Richard Wagner - Tristan und Isolde

"The story of Tristram and Yseult is one of the most potent and enduring legends of the Nordic, Teutonic and Anglo-Saxon peoples, so potent that it even became grafted on to the Arthurian cycle of legends when Tristam or Tristan (originally Drostan or Drystan) was said to be one of the Knights of the Round Table. It says much for the success of the opera 'Tristan und Isolde' that since its première in Munich on 10th June 1865, the tale of the tragic lovers has been indissolubly associated with the name of Richard Wagner. Even before that première, however, the opera had been sending out shock-waves, as the famous 'Prelude' with its extraordinary harmony - the very first sound to be heard has become known as the 'Tristan chord' - had been performed in three major cities and the entire score had been in print since 1860. For reasons which seem inexplicable today, it was thought unstageable: a première scheduled at the Vienna Court Opera in 1861 was aborted after 77 rehearsals. Undoubtedly the action was steamy by nineteenth-century standards of morality; but in addition the advanced harmonic thinking that was in evidence on every page appalled traditionalists as much as it excited the avant-gardists. Significantly 'Tristan und Isolde' took nine years to achieve its second production, seventeen years to reach London and a further four to achieve a New York première.

"Wagner had been acquainted with the medieval legend for years, and it is strange that no other composer had tackled it, although Schumann had contemplated an opera on the subject and it had been lightly satirised in Donizetti's delectable 'L'Elisir d'amore'. In his work, Wagner was influenced by the writings of Schopenhauer and by a purely biographical factor - when he first became obsessed with the project in 1854, he had a guilty love for the married Mathilde Wesendock. In order to complete 'Tristan' he laid aside work on his 'Ring' trilogy and composed at unusual speed for him. The music was begun in 1856, the poem was written the following year and the score was ready by the end of 1859. Wagner made some changes to the story as he received from his main literary source, Gottfried von Strassburg's thirteenth century epic 'Tristan'. In particular he made Tristan and Isolde fall in love even before they became stricket by the love potion. There were one of two interesting undertones to the Munich première. The lovers were sung by a real-life husband and wife, Ludwig and Malwina Schnorr von Carolsfeld, and the opera was conducted by Hans von Bülow, whose wife Cosima was already under Wagner's thrall and had born him a child, Isolde (supposedly Bülow's daughter), on the day of the first orchestral rehearsal. Soon her liaison with him would become the scandal of the musical world.

"Recording Wagner's music dramas was first taken seriously by His Master's Voice (the Gramophone Company) in the early 1920s. Extensive excerpts in English, involving the brilliant conductor Albert Coates and the great bass Robert Radford, as well as other English-speaking singers, were recorded even in the acoustic era, when the vital orchestral element was perforce rather than muffled, but as each 78rpm disc was considered as an entity, sessions were rather laissez-fair and there was no attempt to maintain a cohesive cast - in the excerpts from 'The Valkyrie', Radford as Wotan even had to interact with three different Brünnhildes. The advent of electrical recording in 1925 brought the possibility of achieving some semblance of Wagner's orchestra, and HMV was quickly into action, producing a number of important Wagnerian excerpts in 1926, sung in German. So the firm's executives were extremely put out when the following year they lost the auction for the right to record at the holy-of-holies, the Bayreuth Festspielhaus, to their deadly rivals at The Columbia Graphophone Company.

"To its credit, Columbia rejected the HMV system of piecemeal excerpts and made a determined effort to give the Wagnerian record-buyer a coherent view of each drama. It was found too difficult to take down actual performances, so recordings were made when the Festspielhaus was not in use. Although, in the even, only extended excerpts from 'Parsifal' were achieved in 1927, virtually the whole of 'Tristan und Isolde' was set down in 1928 - Acts 1 and 2 were done substantially complete and only Act 3 was cut, a practice which was usual in those days anyway, in the interests of conserving the energies of singers and audience alike at the end of a long evening. The greatest exponents of the title rôles, Lauritz Melchior and Frida Leider, were under contract to HMV, but a fine cast was assembled, including Rudolf Bockelmann, regarded as second only to Friedrich Schorr as a Heldenbariton, and the handpicked Bayreuth orchestra and chorus were conducted magnificently by the underrated Karl Elmendorff. The set was issued with a disc of musical exegesis by the doyen of Wagnerian criticism, Ernest Newman.

