ACT I Isolde is being escorted by Tristan on his ship to Cornwall, whose ruler (and Tristan’s foster father), Marke, she is to marry. She tells her companion, Brangäne, how she once treated Tristan’s wounds a er he killed her betrothed, Morold. Now humiliated by her captivity, she asks Brangäne to prepare poison for her and Tristan to drink. Brangäne gives them a love potion instead. As the ship sails into the harbor, Tristan and Isolde confess their love. 

INTERMISSION 

ACT II  e lovers meet in secret while Marke is away. Tristan expresses his belief that love can only fi nd fulfi llment at night. Faced with the inevitability of their parting at daybreak, Tristan and Isolde resolve to die. Marke discovers them and is devastated by Tristan’s disloyalty. Tristan implores Isolde to set off into the night with him. She agrees. A er a struggle with Marke’s men, Tristan is wounded and collapses. INTERMISSION ACT III Tristan is lying in a coma with Kurwenal, his aide, watching over him. As his life slips away, he recalls traumatic events, including the death of his parents. Kurwenal has summoned Isolde, and when her ship appears, the delirious Tristan tears off his bandages and dies in her arms. Marke and Brangäne try to draw Isolde back to the realm of day and life, but she expires in a rapture of ecstatic love.  

The Met gratefully acknowledges the leadership support of the Berry Charitable Foundation; William N. Buff ett and Susan E. Kennedy; the Gramma Fisher Foundation, Marshalltown, Iowa; and the Jeff rey Seller Family Foundation 

Major support provided by William and Helen Little and Dr. Jack A. Roth and Dr. Elizabeth A. Grimm 

Additional support from the Hermione Foundation, Laura Sloate, Trustee; and Ted Snowdon and Duff y Violante