Annegret Oehme, Associate Professor of German Studies at the University of Washington, discusses TRISTAN UND ISOLDE with Jonathan Dean. Wagner’s inspiration for this amazing opera was the 12th century poem by Gottfried von Straßburg, a classic of medieval German literature. Wagner built on Gottfried’s timeless tale of impossible, frenzied love: some elements (such as the love potion) he transposes directly into opera, others he discards (the fight with the dragon), others he repurposes (the white and black flags). Minnelied example courtesy of Studio der Frühen Musik. Special thanks to Meg Stolz and Dennis Robinson, Jr.