meant so much to you, take my sword").
- Maid and Maiden: Isolde has this dynamic with her maid Brangäne.
- Meaningful Name: Isolde’s “Liebestod”, interestingly. While it literally means “love death” in German, it’s also used as a literary term to refer to the theme of erotic death, or the consummation of love in or after death.
- Old Maid: Brangäne.
- Posthumous Character: Morold, Isolde’s previous fiancé, was killed by Tristan, and Isolde didn’t know until she’d already healed him. Even more, she couldn’t kill him upon seeing his piteous glance.
- Reasonable Authority Figure: King Marke is a Nice Guy who forgives Tristan and Isolde as soon as he understands the reason for their affair.
- Shipper on Deck: Why else would Brängane give Tristan and Isolde a love potion instead of poison?
- Star-Crossed Lovers: Tristan and Isolde, of course.
- Tenor Boy: Tristan has some traits of this, but since he’s a heldentenor role (as are a lot of other Wagnerian tenors), he’s much more dramatic and “manly” than boyish.
- Innocent Soprano: Completely subverted with Isolde, as is typical of Wagnerian sopranos. Her presence is far too commanding for her to be considered an ingenue.
- Held Gaze: Twice, marked by the same "glance/gaze" leitmotif. Once, when Isolde recounts how she spared Tristan's life after he looked, not at the sword in her hand, but into her eyes. Again, when he sings her name and dies in her arms.
- Say My Name: Multiple times. When they run into each other's arms in Act 2, they breathlessly say each other's names. Also, the last thing they say to each other when Tristan dies in Isolde's arms.
- Uncertain Doom: Did Isolde die of grief at the end, or simply faint from shock? Most people assume the first interpretation, but the actual text is unclear, only stating that "Isolde sinks gently...on to Tristan’s body."
- White Shirt of Death: Tristan will often wear a white shirt of death in the third act for full dramatic effect as he slowly succumbs to his wounds in Act 3.
- With Friends Like These...: Tristan’s friend Melot betrays him and Isolde to King Marke, resulting in Tristan and Melot dueling after Tristan figures out that Melot has also become infatuated with Isolde.
- Together in Death: The opera is one long exploration of this trope.
