Tristan a Isolda

During his first three seasons as chief conductor of the Czech Radio Symphony Orchestra, Petr Popelka decided to stage three acts of Tristan und Isolde. This revolutionary work revolutionised the perception of opera as a musical and theatrical form. In this medieval tale of the powerful but forbidden love between a Breton nobleman and an Irish princess, Richard Wagner developed his conception of opera as a complex work where all the components serve to make the whole as powerful as possible. At the same time, he fully developed his innovative harmonic language that would influence music for decades to come. In the second act, we meet tenor Bryan Register as Tristan and soprano Ricarda Merbeth as Isolde on the Rudolfinum stage. In a famous love duet they fully confess their feelings, and in the dramatic conclusion Tristan falls wounded after betraying his friend Melot.