than on the eiotic. She was also a su­ perb Brunnhilde. Unwanted in her own country at a crucial point in her career, she became one of the mainstays at Bay- reuth. Personal tragedy gave added depth to her work. She developed into Bohm's Bayreuth "Tristan" a heartbreakingly intense performer. Ramon Vina>' came to Bayreuth with a completely different operatic orienta­ tion but with the desire to sing Wagner. GREAT PERFORMANCE of any of electronified, souped-up Wagner on Wieland had heard his great Otello and familiar work is one that strips it records— ring out with the sonority of saw in him an ideal interpreter for cer­ A of barnacles, sandblasts it to a the opera house! Bohm's intensity never tain Wagnerian roles. Wieland's direc­ pristine glow, and carries the listener flags. All effects are interrelated. Such tion transformed him. As he divested l)ack to first impressions of a master­ contrasting moments as the ponticello himself of Latin excesses his woik be­ piece. This was one of Toscanini's of the garden episode, throbbing be­ came a marvel of economy and intensity. strengths: recharging a score after years neath the distant hunting horns; the He developed into a Tristan and a Par­ of lOutine had dulled its vitality. Karl rugged, almost demonic rhythms of sifal of greatest nobility as well as physi­ Biihm accomplishes much the same in Tristan's entrance before Isolde offers cal appeal. Wolfgang Windgassen, a his new recording of Tristan una Isolde him what she believes to be the death fine-looking, tall man, who had been a For Deutsche Grammophon Gesellschaft potion; the solitude of the seascape sur­ former Wehrmacht officer and made a (stereo 139221 139225) with the Bay­ rounding Kareol—every one of these has rather stolid impression, became, in reuth Festival Orchestra and a first-rate its special magic, combining with the time, one of the most passionate of cast. others to form a total experience which, Tristans and Tannhiiusers. Well, almost first-rate. On consulting for orchestral sorcery, is unique. Leonie Rysanek is the type of singer my notes, jotted down during the listen­ Birgit Nilsson, a chilly Isolde on occa­ whom Wieland loved, an artist who ing period, I find; "Put Tristan on the sion, is here quite outgoing. I have in gives of her soul in each performance. shelf until we rediscover a Tristan. Who mind her melting quality in the duet Certainly her Senta was the definitive today dares present Norma without a with Windgassen; the pinpoint of light one in our time. She absorbed Wieland's Norma? And in Wagner the demands with which her "Liebestod" begins. Her concept of Senta as a fanatical, some­ are just as severe." vocal timbre is, of course, a matter of what neurotic teen-ager, for he believed The notes continue: "Why should we taste. I find the Nilsson quality relent­ that only such a girl could be capable put up with these inadequacies, be toler­ lessly bright and unvaried during the of the violent, selfless love necessary for ant of a tenor who lacks the equipment?" long first act. Yet there is a danger, be­ the Hollander's redemption. Memories of Melchior are still rampant. cause we hear it so often, of taking this Birgit Nilsson was already the world's Once having heard that mighty voice in phenomenal voice too much for granted. greatest heroic soprano when she came lliis )nusic, an opera-lover cannot scrap Nilsson is a great singer who commands to Bayreuth. Wieland expressed some his standards for the sake of amiability. admiration, if not always love. concern about her reputed coolness. In­ There are those (myself included) who deed, there were those who felt, in some feel that the third act—Tristan in tor­ 'F the other artists, Christa Ludwig of her early Bayreuth performances, that ment, Tristan in rapture, delirium spin­ oas Brangaen. e sounds better in the gar­ she was somewhat aloof. A turning point ning the web that unites these opposing den scene, with a beautifully sung Warn­ in Birgit Nilsson's relationship with Wie­ states—represents the peak of expressiv­ ing, than in the act on shipboard, where land Wagner, and in her career, was ity in Wagner. Only a performing Titan she displays a fast vibrato. At best, she their work together in Tristan. She is an can cope with it—and, to be truthful, brings youth and impetus to the part. attractive if not a beautiful woman. "I epic drama of this type leaves Wolfgang Eberhard Wiichter is a ranking Kurven- will make her beautiful," Wieland said, Windgassen behind. He is a cozy rather al; Erwin Wohlfahrt a perceptive Shep­ "I will make her feel that she is beauti­ than heroic singer. Yet