Editing Richard Wagner (section)

===== ''Tristan und Isolde'' and ''Die Meistersinger'' =====
While composing the opera ''[[Siegfried (opera)|Siegfried]]'', the third part of the ''Ring'' cycle, Wagner interrupted work on it and between 1857 and 1864 wrote the tragic love story ''[[Tristan und Isolde]]'' and his only mature comedy ''[[Die Meistersinger von Nürnberg]]'' (''The Mastersingers of Nuremberg''), two works that are also part of the regular operatic canon.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|pp=294, 300, 304}}

[[File:Betz Franz.png|thumb|right|upright=0.8|[[Franz Betz]] (by {{ill|Fritz Luckhardt|de}}), who created the role of Hans Sachs in ''Die Meistersinger'', and sang Wotan in the first complete ''Ring'' cycle|alt= A photograph of a bearded white man with male-pattern baldness wearing glasses]]''Tristan'' is often granted a special place in musical history; many see it as the beginning of the move away from conventional [[harmony]] and [[tonality]] and consider that it lays the groundwork for the direction of classical music in the 20th century.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=301}}{{sfn|Dahlhaus|1979|p=64}}{{sfn|Deathridge|2008|p=224}} Wagner felt that his musico-dramatical theories were most perfectly realised in this work with its use of "the art of transition" between dramatic elements and the balance achieved between vocal and orchestral lines.{{sfn|Rose|1981|p=15}} Completed in 1859, the work was given its first performance in Munich, conducted by Bülow, in June 1865.{{sfn|Millington|2001a|p=298}}

''Die Meistersinger'' was originally conceived by Wagner in 1845 as a sort of comic pendant to ''Tannhäuser''.{{sfn|McClatchie|2008|p=134}} Like ''Tristan'', it was premiered in Munich under the baton of Bülow, on 21 June 1868, and became an immediate success.{{sfn|Gutman|1990|pp=282–283}} Millington describes ''Meistersinger'' as "a rich, perceptive music drama widely admired for its warm humanity",{{sfn|Millington|2002a}} but its strong German [[nationalism|nationalist]] overtones have led some to cite it as an example of Wagner's reactionary politics and antisemitism.<ref>See e.g. {{harvnb|Weiner|1997|pp=66–72}}</ref>