Tristan needs one more act
Sometimes I think I’d like to write the Act 0 of Tristan. Well, realistictically, the kind of research and immersion and labor to actually do something like this would make the task overwhelming, but at least in theory somebody ought to do it. Or, say, a prequel?? Now, you’ll say Tristan is long enough, it’s too long as is, why add more to it? You see, my favorite scene, the most dramatic, operatic scene—the one where Isolde finds out that the wounded knight Tantris she is nursing to health is in fact Tristan, the killer of Morold, her betrothed, and she grabs a sword that killed Morold so that she can have her vengeance, but then she looks into Tristan’s eyes and realizes she can’t do it—so this awesome scene is not enacted on stage, but instead narrated. And we get this interminable Act I where barely anything of note happens until its end and they speak mostly inanities (Isolde calling the Cornish “degenerate race,” anyone? and Brangäne narrating to Isolde events that just took place in full view of the audience?) and the act is so long, one could travel from Ireland to Cornwall in that time. How much more engaging would be to actually see Tristan battling Morold and then his triumph ruined by his wound that won’t heal, and a scene where he just gets in a boat by himself and lets the wind take him wherever, and we can have some sea music and perhaps a little storm, and the next scene is where Isolde discovers him and then she’s nursing him to health and so on? That’s the fun, operatic stuff right there!
It also annoys me that, according to Wagner, Isolde and Tristan are not in love before the potion thing. Having them to be in love already with the potion only rending them unable to resist their feelings would be the human and plausible way of handling the story. Instead they’re just haggling about their respective social status as Isolde is trying to pull rank on him. The potion should be just a symbol, not the cause. But Wagner does not care about a story of two people in love struggling with not being able to be together; it’s all about him, and the characters are just mouthpieces for his cockamamie metaphysics. Also, around the time of writing he found a new way of pleasuring himself—the normal way wasn’t enough and he discovered what they call in Spanish "duende.” This is a word with many meanings*; the one relevant here is “a strong but unfulfilled sexual desire that is purposely experienced for its own sake.” That was the essence of his non-affair with Mathilde Wesendonck. But, in spite of all these less than flattering things I believe about Wagner, if I get to conduct Tristan (probably won’t happen in this lifetime), that’d be a total dream. Sure, the libretto is profoundly flawed, but the music is magnificent.
*Full disclosure—my Spanish is fairly basic and I don’t really have firsthand knowledge of the subject here; my interpretation of this word is based on the explanation by a Flamenco musician I once saw in a documentary, and I realize now that this well may be his personal interpretation of this term as opposed to a widely accepted one. I don’t remember the name of the musician or the title of the documentary, and I’d have to find it and quote it if this were a magazine article or an academic paper,. So, while this blog does represent my true opinions, I admit that this particular entry as it stands does not adhere to academic standards.