The legend of Tristan and Isolde is of Celtic origin. Its origins were probably located in Ireland, but it was widely known in all countries of medieval Europe, living in many literary works, the earliest of which dates back to the 12th century. The main idea of the legend is the victory of love over death. The story tells about the love of the knight Tristan and the wife of the Cornish king the beautiful Isolde. The great German composer, a reformer of opera music, who created the direction of “musical drama” and had a profound influence on European modernism and decadence, Richard Wagner (1813-1883), interpreted this legend in a different direction, creating a poem about a painful, all-consuming passion that is stronger than reason , which breaks ties with the outside world and even with life. Wagner considered the opera Tristan and Isolde to be his best work. Its creation was associated with a romantic episode in the biography of the composer himself. In August 1857, he wrote the libretto in a single burst, in just three weeks, the opera was completed in 1859. At one time, it was perceived as a "musical manifesto" of decadence.
Book Tristan and Isolda: Opera in Three Acts (by Richard Wagner)
