The second last duet is formed of the ' Dedication
to Death,' the only release the hapless lovers may
look for, and infinitely pathetic are the notes in
which the words find expression.
DEATH SONG,
stiir - ben wir gar
3:^cq
By
trennt
to - geth with out The mad passion of the last duet is interrupted at its height by the return of Mark, who has been informed of the treachery of his friend and hero. Though he knows nothing of the Fate in whose hands the lovers are as clay, his chief feeling is a wistful disappointment in his cherished ideal, Tristan, and it is Melot, the betrayer, whose sword is stretched out against the unguarded breast of the friend for whom he had feigned unbounded admira- tion — ' Melot smote aright Full in the wound's print of his great first fight.' Mark is avenged, and Tristan is carried home to die. The third act is introduced by a new form of the ' yearning ' motive, dark with the death which is to be the lovers' expiation.
delirious, and raising himself from his couch, he tears the bandage from his wound— ' " Iseult"— and like a death-bell faint and clear The virgin voice rang answer — " I am here." ' But she is only just in time to pillow his head on her breast and to catch the last faint breath which dies away in ' Isolde.' 'And ere her ear might hear her heart had heard, Nor sought she sign for witness of the word ; But came and stood above him newly dead, And felt his death upon her ; and her head Bowed, as to reach the spring that slakes all drouth, And their four lips became one silent mouth.' Brangane has told King Mark of the potion, and how hers was the blame. The generous king has taken sliip and hastens after Isolde, to assure her and Tristan of liis forgiveness ; but Kurwenal in his despair only sees the avenger, and, single-handed as he is, tries to defend the castle gate. Melot is the first to force an entrance, and pays the penalty to the old henchman's sword. Kurwenal falls at last, and drags himself to die beside his master's dead body. Isolde wakens under Brangane's care from her swoon, and raising her head a little she begins that wonderful ' Death Sonsr ' which Wagner has surely drawn from the fountain-head of tears. The unaccustomed moisture stands in not a few eyes as the lovely girl, in notes which we heard in- the second act as the ' Dedication to Death,' pours forth the death of her broken heart at the altar of her dead love. The curtain falls as she sinks lifeless in Bran- gane's arms. Such is the story which has attracted poets of all ages, and which has been told in our own times with various modifications by Matthew Arnold, by Swin- burne (from whom I have drawn my quotations), and, with all the added glory of music, by Wagner. At times there comes from the seashore the melan- choly strains of a shepherd's pipe, which is to give warning of Isolde's arrival. Tiie faithful Kurwenal has sent a trusty messenger to beg her to come, ' for her art alone can cure the wound.' Tristan, lying- in the courtyard of his deserted castle in Brittany, hungers with the longing of a dying man to see once more the sweet face of her who is his life. This scene is, indeed, rather long and exceedingly difficult, but it serves to relieve the tension of passion and to prepare the audience for tiie last scene. Tristan's dying eyes see Isolde's ship before the changed and joyous notes of the shepherd's pipe carry the tidings to Kurwenal, who hastens down to the shore to meet the Princess. Tristan becomes Frau Sucher, from the Hamburg Opera — she who sang Eva at Baireuth, — chose this opera to appear in at her debut on the Berlin stage, where she is now engaged for a few months. The veteran Wagner singer Albert Niemann played Tristan ; and though his magnificent voice has lost its power (he is nearly sixty years of age), it is still true as steel, and his acting goes very far indeed to make up for all defects. The difficult death scene at the beginning of the last act was splendidly rendered. Frau Sucher has a sweet pure voice, and acts well, but she is not so ' intense ' in her acting as Fraulein Malten of Dresden, nor is her voice so rich. Indeed, taken as a whole, tlie Dresden performance of Tristan can only be equalled, and perhaps excelled, at Baireuth, where it is to be given next year. Such
