Wagner: Prelude and Liebestod from Tristan und Isolde

Isolde has just arrived and finds Tristan dead as the famous piece Liebestod (Love’s Death) begins. She wants to sink into unconsciousness and finally consummate her love for Tristan by following him into death. The passage builds to a climax when “waves of refreshing winds” begin to envelop Isolde, and again when she imagines dying in “the mighty wave of the world’s breath.” She sinks everything as the wind floats and dissolves the chord from the prelude. Conductor Esa-Pekka Salonen leads the orchestra.

We hear Esa-Pekka Salonen in this concert thanks to the generous support of the Sten A. Olsson Foundation.