dismay at his lim­ herd (his sighting of the ship ushers in, ful." And he achieved just that. He ited powers can give way, once the voice under the direction of Bohm, one of the costumed her and lit her with loving has held the inner ear, to respect for his orchestral climaxes of a lifetime); and care. He made her conscious of the pas­ thoughtfulness, applause for his pene­ Martti Talvela a King Mark in the tra­ sion which, of course, she always pos­ tration. Following Windgassen on his dition of Bohnen, Andresen, and Kipnis. sessed. She became the most ardent and own terms, one can grow to admire the Like those bassos, Talvela succeeds in exquisite Isolde imaginable. And, of c(uict weariness of his "Miiht euch dies?" making the King not a bore but an elo­ course, she sang divinely. in rebuke to Isolde's rage over Morold; quent human being. What was Wieland Wagner like other the well molded lyricism of the love In so vast a score as Tristan and Isolde than as a theater director? duet; the plaintive side of his suffering —especially an uncut edition—one hesi­ He was, above all, a man of infinite during the scene in Kareol. Obviously, tates to single out any detail at the con­ curiosity. He loved the drama and was Windgassen misses an amount of heroic ceivable expense of much else. Yet still so fascinated by the Broadway musical style. In the new Deutsche Grammo­ fresh in the memory are the orchestral that he expressed tlie desire one day to phon recording, however, with Karl introduction to Act III, with its bleak stage such a work. His interest in music Biihm superlatively in command, Wind- and tragic look across the sea; the haunt- covered a range from Orlando Lasso to gassen's poetry as an artist exceeds his ingly played English horn solo; the modern jazz. He had an encyclopedic failings. Compensation stems from a healthy release of the Kareol motive knowledge of Greek mythology as well top orchestra and maestro. (how well Bohm brings out its rhythmic as the Germanic legends and used to This, indeed, is the opera orchestra of vigor!). There are no gimmicks, no echo draw parallels between the two. He had one's dreams. Cellos and basses are un­ chambers—only Tristan. And that, de­ an insatiable appetite for books and was believably rich, the tone of the whole spite some defects in the singing, is al­ particularly drawn to French literatiue. ensemble charged with beauty, passion, ready something. The sound of the Bay­ His taste in painting, as in music, was and intensity, the first-desk solos won­ reuth orchestra, under the baton of a catholic and eclectic. He had a predilec- derfully well played. And how good to great conductor, lifts the album into a {Continued on page 69) hear this music—after a recent plethora special class. —ROBERT LAWREXCE. SR/January 28, 1967 63 PRODUCED 2005 BY UNZ.ORG ELECTRONIC REPRODUCTION PROHIBITED and stood for high qualilies in mnsic:al accomplishment long before th<! younger Recordings in Review Mozart met the most famous of all Haydns. The piece is assigned by Braun­ stein to the period prior to 1770, which The Sound of Tomorrow ration as this, the virtues include not only is to say, something that Mozart might the gi\'e and take appropriate to tlu; quite possibly have heaid when he was BEETHOVEN: Sonatas in A (No. 3, Op. chamber music idiom, but also the kind growing up. Whereas his brother had, 69) and D (No. 5, Op. 102, No. 2). of overriding impulse that is greater b\' this time, progressed considerably in Jacqueline du Pre, cello, with Stephen than the personality of eilhei·, and can the direction of the symphonic structuie Bishop, piano. Angel stereo, S 36384, be produced only by the merger, in a for which he is best known (Symphony $5.79; mono, 36384, $4.79. cornmon cau.se, of two equally gifled in­ Ko. 80 bears the date 1769), Michael dividuals. still had part of his being, at least, in the F THE numerous versions of the In terms of novelty interest, llit^ alien- older contrapuntal tradition. Thus, this O A-major Sonata in and ouL of tlie lion is repeatedly attracted to l5ishoj)'s work is a concerto in that older sense, present catalogue, tlie one that is ir­ subtle treatment of the piano pait, if with the viola and harpsichord exchang­ resistibly called to mind by this latest only for the reason that expectations ol ing interrelated patterns, the small en­ is the gone but far from forgotten col­ ultimate quality from Miss du Pi'e had semble bumping along the bass line and laboration that brought together Eman­ already been established not only l)y her accepting a subsidiary function when the uel Feuermann and Myra Hess.