Tristan und Isolde

About

Known as one of Richard Wagner's most revolutionary operas, Tristan und Isolde is considered by many to represent a major turning point in the development of Western music. Composed between 1856 and 1859, the opera is believed to have been inspired by an affair Wagner had with a woman at the time as well as the philosophy of Arthur Schopenhauer. The work is possibly Wagner's most passionate in its exploration of themes of profound love and loss, which some feel is at least archetypally similar to Shakespeare's Romeo and Juliet.