TRISTAN UND ISOLDE.

"Tristan und Isolde," an opera in three acts, words by the composer,
was first produced at Munich, June 10, 1865, under the direction of
Hans von Bülow, with the following cast of characters:--

TRISTAN Herr LUDWIG SCHNORR VON CAROLSFELD.
KURWENAL Herr MITTERWURZER.
KING MARK Herr ZOTTMAYER.
ISOLDE Mme. SCHNORR VON CAROLSFELD.
BRANGOENA Mlle. DEINET.

"Tristan and Isolde" was commenced in 1857 and finished in 1859,
during the period in which Wagner was engaged upon his colossal work,
"The Ring of the Nibelung." As early as the middle of 1852 he had
finished the four dramatic poems which comprise the cyclus of the
latter, and during the next three years he finished the music to "Das
Rheingold" and "Die Walküre." In one of his letters he says: "In the
summer of 1857 I determined to interrupt the execution of my work on
the Nibelungen and begin something shorter, which should renew my
connection with the stage." The legend of Tristan was selected. It is
derived from the old Celtic story of "Tristram and Iseult," the
version adopted by Wagner being that of Gottfried of Strasburg, a bard
of the thirteenth century, though it must be said he uses it in his
own manner, and at times widely departs both from the original and the
mediæval poem.

In "Tristan and Isolde" Wagner broke completely loose from all the