Richard Wagner’s opera Tristan und Isolde premiered in Munich in 1865.
The first performance took place at the Königliches Hof- und Nationaltheater, now the Bavarian State Opera, on 10 June 1865. King Ludwig II of Bavaria supported Wagner and helped make the production possible. Hans von Bülow conducted the premiere, while Ludwig and Malvina Schnorr von Carolsfeld sang the title roles.
Wagner based the opera on the medieval legend of Tristan and Iseult, especially the version adapted by Gottfried von Strassburg. Its music is associated with continuous dramatic flow, intense chromatic harmony, and the famous unresolved “Tristan chord.”
Bayreuth is often incorrectly given as the answer because it became closely linked with Wagner’s works. However, the Bayreuth Festival did not open until 1876, and Tristan und Isolde premiered in Munich more than a decade earlier. The opera later became central to the development of late-Romantic musical language.