Missouri Classical Music News and Notes

“Tristan und Isolde” has long been a magnet for trouble. Ludwig Schnorr von Carolsfeld, the first Tristan, died of a heart attack in Munich in 1865, at 29, within weeks of the premiere, leaving the first Isolde — his wife, Malvina — a widow.

In 1959, when each of three possible Tristans announced, one after another, that he was too ill to perform at the Met, Rudolf Bing, the opera’s legendary general manager, persuaded each to sing one of the three acts. The Tristan for Act I was Ramón Vinay; for Act II, Karl Liebl; and for Act III, Albert da Costa.