Tristan and Isolde, a “Story in Three Acts” by Richard Wagner, was premièred in 1865 at the Royal Court and National Theatre in Munich. Music was never the same again: Wagner had dared to make the final step outside the boundaries of tonality. The piece has been seen as being influenced by Wagner’s reading of Schopenhauer as well as his impossible love for Mathilde Wesendonck, wife to his benefactor in Zurich during his Swiss exile. Peter Konwitschny’s new production on the première stage in Munich gives it a new, optimistic interpretation. At the opening of the Munich Opera Festival 1998, Tristan und Isolde was staged in what is now the ninth new production at the Bavarian State Opera since its world première. Director Peter Konwitschny worked together with stage and costume designer Johannes Leiacker – a team already well known in Munich for its much-respected Parsifal. Zubin Mehta conducted, shortly before being called to be General Music Director at the Bavarian State Opera. The title parts were interpreted by the American tenor Jon Frederic West, widely known for his Wagner-roles and Waltraud Meier, one of the greatest Isoldes of our time.

Live recording from the Nationaltheater München, 1998
Tristan Jon Fredric West
King Marke Kurt Moll
Isolde Waltraud Meier
Kurwenal Bernd Weikl
Brangäne Marjana Lipovsek

Bayerisches Staatsorchester

Conductor Zubin Mehta
Stage Director Peter Konwitschny