"Around the same time, HMV was assembling a set, recorded in two different cities, making up an even bigger portion of Act 3. It was uneven in both performance and recording - three conductors were involved, the faithful Kurwenal was portrayed by three separate baritones and Sides 7 and 10 were difficult to reproduce smoothly on the gramophones of the day - but at its best it burnt more brightly than the Columbia set. In particular Albert Coates was capable of greater incandescence than Elmendorff and the lovers were interpreted by two legendary singers, the English tenor Walter Widdop and the Swedish soprano Göta Ljungberg. King Marke was interpreted by the same singer as at Bayreuth, the black-voiced bass Ivar Andrésen. It may help listeners to know that Howard Fry sings Kurwenal up to 'es kann nicht lang' mehr säumen', then Charles Victor (Widdop's teacher) takes over from 'O Wonne! Freude!' and Eduard Habich assumed the character in Scene 3, mostly recorded in Berlin. Kennedy McKenna sings the Shepherd in the London-recrded first scene (without its cor anglais solo, so well played on the Bayreuth set), while Marcel Noë takes the rôles of the Shepherd, the Steersman and Melot in Scene 3. Those who know the beautiful acoustic of Queen's Hall will recognise it on the London sides." (Tully Potter. From the liner notes.)

Performers: Chor und Orchester der Bayreuther Festspiele, Karl Elmendorff, Nanny Larsen-Todsen, Gunnar Graarud, Rudolf Bockelmann, Ivar Andrésen, and others on the bonus material.

1.1. Einleitung

1.2. Aufzug I, Szene I/II: 'Westwärts Schweift Der Blick'

1.3. Aufzug I, Szene III: 'Weh'! Ach Wehe! Dies Zu Dulden!'

1.4. Aufzug I, Szene IV: 'Begehrt, Herrin, Was Ihr Wünscht'

1.5. Aufzug I, Szene IV: 'War Morold Dir So Wert'

1.6. Aufzug I, Szene V: 'Tristan! Isolde! Treuloser Holder!'

2.1. Aufzug II: Einleitung

2.2. Aufzug II, Szene I: 'Hörst Du Sie Noch?'

2.3. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Isolde! Geliebte! Tristan! Geliebter!'

2.4. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'O Sink' Hernieder, Nacht Der Liebe'

2.5. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Einsam Wachend In Der Nacht'

2.6. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Lausch', Geliebter!'

2.7. Aufzug II, Szene II: 'Doch Unsere Liebe, Heißt Sie Nicht Tristan Und Isolde?'

2.8. Aufzug II, Szene III: 'Der Öde Tag Zum Letzten Mal!'

2.9. Aufzug II, Szene III: 'O König, Das Kann Ich Dir Nicht Sagen'

3.1. Aufzug III: Präludium Und Hirtenpfeifensolo

3.2. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Kurwenal! He! Sag' Kurwenal!'

3.3. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Das Schiff! Siehst Du's Noch Nicht?'

3.4. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'So Bange Tage'

3.5. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Tod Denn Alles'

3.6. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Mild Und Leise, Wie Er Lächelt'

3.7. Aufzug III: Präludium (Shepherds Pfeifensolo Nicht Aufgenommen)

3.8. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Kurwenal! He! Sag' Kurwenal!'

3.9. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Hei Nun! Wie Du Kam'st?'

3.10. Aufzug III, Szene I: 'Bist Du Nun Tot?'

3.11. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'O Diese Sonne! Ha, Dieser Tag!'

3.12. Aufzug III, Szene II: 'Ha! Ich Bin's, Ich Bin's, Süßester Freund!'

3.13. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Kurwenal! Hör'! Ein Zweites Schiff!'

3.14. Aufzug III, Szene III: 'Mild Und Leise, Wie Er Lächelt'

3.15. Die Motive Und Ihre Funktion In Der Oper. Erklärt Und Illustriert Von Ernest Newman

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