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Not all masterpieces ease their way effortlessly into the concert hall, welcomed by performers and audiences alike on their way to everlasting fame and glory.<\/p>
For some, the journey towards popularity \u2013 or even acceptance \u2013 is a tortuous one. Take, for instance, classical music\u2019s notoriously \u2018impossible\u2019 works. These are the pieces that, beyond the capabilities of even the best singers, players and conductors, came close to never making it onto the stage at all \u2013 finger twisters that had pianists waking up in a cold sweat, operas that stretched the vocal cords beyond limits, mammoth orchestral scores that drove even the greatest conductors<\/a><\/strong> towards the drinks cabinet.<\/p> Here we take a look at ten such examples. Some were turned down flat by performers terrified at the thought of what they were being expected to put themselves through. Others only revealed their horrors at rehearsal stage. All bar one, however, overcame such inauspicious beginnings to enjoy the high regard we accord them today\u2026<\/p> When we think of Richard Wagner<\/strong><\/a> at his most over-ambitious, it\u2019s usually his monumental Ring<\/em> cycle<\/a><\/strong> that springs to mind. But the opera that really proved his undoing was Tristan und Isolde<\/em><\/strong><\/a>. Completing the score in 1859, Wagner initially hoped that his ground-breaking stagework would enjoy its premiere at the Vienna Court Opera a couple of years later. But then the rehearsals began.<\/p>Wagner<\/strong> Tristan und Isolde<\/em><\/h2>