Tristan und Isolde by Richard Wagner is an opera in 3 acts mostly based on Gottfried von Strassburg's romance play. It is played to a German libretto. The opera was composed between 1857 and 1859, and was first performed on June 1865 in Munich as conducted by Hans von Bulow. Wagner was the Conductor of the Dresden Opera but he had to abandon his position in 1849 because a warrant for his arrest had been issued for his participation in the failed May Revolution. Wagner fled to Zurich. At that time, Wagner was working on Der Ring des Nibelungen but found himself drawn to the legend of Tristan und Isolde.
There are several versions of Tristan und Isolde, with the earliest one being written in the middle of the 12th century. Gottfried's version largely influenced German literature and Wagner's work. Soon Wagner found himself preoccupied with Tristan. By the end of this year, Wagner had assembled together three acts of the opera based on Strassburg's version of Tristan's story. It was not until August of 1857, though, that he worked on it full time. In August 20, Wagner started the sketch for the opera, and the libretto was finally completed in September 18. Then he started his sketch of the first act in in October. The following month, he used five of Mathilde Wesendonck's poems, which were later called Wesendonck Lieder, setting them to music. Wagner was at the time rumored to be having an affair with Mathilde.
Wagner eventually left his wife and his mistress and fled alone to Venice. There, he completed the second act of the opera. In 1859, he moved to Lucerne and finished the last act in August. Tristan und Isolde influenced Western classical composers such as Arnold Schoenberg, Richard Strauss, Gustav Mahler, and Alban Berg. The opera was famous for its use of chromaticism, harmonic suspension, orchestral color, and tonality.
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