{"id":192,"date":"2015-10-22T14:02:22","date_gmt":"2015-10-22T14:02:22","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ripm.org\/cnc\/?p=192"},"modified":"2023-06-27T17:51:07","modified_gmt":"2023-06-27T17:51:07","slug":"no-2-tristan-und-isolde-in-london-a-shaky-reception","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.cnc.ripm.org\/?p=192","title":{"rendered":"Tristan und Isolde <\/i> in London (1882):A Shaky Reception"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"MusicalWorldCoverJune101876\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"WagneratTimeofPerformance\"<\/a><\/p>\n

\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 [Il Teatro illustrato<\/em> I, no. 3 (March 1881): 5]<\/p>\n

This year marks the 150th anniversary of the first performance\u00a0of Tristan und Isolde<\/em> (1865).\u00a0 While now accepted as a masterpiece, critics at first performances were not always complimentary. On September 16, 1876, a letter to the editor of The Musical World<\/em> gave a scathing and strident condemnation of Wagner’s work, deploring the discordant harmonies and lack of melody in a review titled \u201cThe Wagner Epidemic\u201d (excerpts below):<\/p>\n

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[The Musical World<\/em>\u00a054, no. 38 (September 16, 1876): 623]<\/p>\n

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Six years later, on June 24, 1882, four days after the London premiere of Tristan und Isolde<\/em>, \u00a0The Musical World<\/em> published this caricature, supporting the opinion initially expressed. \u00a0It depicts James\u00a0William Davison, editor of The Musical World<\/em>, reacting to the “Tristan <\/em>chord.”<\/em>\u00a0\"WagnerListenerOpening\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[The Musical World<\/em> 60, no. 25 (June 24, 1882): 385]<\/p>\n

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One month later on July 1, 1882, a much more nuanced and somewhat favorable view emerges.\"PositiveTristanReviewExcerpt\"<\/a><\/p>\n

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[The Musical World<\/em> 60, no. 26 (July 1, 1882): 395-96]<\/p>\n

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However, the journal\u00a0also underscored the difficulties in performing this work.\u00a0 One week later The Musical World <\/em>published on July 8, 1882 these two caricatures by Charles Lyall \u2014 the\u00a0first depicting the conductor Hans Richter during a rehearsal of Tristan<\/em> and\u00a0the second, his appearance after the\u00a0first performance.<\/p>\n

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[The Musical World<\/em> 60, no. 27 (July 8, 1882): 415]<\/p>\n

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The following two French caricatures were reproduced in Musical America<\/em> on February 12, 1910. \u00a0The first one (bottom left), an 1869 caricature by Andre Gill, expresses a similar view as Wagner \u2018worked\u2019 \u201con the eardrum of his contemporaries.\u201d \u00a0The second (bottom right)\u00a0illustrates the effect of a performance of a Wagner opera.<\/p>\n

\"WagnerEarCaricature\"<\/a>\u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0 \u00a0\u00a0\"RunningoutofTheatre\"<\/a><\/p>\n

[Musical America<\/em>\u00a0XI, no. 14 (February 12, 1910): 18]<\/p>\n

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The past\u00a0was not always kind to Music of the Future.<\/p>\n

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In honor of the 150th anniversary of Tristan und Isolde<\/em>, here is an arrangement of “Happy Birthday” in a style we think you will recognize.<\/p>\n