Richard Wagner “Tristan Und Isolde“ - Prelude & Liebestod | Jessye Norman, Herbert von Karajan

Richard Wagner Tristan and Isolde, Opera, WWV 90. Act I. Prelude & Act III. Mild und Leise (Liebestod) | Jessye Norman. Wiener Philharmoniker, Herbert von Karajan. Jessye Norman appears by courtesy of EMI Classics Records Ltd. Deutsche Grammophon, Polydor International GmbH. Universal Music Group. Herbert von Karajan farewell to Wagner Salzburg, Großes Festspielhaus, The legendary 1987 Salzburg Festival performance as originally released on CD, LP and cassette in the summer of 1988: Mild und leise wie er lächelt, wie das Auge hold er öffnet seht ihr’s Freunde? Seht ihr’s nicht? Immer lichter wie er leuchtet, stern-umstrahlet hoch sich hebt? Seht ihr’s nicht? Wie das Herz ihm mutig schwillt, voll und hehr im Busen ihm quillt? Wie den Lippen, wonnig mild, süßer Atem sanft entweht Freunde! Seht! Fühlt und seht ihr’s nicht? Hör ich nur diese Weise, die so wunder voll und leise, Wonne klagend, alles sagend, mild versöhnend aus ihm tönend, in mich dringet, auf sich schwinget, hold erhallend um mich klinget? Heller schallend, mich umwallend, sind es Wellen sanfter Lüfte? Sind es Wogen wonniger Düfte? Wie sie schwellen, mich umrauschen, soll ich atmen, soll ich lauschen? Soll ich schlürfen, untertauchen? Süß in Düften mich verhauchen? In dem wogenden Schwall, in dem tönenden Schall, in des Welt-Atems wehendem All ertrinken, versinken unbewußt höchste Lust! Friedrich Nietzsche, who in his younger years was one of Wagner’s staunchest allies, wrote that, for him, “Tristan and Isolde is the real opus metaphysicum of all art... insatiable and sweet craving for the secrets of night and death... it is overpowering in its simple grandeur“. In a letter to his friend Erwin Rohde in October 1868, Nietzsche described his reaction to Tristan’s Prelude: “I simply cannot bring myself to remain critically aloof from this music; every nerve in me is atwitch, and it has been a long time since I had such a lasting sense of ecstasy as with this overture“. Even after his break with Wagner, Nietzsche continued to consider Tristan a masterpiece: “Even now I am still in search of a work which exercises such a dangerous fascination, such a spine-tingling and blissful infinity as Tristan - I have sought in vain, in every art.“ Tristan und Isolde is an Opera in three acts by Richard Wagner to a German libretto by the composer, based largely on the romance by Gottfried von Straßburg. It was composed between 1857 and 1859 and premiered in Munich on 10 June 1865 with Hans von Bülow conducting. Wagner referred to the work not as an opera, but called it “eine Handlung“ (literally a drama. a plot or an action), which was the equivalent of the term used by the Spanish playwright Calderón for his dramas. Wagner’s composition of Tristan und Isolde was inspired by his affair with Mathilde Wesendonck and the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. Widely acknowledged as one of the peaks of the operatic repertory, Tristan was notable for Wagner’s advanced use of chromaticism, tonality, orchestral colour and harmonic suspension. The opera was profoundly influential among Western classical composers and provided inspiration to composers such as Gustav Mahler, Richard Strauss, Karol Szymanowski, Alban Berg and Arnold Schoenberg. Many see Tristan as the beginning of the move away from conventional harmony and tonality and consider that it lays the groundwork for the direction of classical music in the 20th century. It was only after Ludwig II of Bavaria became a sponsor of Wagner (he granted the composer a generous stipend and in other ways supported Wagner’s artistic endeavours) that enough resources could be found to mount the premiere of Tristan und Isolde. Hans von Bülow was chosen to conduct the production at the Munich Opera, despite the fact that Wagner was having an affair with his wife, Cosima von Bülow.