Tristan and Isolde: English National Opera Guide 6

This Dover publication offers a complete orchestral and vocal score of one of the most complex and difficult musical works ever written, one that is even now ahead of other contemporary operatic works in its total effectiveness and impact. It requires large orchestral and vocal contributions, and its score offers nearly as much music as Beethoven's 9 symphonies. The Dover edition is a thick 655 page volume in which there are as many as 24 separate instrumental lines for the 100 orchestral players, plus three or four for the singers. It is 655 pages long, 8.5 by 11 inches in extent, roughly the size of the Tampa Bay Metro (pop 3.3 million) phone book. Its size allows the type to be easily read and the music to be followed when listening to a recorded source, for example, and to be easily read and understood in almost any context, other than that of actually conducting a performance. It is obviously not intended for the local high school musical, though (and I am not just making this up) an amateur Tarpon Springs (pop.20,000) music group recently staged a complete performance of Wagner's four Ring Operas, with piano musical accompaniment this year! If you're determined to go this route with Tristan, you need this score, badly! I have found it useful in my role as record reviewer, in resolving certain difficult questions I have come up against here and there in this deep and difficult work. Indeed, it is fine for anyone who has any unresolved question about the music. It is sturdily paperbound, and it is well worth the modest asking price. Much of the text, however, is reprinted directly from German sources, so an elementary understanding of that language is helpful. That is all I can think of on the downside, and in summary I found this work not only authoritative but also user-friendly. There is one final matter to be noted. The source copy for this edition was originally the property of the well-known 19th century conductor Felix Mottl. Mottl made a comprehensive series of suggestions to enhance the effectiveness of presentation of the music in actual performances. These helpful suggestions are systematically identified by the letter B in this edition of the score. You can use them or not, your choice, but they are there, identified throughout by that letter B.

I rely on ENO for their excellent breakdowns of OPERAS. Makes it so much more enjoyable.

I am 12 years old and this book touched me and so did the movie!!!! In fairytales the end is happy and everyone lives happily ever after. Whatever! That hardly ever happens. This story tells the truth that not all relationships are perfect. I found myself crying at the end because I want to love someone like Tristan and Isolde loved each other!!!! I recomend buying this and the 2006 movie Tristan and Isolde. Their both GREAT!!!!

Even people who are not Wagner fans will admit that this piece of music certainly ranks as the most influential in contemporary music. One can find the direct influences on, for example, Claude Debussy and Gustav Mahler. The "Tristan chord" reverbrates throughout literature, has become a literary formula in itself. I have many of the Wagner scores out of simple curiosity; I don't claim to have the musical expertise by which I could either play or conduct any of the masterpieces. But they are often fascinating to follow while listening to the operas. This score is structured in the traditional format. But for me it's particularly valuable because I can see that "Tristan chord" over and over. I may even transcribe some of the music so that even as unaccomplished a musician as I can play it. I long to follow this again and again too, along with the several recordings of I have of "Tristan und Isolde." Further, the art on the cover is the same as that on the Bernstein recoring my spouse gave me for Christmas several years ago. Finally, several of us were quizzed at a "Tristan" seminar. The questioner suggested that every single insrument of the orchestrat plays the final chord of the opera...except one. I remembered that the first time I saw this opera, the English horn player was out of the pit during the opening of the third act. Hmmm. It seems like the English horn stands out in other ways too. I guessed that and I was correct. This score reflects that too--accurately. If you're looking for a fine score, I cannot recommend this one strongly enough.

Tristan und Isolde is quite possibly Wagner's finest achievement. In fact, it holds a unique place in operatic history; it has inspired the thinking of philosophers, even scientists, just as works such as Oedipus Rex, Hamlet and Don Giovanni had done before. No opera lover's book shelf is complete without a copy of this score. Dover's edition is a reprint of the reliable C.F. Peters edition from the early twentieth century. The scholarship is highly reliable as is generally true with Peters, especially with Peters' German scores. There is an English translation of all German frontismatter, but no glossary of German musical terms. The cover art for this edition is Der Kuss in Gustav Klimt, an art work as erotic and disturbing as this Opera is. The score is too big, and the book too small for podium use, but it is perfect for at home. Many of the innovations of twentieth century music and drama, indeed all twentieth century culture, may never have occurred if this opera had not been written. If that sounds far-fetched, buy this score, and a good recording, and see why I make that assertion.