Word: tristan
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...Master Counterpoint), a mock-heroic exercise for his pupil, Babette Ployer; Beethoven's graceful and pensive Bagatelle for Therese Malfatti, the 18-year-old niece of his doctor; Wagner's Ankunft bei den Schwarzen Schwänen (Arrival at the Black Swans), which sounds a little like Tristan und Isolde as written by Frédéric Chopin...
...Writer-Director Bergman displays a wide range of comedic accomplishments. He is a master of bedroom farce-not to mention bathroom humor, most of which is not translated in the subtitles. In a flashback to the couple's courtship, he pulls a hilariously rowdy switch on the old Tristan-Isolde routine, and follows it with an uproarious crescendo of crockery-busting buffoonery. Moreover, Bergman flashes a redoubtable power of cynical epigram ("Only impotent men are faithful, and they have unfaithful wives"). And almost every character and scene is shaped by the cutting edge of his irony...
...Tristan: Later. Vickers has other ideas: he does not covet the role of Heldentenor. "I have no intention," says he, "of becoming a Wagner specialist. I love Wagner, but I want to sing for 25 years, not ten years. I want to keep my Italian roles, because Italian caresses the voice while German exploits it." Moreover, Vickers refuses to jump into the role of Tristan, as his public and press have urged him to. No dramatic tenor, he reasons, really reaches vocal maturity until he is 38 or 39, and for a part as taxing as Tristan, it takes...
...Although Tristan posed difficulties in casting, the Metropolitan was able to find a brilliant Brangaene. This smaller role is a key one, long and taxing, which requires a strong mezzo soprano, especially for the difficult solos in the second act. When the Isolde is as good as Nilsson, though, the first act passages of Isolde's companion become a test as well. It was here, perhaps, that Irene Dalis, the American mezzo, was most impressive. Dalis matched Nilsson's dramatic singing with a dazzling virtuosity and eloquence of her own; I cannot remember when I have heard such uniformly brilliant...
...Tristan at the Met remains Isolde's show, however. Brangaene is important in the first half but insignificant for the final effect. The Liebestod constitutes the climax of Tristan. To this superb music and its terrific challenge, Nilsson brings endless energy and intelligence. The perfectly spun phrases follow one another in a demonstration of endurance and artistry that has an almost hypnotic effect...